So, There Was No Smoke-Filled Room After All? And Other Presidential Election Stories.

It's the classic story of the 1920 election, but it's probably not true, not in the way it's told at least - that Warren Harding was chosen in a smoke-filled room. Sure, there was probably smoking in a Chicago hotel room in 1920, Sure, there was some Presidential -picking chatter going on. But the story of a single, smoke-filled room that picked a President appears to be more of a legend. Not only that it may be a legend on purpose, or as we now say, fake news. And that may be on purpose, as it originated from a tall tale told to a reporter to make a candidate look good. This and how another fake news story was created to bring down Martin Van Buren's Presidency and other stories of politics, leftovers from a 2020 cast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices