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Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era and the Consumer Economy, 1921-1929

Boone Papers. Chapter on President Coolidge from the Memoirs of His Physician, Joel T. Boone.

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(Taped
2DEC64)

I have rarely ever seen President Coolidge laugh so much as he did at a comic paragraph appearing in one of the newspapers referring to "Senator Roarer". This comic paragraph appeared in the WASHINGTON POST April 1, 1927. Over the top is "CLARIFIES POLITICAL ERROR", under that, "Senator Roarer Picks the Democratic Ticket". Then the article:

"Hokum, Ill., April--Senator Roarer passed through here today long enough to say {begin inserted text}save{end inserted text} the Democrats the trouble {begin inserted text}s{end inserted text} of holding a national convention. He said: 'If Hiram W. Evans is nominated, in my opinion he will run on a platform declaring for the enforcement of the Fifteenth Amendment and the reapportionment of Southern representation in Congress. He will poll the solid K. of C. (that means Knights of Columbus, of course), and carry the East Side by an overwhelming majority.'"

This comic senator amused the President.

My friend, Edgar Woods, Naval Medical Corps, had a long talk with me about our Corps. He said some Naval officers of the Medical Corps should be assigned to the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery for duty to handle legislation next year, inferring we were handicapped by not having a particular officer do it and somebody with real contacts in the Congress. Then told me about Doctor Charlie Oman appearing to be side-tracked for promotion. Then commented on the next appointment for Sugeron General of the Navy. Woods, Oman, and I were very good friends. Both of these fellows had marvelous senses of humor and a great joy to be with them. It was always fun to be

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with them.

Early in April my Marine orderly in France during World War I while I was attached to the Sixth Regiment Marines, whose name was Spangler, came aboard the MAYFLOWER to see me. I was delighted to see him. He was a very faithful orderly for me and I had him assigned to me by the Regimental Commander for a number of months. When I saw him in April 1927, he was a railroad employee in Tyrone, Pennsylvania.

It was a pleasure to have John Coolidge in town in April for a while. It was customary when he came for a visit to the White House to check him up physically and usually have him worked up at the Naval Dental School. He would rather I didn't bother about these examinations, but it seemed necessary and I am sure that we were very helpful to him, both from the medical and dental standpoint.

Doctor William W. S. Baer came over from Baltimore in consultation with me to see the President's wrist. Doctor Baer considered it a hypertrophic arthritis and believes that in a week's time it will be well. {MISSING} surmised that t it commenced from casting when fishing and from handshaking a great deal. {begin inserted text}He/We{end inserted text} also found evidence some arthritis in his fingers. The President authorized Everett Sanders, his Secretary, to announce to the newspapers that Doctor Baer had visited him at the White House and found improvement in his wrist.

April 2nd Mr. Stearns arrived from Boston. He found the temporary White House on Dupont Circle palatial. He showed much pleasure at seeing me.

I was sorry that about this time Pierpont Moffitt, the Protocol Officer, who was very much of a g gentleman and a fine fellow, told me

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that he expected to have a change of duty in the coming fall. I would hate to see him leave.

The next day was Sunday. While with the President, customary early in the morning, Coupal returned. When he entered the bedroom where the President and Mrs. Coolidge were eating breakfast, he commented, "The whole staff is on hand," in a h jocular manner.

Chatting with Mr. Stearns that day, he told me that the Amherst instructors and many of the people up there do not like President Coolidge; they do not think he is as well informed as he should be acts wisely. Of course, that's in the Amherst crowd's estimation. Mr. Stearns said he got Dwight Morrow, who was a classmate of the Pr s esident's, to speak favorably of John to the President of Amherst, President Old.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Stearns were very fond of John Coolidge, as they had been of Calvin, his brother, and they were, naturally, very interested inJohn's doing well as a student at Amherst and succeeding be successful all the requirements for graduation.

Mr. Stearns and I discussed Minister Davis, who has been so very kind, seemed so efficient when we visited Costa Rica, and meriting a larger and better post.

