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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.

COPY
(Written by Mrs. Coolidge
for Suzanne Boone)

THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON

Suzanne Spends a Night at the White House.

One day in October in the year nineteen hundred and twenty three, Papa Boone received a letter. The letter said, "Dear Dr. Boone: Will you come to Mercersburg Academy to speak to the boys next November fourteenth?" Dr. Boone replied, "Yes, I will come and I will bring Mrs. Boone along, too, because we like the boys at Mercersburg and I shall be glad to make a little talk to them."

When Mrs. Coolidge who lived over in the big White House heard about this she was glad because she liked the boys at Mercersburg and she had two boys of her own there and she thought Papa Boone would have some things to tell the boys at Mercersburg which they would like to hear.

Now, Dr. and Mrs. Boone had a little girl named Suzanne who was three and one half years old. Mrs. Coolidge had no little girl of her own and she loved little Suzanne very much. When she learned that Dr. and Mrs. Boone were going to Mercersburg she thought to herself, "Now is my chance to borrow their little girl and that will be next best to having a little girl of my own." The very next day she said to Dr. Boone, "Do you suppose Suzanne would come and stay

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all night with me when you and Mrs. Boone go to Mercersburg?" And he smiled and said, "Why yes, I am sure she would."

When Dr. Boone went home he talked with Mrs. Boone and told her what Mrs. Coolidge had said and then, they asked little Suzanne if she would like to go and spend the night with Mrs. Coolidge in the big White House when they went to Mercersburg and Suzanne said, "Yes, I would like that."

After that the time passed very slowly, or so it seemed to little Suzanne and Mrs. Coolidge, but at last the long-expected-day came, as all days come, and Dr. and Mrs. Boone set forth in their automobile on their journey to Mercersburg.

After Suzanne had taken her nap, Miss Randolph came to take her over to the big White House. Her grandmother helped her put on her pretty blue coat and her little blue hat with the soft white fur and she and Miss Randolph got into the big automobile and were whisked away. Pretty soon it passed between two large stone posts with heavy iron gates, up the wide drive and stopped before the door of the big White House. Here Miss Randolph and Suzanne, looking very small indeed, got out of the automobile and disappeared through the great glass doors.

Safely inside Miss Randolph helped Suzanne take off her hat and coat and hung them away in the closet. Then, a great tall man came to play with her. His name was Mr. Haley. You see little Suzanne had many friends in the big White House and they all loved her very much.

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In a little while Mrs. Coolidge came to find Suzanne and they all played games and had a good time to-gether until her supper was ready. After that Maggie read to her and helped her get undressed and ready for bed while Mrs. Coolidge went down stairs and ate her dinner.

And what bed do you think Suzanne slept in? Oh, you never could guess so I shall have to tell you. It was the big bed that Abraham Lincoln slept in when he lived in the big White House ever so many years ago, before you and I were born.

After little Suzanne had said her "Now I lay me..." not forgetting, "God bless Daddy and Mother and help Suzanne to be a good girl", Mrs. Coolidge gave her a good-night kiss and tucked her in surrounded by her dollies and her books and turning out the lights tip-toed out into the next room and sat down with her knitting and her book trying to imagine that now she had a little girl of her very own.

informed that Suzanne had behaved splendidly at the White House. She had eaten breakfast with President and Mrs. Coolidge in the President's bedroom on a card table. During breakfast she looked at President Coolidge very intently and asked him, "Do you love me, Mr. President?" He replied with much feeling, Mrs. Coolidge told us: "I certainly do love you, Suzanne."

I rather suspect that this is the only woman, other than Mrs. to whom Coolidge, that {begin inserted text}to whom{end inserted text} he said, "I d love you", for he did not have the daughter-in-law at that time, which he did after John was married sometime later.

In view of what had transpired with my service with the Marines in the past and again long after 1923, that on November 17 of that year I sat as a member of a board of the Navy Department which were dealing with personnel and equipment for duty with the Marines. I took a very strong position to have a "Force Surgeon" on the staff of the Commanding Officer or Commanding General, not just as a company or other unit medical officer. Thirteen years later I occupied such a position when I was ordered as Force Medical Officer with the Fleet Marine Force. I was able to draw on my experiences I {begin inserted text}i{end inserted text} n France in World War I to stand out for having what was known then as "Force Surgeon" on the staff of the Commanding Officer.

