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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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(Recorded
7-16&17-64)

Before the President and First Lady would le {begin inserted text}a{end inserted text} ve the White House, there was a telephone call from it to the Commanding Officer of the MAYFLOWER to inform the latter that the President had left the White House. It was a distance of some miles between it and the Navy Yard so that there was a time factor which permitted the Commanding Officer of the MAYFLOWER to notify the Commandant, who in a few minutes would leave his office or quarters and proceed to the dock alongside of which was moored the MAYFLOWER. The Navy Yard gate would telephone immediately when the Presidential car would pass through it. At this point all hands were called to Quarters and manned the rail. The Commandant stood at the foot of the gangway and was the President and First Lady alighted from their limousine, he would greet them. Then with the President pr o {begin inserted text}e{end inserted text} ceding, he and the First Lady walked up the gangway.

The Commanding Officer stood at the head of the gangway with the Executive Officer at the head of the formation of officers, the others standing according to their seniority of rank. As I was next senior to the Executive Officer, I stood next to him and, therefore, was close to the gangway. The band stood on the quarterdeck.

{begin inserted text}As{end inserted text} The guests of the President and First Lady had already arrived before the President and First Lady arrived, they were assembled beyond the band on the quarterdeck.

I remember so well one day the President brought aboard his Aunt Sarah Pollard from Vermont as a guest. I do not believe she had ever been to Washington and on her arrival was a White House

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guest. President and Mrs. Coolidge made an exception and had her ride in the car from the White House with them to the Navy Yard. When the alighted, the Commandant shook hands with President and Mrs. Coolidge and was introduced to the President's Aunt Sarah. When the President set foot on the lower end of the gangway, the bugle sounded Attention and all hands came to Salute. The President proceeded up the gangway with his Aunt Sarah on his left arm and Mrs. Coolidge following. the President ascended the gangway by himself. He was helping his old aunt on this occasion. When they got to the top of the gangway, the President stepped on deck, the band immediately proceeded to play the National Anthem, and the President doffed his hat, held it over his heart with his right hand, stood that way at attention in silence. I was standing right opposite the President and Mrs. Pollard. While the band was playing, she looked up at the President and {begin inserted text}in{end inserted text} amazement and she said in her Vermont way, "Cal, this can't be for you, is it?" He in his nasal twang, without changing the expression, {begin inserted text}and{end inserted text} looking {begin inserted text}very{end inserted text} straight ahead at the band, said under his breath: "No, it's not for me personally, but it's for the office of the President of the United States and I have the greatest respect for the Presidency." The President and his Aunt Sarah then proceeded down the deck, passing by the row of officers , and enlisted men assembled on that side of the ship, and went beyond the band. The band then, while he was marching down after the National Anthem, he walked down while they were playing the Ruffles and the Flourishes. The President and Mrs. Coolidge then greeted their guests and Aunt Sarah was introduced

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to the other guests. The band and the crew were then dismissed. The Captain and Executive Officer went to the bridge, and the ship got underway.

Mrs. Coolidge seemed like a girl out of school whenever she was aboard the MAYFLOWER. She just loved being aboard. She seemed to have thrown out all the cares that she would normally have and the formality of the White House and could stroll around as she wished freedom and enjoying the companionship {begin inserted text}(written?){end inserted text} on the deck or in the cabins and enjoying the her friends brought along. Many times they were not friends, but government associates they did not know before but for one reason or other had been invited by the President and Mrs. Coolidge.