When seeing Mrs. Jardine, wife of the Secretary of Agriculture, she told me that she was surprised that Alice Longworth called Senator Borah by his first name, Bill, and having influence on him in his {begin inserted text}quoting{end inserted text} in the Senate. Mrs. Jardine said that Mrs. Dwight Davis thinks Mrs. Longworth would not do anything to help Nick politically, but would do everything to push Senator Borah and her brother, Ted

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Roosevelt.

The President expressed himself as feeling that Congressman {begin inserted text}Amos{end inserted text} Butler of Pennsylvania's {begin inserted text}[???]osal{end inserted text} for having all the staff corps of the Navy abolished, all men educated at the Naval Academy, even those who might study medicine later for purpose of becoming Naval physicians. It was a very impractical proposal. I had told the President of this proposal, as I was opposed to it. Congressman Butler had told me he and Admiral Koontz, who was then Chief of Naval Operations, agreed on a plan to abolish the staff corps and have them amalgamated with the line officers and also empowering commanding officers to assign officers as doctors or navigators or engineers, as they saw fit, rotating them {begin inserted text}daily{end inserted text} , if that was the commanding officer's wishes. To me it sounded absolutely ridiculous, unsound, and impractical. It certainly was. I can't conceive how anybody brought forth such a brainchild. It was beyond comprehension how any Naval officer could subscribe to such a perfectly as s inine idea.

I was aware that on April the 6th, 1927, was just exactly ten years since war was declared and then, as these memoirs disclose, I was serving as the junior medical officer aboard the battleship WYOMING. The fleet of which the WYOMING was a part had only arrived in Hampton Roads safely the night before. Of course, withholding the declaration of war until that time was purposefully done for the protection of the fleet.

Coupal apparently did not know that the President had agreed to address the American Medical Association on 17 May. He was very displeased

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that Doctor Work, Doctor William Garry Morgan, {begin inserted text}and{end inserted text} Doctor Charles Richardson prevailed upon the President to commit himself to making this address. Coupal commented to the effect that "well, they might not have it fixed up after all" He was incensed that they did not set up the proposed invitation with him before contacting the President. Coupal was justified in feeling that these gentlemen worked through too many channels. I agree with h him it would have been better for them to deal through Coupal in this instance.

I was urged by certain prominent physicians in Washington to take the District of Columbia medical examination, for they felt that I should go into private practice in Washington and they would do everything to make my career in that capacity successful. One of the gentlemen was the President of the Board for Medical Examiners. Knowingthe nature of the examinations assured me that he felt that I would have no difficulty whatsoever in successfully passing them.

Early in April while my oldest sister Beulah was visiting us, I had her very thoroughly studied by Doctors Melhorn and Bloedorn of the Navy. She was a diabetic and having certain {begin inserted text}variable{end inserted text} attacks without actual or pseudo consciousness various degrees. These physicians, friends of mine, were very helpful to my sister and for a long period of years Melhorn was conceded {begin inserted text}succeeded{end inserted text} as the senior internist at the Naval Medical School by Doctor Walter Bloedorn. The latter gave most devoted, attentive, and excellent professional care of my sister whenever she was in Washington. She became a very advanced and serious diabetic, was one of the earliest cases to have insulin injections. We conferred by letter with Doctor Banning of Toronto,

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Canada, who brought insulin into therapeutic armamentarinm of medic {begin inserted text}i{end inserted text} ne. She had to use a ph hypodermic needle for insulin injections. In time it was discovered that insulin would be beneficial to her until she died late in her 70s. I believe, as I remember, that she used the insulin injections for 30-some years. She was a suffere d {begin inserted text}r{end inserted text} from insulin shock and hyperglycemia, and we members of her family had reason to be very worried about her many times. She met her disability fortitudinously. She was very faithful with the instructions given her as to how to care for her diet, but when she got out of balance, she was not rational enough to cope with the situation herself. Sometimes she would be with strangers who knew not how to deal with her. Often her condition was precarious. Years passed. The new knowledge of caring for the diabetic made great strides and there is {begin inserted text}an{end inserted text} encouraging awareness on the part of the public at how to deal with these unfortunate patients.