At this time I had about a two-hour talk with the Attorney General on one of my periodic visits to Wardman Park at his apartment to see him. We took quite a walk that particular evening. He talked a great deal about General Sawyer. The Attorney General advised me

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not to jeopardize my career in going to the defense of General Sawyer. He thought he was getting into difficulties and that the criticism of him was building up. Attorney General Daugherty felt that General Sawyer was involving himself too greatly in Veterans Bureau affairs. When he got into trouble in doing so, he evidenced that he wished his friends to become involved in order to protect him.

November 20, 1923, Mrs. Boone and I were very honored to be invited to the Secretary of Commerce and Mrs. Herbert Hoover's for dinner. Other guests were Doctor Work and his wife, Secretary D {begin inserted text}C{end inserted text} urtis D. Wilbur and his wife of the Navy, and Mrs. Andrews. This was my first dinner with Secretary and Mrs. Hoover. Never did I have the slightest idea 5 ½ years later, approximately I would be having many meals with them and in the White House and elsewhere as President Hoover's physician.

I was pleased that Secretary Slemp's ankle got along splendidly, add he and I were able to ride horseback once more. I enjoyed these rides with him, except that I regretted to note his criticism from time to time of the President. He seemed to want to confide in me add have an outlet for some of his feelings. Of course, he knew how close I was to President Coolidge in my professional capacity. He asked me to talk to Mrs. Coolidge in regard to the President's irritability and pettishness {begin inserted text}(pettiness?){end inserted text} as was becoming evident at that time. I explained some of my reasons for the President's showing such a disposition. It was then because he became very intent and very stewed up whenever he was preparing some major speech. On this

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occasion he was preparing his speech before the Congress of the United States. He was always nervous before a speech and became very irritable on many occasions.

Mrs. Coolidge told me she found it was wife not to bother him of be very close to him when he was trying to formulate {begin inserted text}in{end inserted text} his mind one of his important speeches, so she, as she said, "I let him alone as much as possible," until the speech is prepared and ready for delivery. Then his nervous system seems to level off.

I was asked at this time to talk on Alaska to the Southern Homeopathic Medical Society. In the audience was Doctor Ray Lyman Wilbur, President of the American Medical Association, then of the Leland Stanford University.

Mrs. Coolidge talked to me in confidence about a goiter she felt she was developing and of which she had some knowledge for some little time, but she asked me to treat the conversation absolutely confidential and not share what she told me even with General Sawyer.

{begin inserted text}(Following?){end inserted text} where I was when I met Doctor Ray Lyman Wilbur within at this meeting which I addressed on Alaska and {begin inserted text}within{end inserted text} then some years I was to be very intimately associated with him and we became very fast friends. I had tremendous confidence and res e pect for him. Of course, I had gotten to know him when he was a consultant with us as has been enumerated in these memoirs in attendance on President Harding at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. He was one of the very great men in American medicine. Later I shall have a considerable to say about Doctor Wilbur.

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I talked to Mrs. Coolidge in regard to the President's health and the noticeable effects of the office of the Presidency upon him as observed by others. When he prepared his most important speeches, it was obvious to his associates and even to visitors that he was under abnormal strain. He dreaded going before the Congress to address them, even though he had been the presiding officer of the Senate when he was Vice President and had long experience in the legislature of Massachusetts. He was meticulous in the preparation of his speeches. I think this added to his strain. It was not easy for him to prepare them, very laborious. He did a beautiful job in the preparation of them.