Not always would the President inform Mrs. Coolidge of the guest list, which was very irritating to her when he did not do so. This was one of his little quirks and he seemed to enjoy it as a matter of teasing, I thought, or he might have some other reason on certain occasions. When this happened, she would not {begin inserted text}(naturally?){end inserted text} usually go aft and greet the guests. She was not {begin inserted text}(way?){end inserted text} with who was to be present. She did not want to be caught unawares. It was very embarrassing to her not to be able to greet {begin inserted text}the{end inserted text} people by their names, know something about them. As the President proceeded aft, she would step through the row of officers into a cabin on the main deck, which we called the smoking cabin, and summon me to follow her. I would go in and she would ask me if I knew who was in the guest list. Well, I usually knew because it was phoned to the Captain of the ship before the guests arrived, and I would show her the list

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or tell her who they were. After she was acquainted with that information, she would go back aft and she would most graciously greet her guests and be just as pleasant as though she had not been annoyed by this failure of the President to inform her who the guests were to be.

Before we did that or at other times, she usually discussed with me the seating of the guests, as that was one of my jobs was to seat the guests and assign them to their rooms, although the Captain of the ship entered into the assignment of rooms primarily {begin inserted text}ordinarily{end inserted text} , but at times he would delegate that to me.

The President knew it was an obligation o to have the wife of the senior government official, or whoever it might be considered the senior guest, sit on his right, the next senior wife on his left, but if one or both of them were people he did not know and were people that had very little conversation, and I should say not particularly interesting, I would be tipped off by Mrs. Coolidge to do a little reshuffling, particularly after the seniormost wife was arranged to be seated on the President's right, that I would make sure that the person on his left under the circumstances to which I have referred, would have had some quiet unconversational person, if not very interesting person, sitting on each side of him. The same, Mrs. Coolidge would tip me off as to some very attractive younger woman to put on the left of the President, {begin inserted text}and{end inserted text} one who was full of interesting and jovial conversation. He never spoke about it or made any reference to it, but I am sure he was human, male who admired ladies and liked to have attractive women beside him. He

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certainly had a most attractive and charming wife, and she always sat opposite to him, the seniormost male guest on her right, and the next seniormost male guest on her left. She didn't have to worry about whether or not they could make interesting conversation, because she {ILLEGIBLE} {begin inserted text}was full{end inserted text} of it and she was a very ready talker, big laugher, great sense of humor to keep the table alive with conversation and she would extend herself more and more in that regard if the President on certain occasions would be very quiet and not given to conversing very much. She always knew how to fill in when he was particularly quiet. She knew his moods and {begin inserted text}his{end inserted text} temperament perfectly, how to deal with them too.

Aunt Sarah Pollard enjoyed her trip on the MAYFLOWER outing very much and she was a very sweet and charming, quite quaint, Vermont lady, a lady of the old school, as one might say.

On another cuirse {begin inserted text}cruise{end inserted text} on the MAYFLOWER the President had as one of the very special guests his father, Colonel John Coolidge of Plymouth, Vermont. He was a very dignified, tall gentleman, and he was {begin inserted text}really{end inserted text} very handsome, fine features, nose, good lips, good sized ears, high forehead, clear eyes, and had man who had come from the soil of Vermont and seemed to be carved out of the granite. Understood he was part Indian and he had a {ILLEGIBLE} resemblance to an Indian in some regards. The sort of man one would look at twice, i interesting to study, because his face evidenced that he had lived long and had great experience and his mind was c {begin inserted text}t{end inserted text} apped there would be gushes of information to come forth from it he had learned in the school of practical experience.

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When he came for his first visit at the White House, he arrived in the afternoon before the President took a cruise on the MAYFLOWER and, naturally, brought his father aboard ship with him. He was assigned to one of the guest rooms on the deck below the staterooms of the President and First Lady. As was my custom, I went to the President's stateroom when I knew he would be dressing for dinner. After he had about ac o {begin inserted text}c{end inserted text} omplished his dressing, he told me to go down to the lower deck to his father's stateroom, where I would find in the closet a new tuxedo which he had had purchased for his father. His father was absolutely unaware of this fact. He also said that I would find a stiff-bosomed shirt, dress shirt in one of the drawers and a box containing dress cufflinks and studs for the bosomed shirt. He also said that I would find a black bow tie worn by his father. When I took out the tuxedo from the closet and informed Colonel Coolidge of what his son had said, he offered no protestations, did not seem a bit surprised, certainly had a poker face, and would not give anyone soul satisfaction that he this was a surprise to him. He did as I was instructed put on the tuxedo and the white stiff-bosomed shirt, and he asked me to tie the bow tie for him. I stood behind him with my arms around his neck and bow knot of his tie. Colonel Coolidge looked very handsome in the tuxedo. He didn't gaze at himself in the mirror, as one would want to do upon wearing for the first time such an evening attire, merely strode out of his stateroom and went above deck into the living room to greet other guests prior to dinner. Mi Men might have thought that