Mr. Stearns told me while we were on the cruise, and which I have not heretofore recorded, that President Coolidge stated he wanted Marines with him in the summer so that he could have me nearby. Mr. Stearns added he positively knew President Coolidge had wished me for his physician from the beginning when Sawyer resigned, but Doctor C. W. Richardson and a group of his associates in Washington elsewhere had urged upon President Coolidge to have Coupal as General Sawyer's successor.

Doctor William Garry Morgan, who had been elected President of the American Medical Association, sometime in about mid-April had lunch with me aboard the MAYFLOWER so that we could discuss plans for the

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April meeting of the Advisory Council of the American Medical Association aboard the MAYFLOWER. We discussed the subject with Captain Brown, who approved having such a meeting held aboard the President's yacht.

April 13 was the anniversary of young Calvin Coolidge's birthday. The President asked me that evening what was the date of that day, he having in mind that it was the 12th. When I told him it was the 13th, he then knew of course it was Calvin's birthday.

As Coupal was y away, I was at the White House both at 8 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. I was aware that the President was working on the preparation of his speech a dinner the United Press, which would be held in New York on April 25. When he was in the midst of writing a speech, it was wise to conduct one's business and then get out of the way and not hang around because the President was not talkative on those occasions. He had a tendency to be irritable when he was under the tension of picking out and preparing a speech. He always gave it a very great deal of thought to any speech that he made. It wasn't haphazardly done. He was so preoccupied when writing speeches that it was not wise to infringe on his time, except minimally.

The next day the President sent for me at 5:40 o'clock in the afternoon, because he was not feeling well. I found it took some drastic measures to relieve him of his abdominal distress. When I visited him about 8:30 that evening I found him in his study and not in his bedroom. He was dictating to his male secretary Geiser. I looked into the study and recognized that he was dictating, and I felt that I should disappear without disturbing him, because when he was preparing a speech, he was very tense and would become quite

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irritable. It was no time to hang around; however, the President saw me and called me out very cheerily for me to come into his study. Evidenced that he was glad to see me and appreciated my coming back to check up on him that evening. He was apparently feeling quite well, so I felt no further concern about this temporary indisposition.

When I saw him the next morning, he said he was feeling all right, except for a fullness in the head. He unwisely self-medicated himself, which, I felt, caused his so-called fullness of the head.

Mrs. Coolidge said to me that she did not agree that the President had what he was so wont to call from time to time "food poisoning". She felt his trouble was that he had sat in his study with no air in the room and applied such practice in his b own bedroom at night. He felt the cold very much an d w always wanted to be kept very warm. It was how he dressed and when he was in bed. He was very sensitive to drafts. Because of a deviated septum, he took cold rather readily.

The following evening when I went to see him, he was dressed for dinner early, sitting in his study and seemingly in a mood to chat with me. Discussed the Navy and said the Navy annually starts a war scare with "poor little Japan" every time it approaches Naval appropriation season. This year he said the Navy did not become so extreme in its apprehensions about Japan. He said he couldn't understand why the Navy tries to conceal what it has and what it uses its appropriations for. I mentioned to him the hospital ship U.S.S. RELIEF was going to come to Washington Navy Yard to be present at the time of the American Medical Association meeting {begin inserted text}would prove{end inserted text} the idea. He

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said it was well for the Navy to publicize and let the public know and see more and more about the Navy. He said it was a mistake to not give them all the information that it was reasonable for them to have. He thought there was too much secrecy practiced in the Navy. He said he felt that as a class Naval officers were more cultured than the Army officers. He often wondered why it was when education for the most part was similar. I explained wardroom life was conducive to broad discussion among the officers. They had plenty of time for it on long cruises. They read voluminously as a group. Of course, some individuals more than others did so. On long cruises they had more opportunity to indulge in a great deal of reading and came in contact with foreigners on cruises and foreign lands. Many of the officers were proficient in foreign languages. Great deal of emphasis in the Navy placed on social graces and social refinements and also that there were many more distractions to a Naval officers when at sea than there were for Army officers living in posts. Then too I stated that close living associations aboard ship and when on long cruises was conducive to officers' exchanging news of their domestic and social lives, of their finances. Naval officers seemed to discuss most intimate subjects with their brother officers, often of a most intimate nature. Naval officers seemed to be more like brothers and members of a single family. They ate together three meals a day, stood watches together, narrow restricted areas of the ship, below, on, and above decks. They slept aboard ship, except when in port and not on duty. There was a great deal of intermarriage of Naval officers with o f {begin inserted text}t{end inserted text} ther Naval officers' families.