Mrs. Coolidge informed me that the President's grandmother had raised him, that he did not control his disposition as he should at all times, particularly when under strain, because he concentrated furiously, and when he was under such a strain, he was not as patient as he normally was and became, at times, quite irritable. Mrs. Coolidge said she had early learned to feel that she should be "his safety valve". It was by being such an instrument she felt that she took the force he might expend on others on her. She said she had early learned that, if he came home from his office amiable and affable, that she was apprehensive that he might have exploded that day and have been offensive to some caller or callers; but, she said, if he came home in an irritable and highly nervous state and blew off, as she said, then she was consoled because she knew that he had not blown off in the presence of visitors or office force. She felt her mission was to be the "safety valve" and to not discourage him from

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taking off, as it were, on her. She said she well understood it. She knew his {begin inserted text}(??abial){end inserted text} disposition {begin inserted text}(in an effort){end inserted text} early in their marriage life and she knew she had to make it a very definite decision whether she could not help tolerate this sort of {begin inserted text}a{end inserted text} disposition, whether she loved him so greatly that she could weather it and she made the decision that she did love him so greatly that it would not disturb her equilibrium and that she would find soul satisfaction of relieving his tensions.

I learned early to recognize that the President had a temper and when nervously disturbed, could really explode, not only in action, but real volubly. I knew it was my job to cope with such a situation quietly, patiently, and try to be a counterforce as a physician to him. Time to time I would see him in his wrath which seemed to be on occasions very definitely justifiable, and other occasions without really any justification, because the excitation was of a very minor nature.

Mrs. Coolidge had the disposition like the Rock of Gibraltar. Of course, she could get irritated, but would have almost endless patience, but it is well known h there is a limit to patience under certain occasions.

The President realized that he could just go so far in displaying temper {begin inserted text}(slear?){end inserted text} temper irritation. He knew when he was brooked by Mrs. Coolidge that she would bring him up like a rider on a horse with a very "tight rein".

It was very pleasing to me, as an A {begin inserted text}a{end inserted text} lumnus of Mercersburg, when Mrs. B Coolidge took Miss Randolph and motored to Mercersburg for

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Field Day in the fall of 1923.

Mr. Richard M. Childs wrote a very good biography on President Coolidge that I read with enjoyment.

In preparation for the President's address to Congress in late November 1923, I found him on a s certain Sunday in his bedroom with the door closed, which was rarely the case. I learned that he was reading out loud or reciting his speech. Mrs. Coolidge told me this was a habit he had adopted sometime back and he felt that apparently it strengthened his vocal chords so that he could have a stronger voice to make his delivery. He had a sensitive throat and he was conscious of the fact. It made him apprehensive, but by, what he thought exercising the muscles of his throat and his mucous membranes, his throat would be in better shape v for any unusually important speech. It may have been effective to pursue such a practice or it may be one of his fo {begin inserted text}i{end inserted text} bles.

My examination of the President about that time showed him in very good condition. When I examined him on this occasion he observed he was always better when General Sawyer was away. This he had told me on several other occasions. On this occasion the General was back in Marion for a while. When he made these observations, I felt embarrassed, for I sensed that something may be brewing in the President's mind, the outcome of which I could not foresee, did I have the slightest knowledge of the workings of his mind in such a matter.

A day or two later after this previous examination of the President, I took Mrs. Coolidge to the Naval Medical School {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}for{end handwritten}{end inserted text} complete examination.

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She couldn't have been more gracious to the doctors and the nurses who {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}were meeting{end handwritten}{end inserted text} her for the first time and conducted the examinations. They were entranced by her. I could see that they were very apprehensive when they first met her and did not know how she might {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}treat{end handwritten}{end inserted text} them, but she readily, as she always did, made them feel very comfortable and very much at ease.

Helen, my wife, and I had another occasion to attend a football game and this was an Army and Marine Corps football game as the guests of and with Mrs. Coolidge and other guests that she had taken on this occasion. It was always a joy to go with her anywhere, anyplace. She was so thoughtful to include my wife on such outings when she felt that I should go with her or desired to have me accompany her.

On one of my Sunday visits in early December I took Suzanne with me, for I wanted her to see the new collie Mrs. Coolidge had acquired. Mrs. Coolidge certainly was affectionate with Suzanne. She almost ate her up when she saw her.

