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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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On Sunday, May 29, the President decided to make a trip down the Potomac River after he attended church in Washington. Besides him and Mrs. Coolidge, he took with them Secretary and Mrs. Sanders; Mr. Bascom Slemp, his former Secretary; Doctor Clement of Missouri; and Mr. and Mrs. Stearns. Mr. Stearns was very upset and incensed about the friendship to continue between President Coolidge and Bascom Slemp. Mr. Stearns said he had a great difficult time about making up his mind whether to go on the MAYFLOWER that day and that he had definitely determined that the President must decide between having him, Stearns, or Slemp as friends. It certainly was not a pleasant trip for Mr. Stearns on this cruise; however, it was just for an afternoon's outing on the river.

The next day was 30 May, Memorial Day. President and Mrs. Coolidge went to Arlington where the President made a splendid address at the amphitheatre after laying a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. He was accompanied by Mrs. Coolidge; Secretary of the Army,Dwight Davis; Secretary of the Navy,Curtis D. Wilbur; the President's Naval aide, Captain Brown; Secretary to the President, Everett Sanders; Secretary of State, Mr. Kellogg; Mr. Stearns; many of the wives of officials accompanying the President; high ranking Army and Navy officers, with a large attendance in the amphitheatre.

As I am writing today (Dec. 4, 1964), I have before me the rotogravure splendid picture from the Washington SUNDAY STAR of June 12, 1927, which shows the President with his high silk hat held over his

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heart, standing in front of the Tomb and with the President's wreath already laid on the Tomb. To his right stands Secretary of the Army and to his left the Secretary of the Navy. Officers commanding them and the Honor Guard of Army troops standing at attention with rifles and fixed bayonets. Behind them Naval aide, Mrs. Coolidge, and Secretary of State, others, some of whom I have mentioned.

The next day I was a guest of Bascom Slemp to play golf at the famous and exclusive Burning Tree Club on the outskirts of Washington, where we also had lunch. I was fortunate to be winner on "Nick" Longworth's team.

Coupal later in that day told me that he wished to have me relieve him in August at the summer White House in South Dakota, as he wished to motor back East with Mrs. Coupal and does not wish to have to go back West again. Said he would discuss his desires with the President and let me know, so I can make my plans accordingly, although I knew that the intention was for the MAYFLOWER to be out of Washington that summer and, of course, I would be required to accompany the ship; however, wh en {begin inserted text}at{end inserted text} ever the President desired of me took precedence of all other requirements.

With the summer weather upon us in Washington, he increased the number of times over the spring that he cruised on the MAYFLOWER, either a few hours on a Sunday or for long or w {begin inserted text}s{end inserted text} hort weekend trips.

Captain Brown in his book, FOUR PRESIDENTS AS I SAW THEM, to which I have referred heretofore, said that Calvin Coolidge's main pleasure in life was the privilege of taking weekend cruises on the MAYFLOWER. To quote from Captain Brown's book:

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"On board the MAYFLOWER we would have little preparation to make, except to check that all was shipshape and to order a huge supply of flowers from the White House greenhouse and large quantities of food. The sailing day we would give everything a final polish, and get our stores aboard, including a supply of newspapers, magazines, and books, etc.... We would all be on deck in dress uniform (that does not mean full dress uniform, of which there is quite a distinction), the crew manning the rail, and band and Marine Guard paraded clear to the gangway, sideboys within hail, stewards on deck ready to bring baggage on board for the passengers.... The guests would then begin to arrive. Members of the cabinet received the honors prescribed by Navy Regulations; attention on the bugle, side pipe, ruffles and the appropriate march, guard at Present Arms, sideboys and all hands salute. Most wives are visibly pleased and excited by this demonstration of their husbands' importance. Most husbands pretend to be bored, but are secretly delighted. I would shake hands with the guests at the gangway, escort them aft and turn them over to the junior officer to be shown their rooms. (My explanation that, as I believe I have stated before, one of my jobs was to assign rooms to guests, as well as to seat the guests at the table in the President's dining room, often, of course, with the assistance of the First Lady.) All guests then assembled on the spacious afterdeck to await the arrival of the President and Mrs. Coolidge. When we got word from the Navy Yard gate that the President's cars had passed through, the ship's company would jump to stations and, as the cars drew alongside, would render full Presidential honors. {begin inserted text}?{end inserted text} That the 21-gun salute was usually dispensed