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{begin inserted text}(I said?){end inserted text} Except medical and dental and a few others staff officer components, while not being products of the U.S. Naval Academy, soon absorbed Navy traditions and customs, their mode of living in close proximity one to another, so that the Naval officer became closely and tightly integrated as a cohesive unit of the military forces.

Easter Sunday, April 17th of 1927, {begin inserted text}when{end inserted text} I arrived at the White House, I ate some breakfast with Mrs. Coolidge in her living room at 15 Dupont Circle, enjoying some cheese that Secretary of Labor, Mr. David, had acquired by sending for it to Wales. Also I had some very good cake, even that time of the morn {begin inserted text}i{end inserted text} ng, cooked by the chef of the Willard and sent to President and Mrs. Coolidge. She and I had a very delightful Easter morning chat while President Coolidge entertained at breakfast a party for Secretary of Commerce Hoover. After it was over, the President and I discussed some professional matters. He always showed much interest in that discussions referable to his own health. I suspected he had more concern about his health 5 than would be the ordinary case with most individuals.

April 19th the second daughter of Doctor and Mrs. Irvine, Neal, was married at Mercersburg to a a young man named Clark Slade. Helen and I had expected to attend the wedding. We were very pleased to have been invited, but the last minute it was not possible to do so, because I had taken a cold and Helen had tonsillitis and my older sister Beulah was ill while visiting us at that time. It was a keen disappointment to Helen and me to miss the Irvine s' -Slade wedding. We were both very anxious to be present and witness the first wedding in the new Mercersburg Chapel.

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Everett Sanders said that day that Governor Smith's Catholic letter will be pulled apart before long and that because of it and other reasons President Coolidge was "sitting pretty". The President wanted to keep that letter out of controversy just as much as possible. As a matter of fact, his disposition was to avoid controversy whenever possible.

The next day when I saw Mrs. Coolidge, she said she was indeed relieved that I had not gone to Mercersburg with the severe cold I had. She said I was looking very badly yesterday.

The following day Helen and I had breakfast on Uncle Agnew Dice's private railroad car at Union Station. Then he was my luncheon guest at the Army and Navy Club. I was always pleased to see him when he came to Washington. He was very considerate of Helen and me when he did so. That afternoon Secretary Jardine, Uncle Agnew, Carter Field, and I had a very good game of golf at Chevy Chase Club. In the evening Uncle Agnew h entertained Helen and me on his private car for dinner. It was always a treat to dine on the private car because the food was particularly delicious and well served.

Mrs. Stearns came to Washington and to be a guest at the White House about the third week in April, that being her first visit to Washington since {begin inserted text}Helen and I{end inserted text} we had returned with the Stearns from the West Indies. When she saw me, she hugged and kissed me, repeating that when she got home from the West Indies she just thought she could not get along without me. She said she felt so dependent upon me professionally. I felt highly complimented and also pleased she felt that way because I was very, very fond of her.

On April 23rd President Coolidge was host to the President of Cuba at dinner at 15 Dupont Circle, a very amusing dinner as it

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turned out to be. Guests appeared at the dining room table. One of them had no tie on. It had either fallen off or he had forgotten to put it on, and he was in his full evening dress. The seat of a chair fell through the floor {begin inserted text}(?){end inserted text} , while another guest was eating. Colonel Cheney, the President's Army Aide, lost a front tooth during the meal. To cap the climax, a fire was discovered in the chimney. This brought a very somber and serious moment to an otherwise very hilarious meal occasioned by the aforementioned instances preceding the fire in the chimney.