Congress convened on December the 3rd. My good friend, Speaker of the House Gillette's position was questioned, according to the press, but I had faith that he would win re-election.

That day I had received an invitation to speak on January 10th before a Masonic group in Philadelphia ?? .

Mrs. Boone and I were invited to a musicale at the White House on December the 6th, following a Cabinet Dinner.

At 12:30 that noon we had been invited to sit in the President's box by Mrs. Coolidge and with her to hear the President's speech to a joint session of Congress. I felt it was very excellent, clear-cut,

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(Insert)

Excerpts from Annual Message of the President of the United States (Calvin Coolidge) to a Joint Session of the Senate and House of Representatives, dated December 6, 1923:

"Since the close of the last Congress the Nation has lost President Harding. The world knows his kindness and his humanity, his greatness and his character. He has left his mark upon history. He has made justice more certain and peace more secure. The surpassing tribute paid his memory as he was borne across the continent to rest at last at home revealed the place he held in the hearts of the American people. But this is not the occasion for extended reference to the man or his work. In this presence, among those who knew and loved him, that is unnecessary. But we who were associated with him could not resume together the functions of our office without pausing for a moment, and in his memory reconsecrating ourselves to the service of our country. He is gone. We remain. It is our duty, under the inspiration of his example, to take up the burdens which he was permitted to lay down, and to develop and support the wise principles of government which he represented. . . .

"The prohibition amendment to the Constitution require d {begin inserted text}s{end inserted text} the Congress and the President to provide adequate laws to prevent its violation. It is my duty to enforce such laws. . . .

"It is 100 years since our country announced the Monroe doctrine. This principle has been ever since, and is now, one of the main foundations of our foreign relations. It must be maintained. . . .

"The world has had enough of the curse of hatred and selfishness, of destruction and war. It has had enough of the wrongful use of

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material power. For the healing of the nations there must be good will and charity, confidence and peace. The time has come for the more practical use of moral power, and more reliance upon the principle that right makes it w {begin inserted text}s{end inserted text} own might. Our authority among the nations must be represented by justice and mercy. It is necessary not only to have faith, but to make sacrifices for our faith. The spiritual forces of the world make all its final determinations. It is with these voices that America should speak. Whenever they declare a righteous purpose there need he no doubt that they will be heard. America has taken her place in the world as a Republic--free, independent, powerful. The best service is the assurance that this place will be maintained."

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concise, and courageous. We learned that the radio broadcasting of it worked very well.

I rode with Slemp the next day in the park. He showed fatigue, quite a little ne ? {begin inserted text}r{end inserted text} vousness. He said he could not handle the political end and clerical job all at one time, and he much preferred th at {begin inserted text}e{end inserted text} politics of the job. He did not like, as he called it, the clerical phase of it.

December the 8th I was invited for the first time to the famous Gridiron Club Dinner. It was a magnificent affair and I had never seen anything like it. The President was in fine form and very humorous and made a very splendid address. I think the fact that he had completed his address to the Congress, that was behind him, he was relieved and relaxed in being out with a lot of newspapermen on such an auspicious occasion as the Gridiron Dinner. It was a most unique affair. There is nothing like it anywhere in the world, I do not believe.

General Sawyer was away at Marion, so the next morning when I saw the President as customary, he was very pleased to have my reaction to his address before the Gridiron Club. Felt he was very relaxed and enjoyed being out with the boys, as it were, after getting rid of the strain of the preparation and the making of his address before the Congress of the day before. He was very well received at the Gridiron Club. They seemed to enjoy keen humor immensely. Some had never seen that part of Mr. Coolidge, had not realized that he had a sense of humor, nor know how to expound it before the public.

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I had another pleasurable trip to Mercersburg, taking the Coolidge boys. I was allowed to take Suzanne with us. Even though she was a little tot of three, she enjoyed her first visit to my preparatory school alma mater very much and the evidence {begin inserted text}Irvines{end inserted text} were highly complimentary of her; thought she was sweet and lovely little girl.

Helen and I were invited by the Secretary and Mrs. Work to see a picture of Alaska at the Interior Department building.