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he had customarily dressed for dinner in a tuxedo every night of his life for a long period of time. He was a very handsome figure so attired.

I watched the President and Mrs. Coolidge when they entered the drawing room to chat with their guests before dinner. Not a word was said by the President to his father about this new suit of clothes or how well he looked in it, but I couldn't help but note the glint in the President's eye of much admiration in beholding his father dressed in a tuxedo. He made a very striking and handsome and dignified appearance that would have become any elaborate and rich drawing room in the largest home in America. There was no affectation with Colonel Coolidge. He was a natural. I found him to be a storehouse of information and wondered how he acquired such a wealth of information, but he had lived long, was a keen observer, and lived close to the soil and to his fellow man, was a benefactor of it in various and sundry ways, and as the leader in his small hamlet community and throughout the State of Ohio. {begin inserted text}?{end inserted text} He acquired his title of Colonel because he had been appointed with such title by a Governor of Vermont onto his staff at one period. The title seemed to have stuck with him until his death.

I might go ahead of myself a great many years and state that John Coolidge in his 56th year of age very striking counterpart in appearance to his grandfather, Colonel Coolidge. On one of my visits to John Coolidge's home in Plymouth, Vermont, I studied b very carefully a bronze bust of Colonel Coolidge which reposed on the mantlepiece in the Coolidge home, that is, young John Coolidge's home

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in Plymouth. As I studied the bust and turned it from full face to profile of the bust, the head figure, I asked John one day to stand over beside his grandfather's bust and with his head pointed exactly as it was his grandfather's at the time I was looking so that I could get a profile of both old Colonel Coolidge and his grandson John. Never had I seen such a striking likeness between grandfather and grandson in my life before. John has developed in recent years long eyebrows quite similar to his grandfather, no doubt. Eyes are set rather deeply as his grandfather. His nose is almost an identical nose to his grandfather's. His lips are very similar. So the whole countenance is a very, very striking duplication in John of his distinguished grandfather, and I know John is very proud of the fact to have that observation made--and he should be. John has great reverence for his grandfather. He is indeed properly proud that he bears his grandfather's name. Much of his life in recent years is given to the restoration of the Coolidge homestead and land in Plymouth Notch, Vermont. John has restored to active use the cheese factory developed by his grandfather in Plymouth Notch. In fact, he made over the building and got in all modern new equipment. This created a very fine establishment which provides employment for the limited opportunity, but most of all, John is full of sentiment about everything connected with his grandparents, his parents, and Plymouth Notch. The cheese is a very fine product. Sales are sizable, even without any advertising, except by those who purchase the cheese or come to the cheese factory and taste of it and pass the commendable word along to friends.

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I remember so well the first visit Colonel Coolidge made to the White House and thenaboard the MAYFLOWER with President and Mrs. Coolidge. They cruised down the Potomac. I, walking behind the radio shack on the main deck just over the President and First Lady's staterooms, felt side of which there had been brought up from below deck a comfortable davenport with a green co f {begin inserted text}v{end inserted text} er. As the ship was cruising along this particular day, I saw the President sitting on one end of the davenport with Colonel Coolidge on the other end of the davenport , {begin inserted text}and{end inserted text} quite a space between them. were looking out along the river at the scenery as we cruised by, not saying a word to each other, communing, it seemed, in silence, as no doubt had been their habit for a lifetime. As I stood there, presently the President said in his nasal twang and without looking toward his father but straight out over the waters: "How is the sheep business?" His father, without turning his head toward his son and looking straight ahead, said: "Good." Then after quite a long pause the President inquired: "What are they bringing the pound?" Another sizable silence when his father replied with the price he was getting per pound for the sheep in the area. Then, as I remember, there was a third question by the President of his father and a long pause following the previous one, then after the President's third pause another long pause on the part of his father before he replied, after which a long, long silence continued. Whether they spoke any more during the hour or more they sat on the deck davenport that particular day, I do not know, but I was sure this [???]ing conversation (?) was enjoyed by both the President