The next day, Sunday, April 24th, when calling at the Dupont Circle temporary White House to see the President, he inquired for Helen beca as to her cold, said he could arrange with Doctor Richardson to take out her tonsils. He looked across at Mr. Stearns who was sitting in the room with the President and winked at him. He looked very much amused and said nothing.

Then I had a very pleasant chat with Mrs. Coolidge and Mrs. Stearns while Mr. Stearns visited with the President in his study.

In the afternoon I had a delightful game of tennis with Doctor Rau , Colonel Thorpe of the U.S. Marine Corps, and the Minister from Austria, who was a Mr. Procknich. I played tennis or golf whenever I could and would take advantage of every opportunity without neglecting my duties in any way. Another sport in which I indulged myself as frequently as possible was horseback riding. I was a devotee of that sport from my childhood and, happily, the White House stable with a number of good horses, any one of which I could ride , at my pleasure. I knew well that taking exercise as frequently as possible kept me in good shape to meet all my serious and demanding

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professional obligations and long hours that I had to have to meet those obligations, the ever consciousness that I must be ready to meet any emergency of a professional nature, night or day, and while I recognized that my indulgence in numerous sports was pleasurable, I looked upon it as wise practice.

On April 25th, Admiral and Mrs. Presley M. Rixey--he was formerly {begin inserted text}a{end inserted text} the Surgeon General of the Navy--held their golden wedding anniversary. Beautiful day and there was a tremendous crowd at their home. Helen and I were so delighted to see Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt at this wedding anniversary. We had quite a long chat with her. With her was her son Archie, who looked particularly well. Mrs. Roosevelt could not have been more cordial and seemed very pleased to see us, inquiring solicitously for Suzanne.

That evening Helen and I were guests of Mr. and Mrs. Stearns at the theatre, seeing George Arliss in that wonderful play, "Old English".

On April 28, committee of the American Medical Association met aboard the MAYFLOWER and I acted as host for them. There were 30 guests. I took the Surgeon General, Admiral Stitt, with me to the meeting. Coupal "forgot" to attend the meeting. Everyone present was most enthusiastic and highly complimentary, graciously giving a rising vote of appreciation to me.

The next day I took a motor trip to Harper's Ferry, Winchester, Middleburg, {begin inserted text}Warrenton{end inserted text} , Warrington, and over the Bull Run battlefield, having with me, besides Helen, Mrs. Stearns and my older sister, Beulah. Most beautiful trip, new territory for us to see. I was amazed at

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the beauty of northern Virginia. We covered in our drive that day about 203 miles, which was quite a drive in 1927.

The following day Captain Brown told me on the MAYFLOWER that Dick Jervis {begin inserted text}had{end inserted text} stated that the President expressed his wishes to have the Marines with him that coming summer when he was away on a holiday from Washington.

I saw Captain Andrews for a while that day. He informed me that he expected to return to Geneva for several weeks to continue work in relation to the Limitation of Armament Conference. He said the President told him that he was very much interested in the three power naval agreement.

On Sunday, May the 1st, I saw {begin inserted text}R. Norris{end inserted text} Williams play a magnificent game of tennis. He won the singles from Alonzo in a very tough match. Williams and Washburn won the doubles, defeating Alonzo and Sam Hardy. Norris Williams had been a Marine f officer with me in the Fourth Marine Brigade in France. He was an aide to, first Brigadier General, then later Major General James G. Harbord. He was a most attractive young man, very excellent Reserve Marine officer, was a fine shipmate, as we call it, when we were together in France. He was one of the most outstanding tennis players in the United States. His rec e {begin inserted text}o{end inserted text} rd certainly well known to his fans.

That day I saw Bascom Slemp and he told me that on one occasion President Coolidge spoken very brusquely to him, whereupon Slemp took the President to task doing so, adding that no man heretofore ever had spoken to him as President Coolidge did. It

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must not happen again. The President expressed himself as being sorry. Then he said that he had smoked too much the day before and that Slemp should not pay any attention to such manners as he had exhibited. The President added he knew he was "hard to get along with".

(End of reel.)

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