The 13th of December General Sawyer in (evening) {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}the evening{end handwritten}{end inserted text} of that day in the Harding Memorial Association office which had been set up, said he wanted to talk "frankly" with me. He was very pale and looked old. He said he resented my having examined President Coolidge during his absence. As a matter of fact, there had been no {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}comprehensive{end handwritten}{end inserted text} examination of the President for the two previous months. He became very nasty. {begin inserted text}He{end inserted text} S aid he discussed the situation with his son and with Mrs Harding. I told him my {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}there had{end handwritten}{end inserted text} reason {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}s{end handwritten}{end inserted text} {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}developed{end handwritten}{end inserted text} to know President Coolidge's {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}physical{end handwritten}{end inserted text} condition; was necessary ; I was responsible for him {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}the President's health{end handwritten}{end inserted text} in the absence of {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}his{end handwritten}{end inserted text} (General Sawyer {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}'s) absence. I explained that the President{end handwritten}{end inserted text} and when he was under considerable strain writing {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}while preparing{end handwritten}{end inserted text} his message to Congress, {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}with him{end handwritten}{end inserted text} becom e {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}ing{end handwritten}{end inserted text} highly nervous, was not sleeping well, his digestion seemed to be upset. {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}and with impaired-digestion.{end handwritten}{end inserted text} I told General Sawyer that he was away a great deal and I rarely knew whe ther {begin inserted text}n{end inserted text} he was going away {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}nor{end handwritten}{end inserted text} when he was going to {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}would{end handwritten}{end inserted text} return, because {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}since{end handwritten}{end inserted text} he did not keep me informed, yet {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}even though{end handwritten}{end inserted text} I was holding {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}bearing{end handwritten}{end inserted text} the responsibility of {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}the health{end handwritten}{end inserted text} President and Mrs. Coolidge and others at the White House. He instructed me to inform him whenever I treated any members of the White House and not to "render opinions on conditions of health". I told him I interpreted his

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confirmed mine {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}previously stated sensitiveness had been confirmed by own observations, of him.{end handwritten}{end inserted text} His feelings were predicated on his self opinion his sensitivityness. I found it most difficult as time went on to please him, because he had evidence or an attitude of not only criticism by {begin inserted text}but{end inserted text} hypercriticism. I was kindly disposed to him because I felt that he was suffering from continued strain and depression incident to President Harding's death, which I could well understand. I tried in every way to please him. I certainly was not willing to sacrifice my professional opinions just to do so, nor to neglect the care of the President or Mrs. Coolidge or their sons. I met the situation {begin inserted text}s{end inserted text} in each instance as I felt it was required of me. would not {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}I was not willing to{end handwritten}{end inserted text} try to evaluate what I did as to whether it would please or displease General Sawyer, when it was purely a matter of professional judgments interpretation of professional requirements.

About this time that {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}Periodically{end handwritten}{end inserted text} I took Mrs Coolidge to the {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}dental clinic of the{end handwritten}{end inserted text} Naval Medical School where I had great confidence in the senior dental officer,, Doctor William Darnall {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}, whom{end handwritten}{end inserted text} S he liked him very much. {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}On one of those occasions{end handwritten}{end inserted text} I talked with her in regard to General Sawyer's instructions conflicting with those she gave me, which was , that I was not to tell him my examination of her. She very emphatically directed me to carry out her instructions and say nothing about her health to General Sawyer; then added that she understood the situation perfectly and I should not feel any concern about it, except she knew that I rather could not help be concerned about it and {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}for{end handwritten}{end inserted text} she was aware {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}that{end handwritten}{end inserted text} I did not wish to have any unpleasantness with General Sawyer. The next day Mrs. Coolidge informed me that in the presence of

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the President she told General Sawyer that I was carrying out certain things for her and that I would continue doing so under her instruction, that there was nothing wrong, but she wanted him (General Sawyer) to understand the situation absolutely. He returned later to the White House very much agitated to have a talk with Mrs. Coolidge. She told him he was making too much of a very small matter. She told him also not to discuss the matter with me.

(End of reel.)

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