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with. The Presidential flag would then be broken at the main truck, the gangway hauled aboard, lines a cast off, and the MAYFLOWER would steam majestically down river, graceful as a swan. Then the President would walk aft to greet his guests and sit with them for a time on deck. The most important incident of the departure ceremony was always the arrival of the head steward on deck with the President's yachting cap. This had been purchased by Captain Adolphus Andrews, my predecessor, at Brooks Brothers, a smart and expensive outfitter which Mr. Coolidge had never patronized--he visited a modest tailor and was scandalized that {begin inserted text}to{end inserted text} learn that Andrews would pay $150 for a suit of clothes. It was a well designed, plain yachting cap with a simple black visor, but the best that money could buy. Mr. Coolidge was very much pleased with it and wore it on deck at all times.... (I might add that he wore it very proudly and learned to salute quite well when honors were paid to him or when he stood at attention as the MAYFLOWER passed the Mount Vernon reservation or when ships passed and saluted the Commander-in-Chief.) Because the MAYFLOWER dining salon was below decks, the President usually delayed luncheon and kept his guests on deck until after we had passed Mount Vernon. Thus they could take part in the ceremonies prescribed by the Navy for all American ships passing Washington's tomb--paraging the guard, attention on the bugle, tolling the ship's bell, all hands at salute. The simplicity of Mount Vernon, as seen from the river, the fine sweep of the shoreline at that point, the emotional effect of the r ceremony will not be for e gotten by many who have cruised on the MAYFLOWER.

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"After quite a heavy e tea, when conversation began to lag, Mrs. Coolidge generally announced that it was time to dress for dinner.... While the MAYFLOWER was often enabled President Coolidge to escape the cares of State, I am sorry to confess that she and I caused him discomfort and embarrassment on the occasion {begin inserted text}when{end inserted text} he was persuaded to hold a fleet review. At that period in our history the Navy was very much concerned about the already evident effects of the l {begin inserted text}L{end inserted text} imitation of Naval Armament. Military clique of Japan, attacking " 'the indignity of the 5-5-3 ratio', was stirring up strong anti-American feeling. We believed that they were building ships and fortifying the Carolin a {begin inserted text}e{end inserted text} and Marshall Islands in v violation of the treaty--and yet we continued to haggle with Britain about how many cruisers each nation should have and, to show our good faith, destroyed on the ways thousands of tons of ships which, had they been completed, might have deterred Japan from ever making her attack on Pearl Harbor.... I think President Coolidge never had much faith in the limitation of armaments as an instrument for peace; but he felt that, having gone so far, we must give it a fair trial. He was therefore reluctant to encourage any Naval building at that time. Also, being a poor sailor, he was very fearful of being laughed at if he had the bad luck to be seasick during the review. But, after a good deal of discussion and with the aid of some members of Congress, he was finally persuaded that if we anchored the MAYFLOWER in Lynnhaven Roads, well inside the Virginia Capes, there was very little chance of any motion and the fleet would parade by on

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its way to anchorage farther up the Roads. . . . Finally President Coolidge reluctantly consented. There was a great deal of preliminary publicity. Weather conditions looked beautiful. We left on schedule (on June 3, having as special guests the Secretary of the Navy and Mrs. Wilbur, Admiral Eberle and Mrs. Eberle--he was Chief of Naval Operations); but, alas, during the night a heavy ground swell began [???]ing in through the Capes and when we anchored, the MAYFLOWER had a roll--not a heavy roll, but heavy enough to embarrass others besides Mr. Coolidge--the one possible weather condition we had dreaded. The President was cross (as who isn't when he is seasick?) and stayed in his bunk most of the morning. When the (Atlantic) Fleet flagship came in sight leading the column, a queasy Coolidge roused from his misery and his bunk and came to the bridge with his binoculars and yachting cap. During a full half hour he posed for the photographers, looking sternly through the long signal glass, pointing to each ship as she came abeam, returning salutes endlessly while trying to stand at attention and steady himself against the roll with the unengaged hand. He played his part correctly throughout the picture-taking ordeal. Then, when all the battleships had passed, Mr. Coolidge said he would go aft to the roped-off area and wat h {begin inserted text}c{end inserted text} h the rest from there."

As I walked from the after part of the main deck forward, all dressed up in my special daytime uniform full dress attire--that meant frock coat, what we call railroad trousers, meaning a gold stripe down each side of the outer side of the trouser, cocked hat, evaulets,

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medals, sword, and white gloves--quickly looking at him, he looked ill. I knew it was no time to speak to him. I saluted him. He stopped as he passed by and watched until he went down the hatch to the deck below, knowing that he was going to his cabin, so I followed him and found him lying on his bed with his clothes on. I asked him if I could do anything for him and he w said he wanted me to insert some cocaine in the ears. He said he had been informed that would take care of seasickness for him. I had never heard of this measure, and I tried to discount its efficacy, but he was insistent that I instill it into the so I did into the external auditory canal, and then I gave him a mild sedative. I felt the best thing was to leave him quietly, but I stayed pretty close by so I could hear him if he did not seem well, taking my station outside of his cabin area of the ship.

After a while he got up and went to the main deck. I followed him at a reasonable and respectable distance, as not to annoy him, but still to keep him under observation. As he went on the main deck, he went behind the deckhouse where the radio shack was installed, where outside of it aboard ship was a green colored couch, which had been put there for his use so he could sit down when he wished to when cruising and look over the sea and be out of the wind. He felt here w he was out of the sight of prying eyes. Secretary Wilbur and Admiral Eberle were standing on the port side of the davenport. They knew it was not a time to indulge in conversation with the President, because they could see that he was not well.

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Captain Brown continued in his book: " The President and {begin inserted text}"Presently{end inserted text} the Fleet Commander, Admiral Hughes, came aboard with a considerable staff, and a photographer slipped along with them unnoticed as the procession moved aft. Thus he was able to sneak a snapshot of Mr. Coolidge seated disconsolately on the sofa, grim lipped, clearly dreaming only of terra firma and an end to his malaise. That rather comic stolen picture was given greater publicity than almost any other."

To us Naval officers and the MAYFLOWER crew and the guests aboard the MAYFLOWER at this fleet review, it was a magnificent sight, a very thrilling one. We were indeed proud to be with the Commander-in-Chief when he was aboard the Presidential yacht to review our great United States armada passing by in single file with great majesty, as we thought. But for President Coolidge, it was an experience to get over with just as quickly as possible and get the MAYFLOWER underway and head back into calmer waters, which were not rough, but as Captain Brown said in his book, it was a slow, upsetting ground swell which rolled the ship back and forth as she lay at anchor off the Capes. As with most seasickness, once the ship on which you are traveling gets into quiet waters, the seasickness rapidly is dispelled, passes away. And so it was with President Coolidge on this particular occasion.

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There were 98 ships in the formation with the U.S.S. SEATTLE taking the lead. It was the flagship of the scouting force. There were three battleships, one light cruiser, 18 destroyers, three vessels of the aircraft squadron, 14 submarines, and 2 submarine tenders passing ahead in the review of the formidable Battle Fleet. There were 9 battleships astride in the battleship fleet, beside the destroyer squadron of 32 vessels and 2 ships of the aircraft squadron. In the wake of these were the 5 vessels of the mine force and the 7 of the fleet train.

The President reported as having remarked that this was the first time in his life that he had ever seen even a small fleet of war ships. With such an armada to gaze upon, it was natural that he looked upon it, this formation Naval strength with actual wonderment. I do not believe he was overly impressed with the fact that he {begin inserted text}w{end inserted text} as Commander-in-Chief of it, that he was supreme authority over all military forces. He certainly showed no evidence of it this day as he we watched him with dignifiedly and modestly take the salute of these ships. He did handicapped by seasickness.

The MAYFLOWER did not The MAYFLOWER DID did not delay long before starting on its return {ILLEGIBLE} {begin inserted text}journey{end inserted text} to Washington.

Mrs. Coolidge enjoyed every phase of the fleet review. She showed a great deal of enthusiasm for everything she saw, highly elated. There was nothing of her nature to spread her wings and let any th {begin inserted text}one{end inserted text} think she was gazing on this great armada, which was actually under the command of her own husband.

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The newspapers which I have showed the President and her with their binoculars looking out over the rail of the MAYFLOWER at the fleet formation as it passed by. This was the first time that President Coolidge reviewed the United States Fleet. One could only imagine what must have passed through his mind s that day. While he congratulated Admiral Edward W. Eberle, Chief of Naval Operations, and Admiral Charles Hughes, the Commander in Chief of the fleet, on what the President interpreted to be a magnificent re q {begin inserted text}v{end inserted text} iew of Naval strength,I am confident that he made no extensive comments either to Admiral Eberl y {begin inserted text}e{end inserted text} during the review or to Admiral Hughes when he came aboard the MAYFLOWER. He was courteous, but for the most part, "a silent Cal". His talk to Admiral Hughes was very brief. Of course, he talked to Admiral Eberle the night before at dinner and after the dinner. He felt too miserable to enter into conversation even with Admiral Hughes. It must have been a great disappointment to the latter when on such a historic event, one of such importance to both Admiral Eberle and Admiral Hughes . Before Admiral Hughes left,he made some comments and pleasantries, and that was about all. Knowing that no one introduced Mrs. Coolidge, not even Secretary Wilbur nor Mrs. Eberle, to Admiral Hughes, I did so, as I did to the Commander-in-Chief of the Scouting Force. Both Admiral Hughes and Commander-in-Chief of the Scouting Force {begin inserted text}Fleet{end inserted text} did not remain aboard the MAYFLOWER until the review had been completed, leaving some little time before it was over. To me it seemed like a very strange {begin inserted text}strained{end inserted text} situation.

The President did not always salute when there was definite indication for him to do so. The newspapermen commented on this and

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the photographers noted it. I attributed it his actions due to his seasickness. He was really feeling miserable.

The newspapermen and cameramen were fed at buffet luncheon in the President's dining room, but the President, due to his seasickness, did not appear in their midst. The last thing he wanted was food, but I am sure if he saw it or even smelled it, it would have been disastrous to this rare occasion.

We Naval officers, {begin inserted text}who{end inserted text} looked forward to this fleet review with such delightful anticipation, felt very let down as it proceeded, conducted, and was over. Admiral Eberle and I had had some very good conversations, walking on the deck the afternoon before the review and the morning of the review before it began. There are photographs which I have, taken aboard the MAYFLOWER, of Mrs. Coolidge, Admiral Eberle, and M {begin inserted text}m{end inserted text} yself. I always found Admiral {begin inserted text}and Mrs.{end inserted text} Eberle very delightful Naval friends. Admiral Hughes was a raw-boned sort of tall sort of fellow, great big walrus-type mustache, because of which his nickname was "Handlebar" Hughes. Not only as a Naval officer did I have an interest in him, but he and some other members of his family at one time had occupied the apartment that Mrs. Bonne and I lived in at the Ontario in Washington for a period of 8 years. He was always very kind to me. When he became Chief of Naval Operations, he flattered me at one period, which warmed my heart very much to realize that a man in his high position in the Navy would take such an interest in a young Naval officer as he did.