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and his father. They could silently fill in the conversation, knowing each other so intimately as they did, as each knew so much about the farming community, products of the farms in Vermont.

President and Mrs. Coolidge were certainly very kind in permitting Mrs. Boone and me to have parties whenever we wished to and when the Presidential quarters were not otherwise occupied or used aboard the MAYFLOWER and when she was lying at her dock at the Washington Navy Yard. We had many such parties. It provided a great deal of pleasure to hosts of our friends in the Washington community and visitors thereto from time to time. We were permitted to use the President's dining room, the drawing room, and the guests could use the guest rooms, washrooms, during the hours they were aboard for the parties we gave. When Mrs. Coolidge heard that we were having a party, she would always send flowers in abundance to the MAYFLOWER to decorate the table and the [???]s rooms. Our daughter Suzanne, as I told before, had through us the privilege of having parties for her young friends from time to time. Usually these were held on a Saturday afternoon. Our parties were always in the evenings. Our friends thought very delightful parties were provided and everyone loved to come aboard the MAYFLOWER to see it or to be entertained thereon. Of course, I paid for the food, but we could use as much of the ship as we felt desirable and necessary for the entertainment of our friends. In clear and balmy weather our guests loved to stroll the decks and danced up on the decks. When the weather was inclement, all entertainment, including the dancing after dinner, was held below the deck. We were privileged to use the ship's

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orchestra to provide the music for our guests and the dancing and {begin inserted text}also{end inserted text} they played in the passageway outside the dining room while we ate. They were a part of the Marine band assigned to the MAYFLOWER. We were not restricted in any way what part of the ship we could use for entertaining. Of course, we never encroached on the privacy of the officers or enlisted men's quarters.

Suzanne, our daughter, had a relationship to the MAYFLOWER from the time she was under 4 until she was 13. I never saw children happier than they were when they were aboard the MAYFLOWER. In all the years since these parties occurred, I have heard repeatedly comments by the parents or the little children as they were there, who are parents themselves now, to speak in the most joyful terms of the wonderful parties they were privileged to enjoy as our guests aboard the Presidential yacht.

The chief steward of the ship was a delightful fellow. He liked very much having these parties, as were the Ph {begin inserted text}F{end inserted text} ilipino boys whom we called the messboys and assigned to the President's quarters. The cook found great delight in arranging menus, various and sundry in nature, and always they seemed to be different whenever we gave a party. The food was always delicious and highly praised by our guests. They were comparatively very elaborate meals predicated on our limited financial status while I was a young Naval officer serving aboard the MAYFLOWER for seven years.

Besides the beautiful flowers to decorate the ship for our entertainment, the enlisted men and the Filipinos particularly seemed to have great delight in using their own ingenuity in the

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way of decorations, always varied ones, never seemed to be the same. The shipfitter aboard the MAYFLOWER made a large tin container for water, and we placed it on the middle of the table to similate a pond. Then there would be a centerpiece of stones or rocks, moss and flowers, and even a pipe brought up through the table or through pipes across the table place from a point beneath it to provide what running water into this pond and to take off the overflow, the assignment, with a continuous flow of water in and out of the simulated pond, tin pond. The centerpiece was raised in great heights, depending on what kind of decorations were to be used. Of course, the pond and centerpieces were well screened so that it just looked like a real pond and the centerpieces were always very artistic, such as Filipinos are able to create. I might say the Oriental, as we all {begin inserted text}well{end inserted text} know, is very ingenious in creation vegetation of all sorts for decorative purposes.

