Rubuta ci gaba ga wannan sakin layi - Shugaba na Democrat Woodrow Wilson ya yi fatan zama na uku, amma shugabannin jam'iyyun ba su da niyyar sake zabar shugaban da ba shi da lafiya da kuma maras kyau. Tsohon Shugaba Theodore Roosevelt ya kasance babban dan takarar dan takarar Jam'iyyar Republican, amma ya mutu a 1919 ba tare da barin magaji ga gadonsa na ci gaba ba. Tare da Wilson da Roosevelt daga cikin gudu, manyan jam'iyyun sun juya zuwa ga 'yan takarar da ba a san su ba daga jihar Ohio, jihar da ke da kuri'a mai yawa na kuri'un zabe. Cox ya lashe gasar cin kofin kasa ta kasa ta 1920
a kuri'a ta 44, ta kayar da William Gibbs McAdoo (surukin Wilson), A. Mitchell Palmer, da kuma wasu 'yan takara. Harding ya fito ne a matsayin dan takarar sulhu tsakanin masu ra'ayin mazan jiya da masu ci gaba na jam'iyyar, kuma ya tabbatar da nadin sa a kuri'a ta goma na Babban Taron Republican na 1920.