Captain Brown wrote in his book that "Calvin Coolidge never uttered one word of reproach to any of us for causing his

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embarrassment. But neither did he give any support to a Naval building program."

The review was on a Saturday. The next day, June 5, Sunday,a hydroplane brought newspapers to our anchorage. Captain Brown was very upset that the newspapers didn't arrive from New York and Washington, as he had arranged for them, but he was not at all at fault. When we were cruising on the MAYFLOWER and newspapers could be sent for us, we were very anxious to see them and particularly we wished to see the Sunday papers from Washington and New York following the fleet review. Chaplain Shrum conducted a very lovely church service. Mrs. Coolidge liked him very much as a Chaplain to be aboard the MAYFLOWER and liked him personally, such a delightful gentleman. She said that Shrum could not leave the Naval service while she was the occupant as First Lady of the White House.

On Sunday Admiral Eberle and I had some more talks, which I had with Mrs. Eberle as well. He was very much upset that he was not being reappointed as Chief of Naval Operations. He felt that he was entitled to more consideration than was being accorded him. He did not think that Secretary of the Navy Wilbur was grateful to him for all he had done for him, Secretary Wilbur, although Wilbur says Eberle led him " {ILLEGIBLE} by the hand" when he came into office, which mean e he indoctrinated him and looked after him and really gave him the facts of life as pertained to the Navy. Of course, there was justification for Admiral Eberle to feel resentful for Secretary Wilbur showed lack of gratitude and did not recommend him to the President for reappointment.

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Mrs. Eberle felt that {begin inserted text}if{end inserted text} President Coolidge understood the true situation, he would not have him displaced.

Admiral Eberle expressed himself very demoralizing to have a junior officer placed over him, but he said, "That is the way of the Navy in too many instances."

We arrived at the Navy Yard dock in Washington later than usual from the cruise on the MAYFLOWER. It was 10:30 in the morning when the official party left the ship.

It was that day when we learned that Clarence D. Chamberlain and Charles A. Levine had landed in Germany on the longest nonstop flight that had ever been made. It was the first Trans-Atlantic flight from Roosevelt Field to Germany, a distance of 3900 miles.

The next day, June 6, had great meaning to me because it was the 9th anniversary of our great counter-attack at Belleau Woods, the day we stopped the Germans dead on their track as they reached the nearest point to Paris. From that day on we went on into the offensive and stayed at it in the Belleau Wood area for approximately six weeks, great loss of life, many, many wounded casualties. Even the commanding officer of my regiment, the Sixth Regiment Marines, Colonel Carlin, was wounded in the early period of our counter-attack, which fact I recorded at an earlier period in writing these memoirs. It all came back very vividly to my mind. I thought over on this 9th anniversary the events of June 6, 1918.

When I saw the Surgeon General at the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery that day, he was very disturbed that Admiral Eberle was not to

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be continued as Chief of Naval Operations and that Admiral Stitt will have to start his , as he said, all over again with a new Chief of Naval Operations. Admiral Eberle and Admiral Stitt had a very splendid relationship.

The following day, President Coolidge spoke very complimentarily to the newspaper reporters about the fleet review, particularly took occasion to commend the hospital ship, RELIEF, saying with much pride that our government was the only government in the world to have built a hospital ship for the purpose from the keel up, thereby had set a treme m {begin inserted text}n{end inserted text} dous example to the world thinking of such a provision unto the fleet.

My good friend, Star King, who was an aide to Admiral Eberl y {begin inserted text}e{end inserted text} , said as much as he respected and liked Admiral Eberle very much, he felt that the Chief of Naval Operations billet should be for a 4-year detail only and not for the one who held it for four years assigned to another term to succeed himself.

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