From simple beginnings in Williamston, Michigan, Kathleen Frances Lawler became fascinated with politics and rose to become the personal secretary to President Warren G. Harding during his famous “front porch” campaign for president in 1920. During the campaign she relocated to Marion, Ohio, and became one of his trusted lieutenants who directed his successful run for president.

Lawler also served as a topflight stenographer in numerous big name political campaigns and investigations. She also served as secretary to the powerful Senator Platt of Connecticut until his death and was secretary to the Republican Speakers Bureau. One notable stenographic assignment involved election fraud in the 1918 U.S. Senate campaign between Truman H. Newberry and Henry Ford, the auto magnate. Both men spent unheard amounts of money in the campaign and after losing, Ford alleged financial improprieties against Newberry, another Michigan industrialist. Newberry, who won the election, was indicted by the Justice Department and found guilty of election fraud, but the case ultimately ended up before the U.S. Supreme Court where he was exonerated.

Despite winning in court, Newberry, a Republican later resigned from the U.S. Senate, even though it cleared him of any wrongdoing.