Ever wonder about the origin of the phrase "Smoke Filled Room" ?

By islander

October 26, 2021 5:09 am

Category: Politics


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"The original smokefilled room was in Chicago's Blackstone Hotel, where, according to an enduring legend, a small group of powerful United States senators gathered to arrange the nomination of Warren G. Harding as Republican candidate for president in 1920.

Meeting at the Coliseum, the convention deadlocked on Friday, June 11. At a suite in the Blackstone, Republican leaders held a series of discussions late into the night. Though leaning toward Harding at that point, participants did not control the convention. But when the Associated Press reported that Harding had been chosen “in a smoke-filled room,” the phrase entered the American political lexicon. Ever since, “smoke-filled room” has meant a place, behind the scenes, where cigar-smoking party bosses intrigue to choose candidates."*

* Encyclopedia of Chicago

Cited and related links:

  1. cyclopedia.chicagohistory.org
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Comments on "Ever wonder about the origin of the phrase "Smoke Filled Room" ?"

  1. by HatetheSwamp on October 26, 2021 5:28 am

    It's likely that when the gang that picked Joe filled the room with smoke, it was weed smoke.

    ~~~


  2. by islander on October 26, 2021 7:07 am

    I sometimes wish that were true...We might be living in a better world if the cigars were replaced with a "peace pipe".

    ~~~


  3. by Curt_Anderson on October 26, 2021 10:26 am
    Quite a while ago I read about the smoke filled room nomination of Warren G. Harding. One of the cigar smokers in attendance remarked that Harding was nominated because "he looks like a president".

    Historians are reevaluated Harding's presidency. He was ahead of his time on racial issues.

    ~~~


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