Then we would float plastic ducks in the pond, much to the delight of our youthful guests. They would scream with delight as they beheld these ducks floating around. They always souvenirs, mementoes of the party given to the children to take home. I believes from what I have heard, many of them, as I am late in life now, have been retained by the recipients as they grew up. {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}See pages 80--82{end handwritten}{end inserted text}

President Wilson lay stricken in his home on "S" Street, N.W., in Washington. Some days before his death on February 3, 1924, I wrote to his physician, Rear Admiral Cary T. Grayson, who then was serving as Commanding Officer of the Naval Dispensary at the

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Navy Department in Washington. After President Wilson had left the White House, President Harding very considerately had Admiral Grayson ordered to command the Naval Dispensary at the Navy Department, so that he might be near and available to continue his professional care of the former PresidentWilson. Admiral Grayson's period of service had been terminated at the White House on March 4, 1921, at the expiration of President Wilson's administration. Due to the fact that he had been promoted, catapulted in his promotion by Presidential decree which required a long time for Senate confirmation, he was elevated from a Lieutenant Commander to a Rear Admiral, jumping over some Lieutenant Commanders, all Commanders, and all Captains or what were then known as Medical Directors of the Naval Medical Corps. He had not been benefited by a rounding out duty services, varied assignments. I do not believe he had ever had any other sea duty except aboard the MAYFLOWER, from what I have heard. I never heard that he had duty in a Naval Hospital. So that, when it came to reassign Admiral Grayson when he left the White House, in I was informed it was a very difficult decision for Naval officers to make, but President Harding determined himself that Admiral Grayson should be retained in Washington in some capacity available to care for the very ailing former President Wilson. Because of Admiral Grayson's rank, while there had never been ad an admiral assigned to command a hospital or a dispensary, such as the Navy Department Dispensary, a precedent was established and Admiral Grayson was ordered to command that Dispensary. It was not a sizable command in those days, but a small one. It had importance because of the clientele that were cared for through the auspices of

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that Naval medical facility. There was no evidence to support that Admiral Grayson was much of a student of medicine. I never heard of him making a presentation of a professional subject before a medical organization. I have been in his office at the Naval Dispensary in Washington when his desk would be piled up with unwrapped medical journals. {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}See pages XXI-80 & 81 re Pres, Wilson{end handwritten}{end inserted text}

When President Wilson died, I had been serving at the White House about 20 months and I had become acquainted with Admiral Grayson and saw him rather frequently at the Dispensary which I had reason to visit often and utilize medical logistic support in the way of drugs, dressings, etc.

Having been intimately related to a President who died when I was in attendance upon him, I could visualize and appreciate how keenly Admiral Grayson felt in the death of President Wilson. He had served with President Wilson for most of his eight years in the Presidency. I presume became the closest person to the President, except Mrs. Wilson. It was known that the President was approaching the end of life, I thought, because of my White House association, my official relationships with Admiral Grayson at the Dispensary {begin inserted text}that{end inserted text} it was becoming for me to offer any services to Admiral Grayson, which I did.

A few weeks after President Wilson's death, Admiral Grayson wrote me the following letter:

"CARY T. GRAYSON
"1600 16th Street
"Washington, D. C.

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"February 20, 1924

"Dear Boone."

"Thank you very much for your kind note. It is indeed most heartening to be assured of your sympathy, and I want you to know of my deep gratitude. I am encouraged and heartened by your friendly expressions.

"I cannot tell you how deeply I appreciated your offer to come to help me, but when your note came the end was very near and there was nothing more we could do.

"Some day I want to tell you personally my grateful feeling to you for your offer to help me in that trying time.

"Warm personal regards,

"Sincerely yours,
"Cary T. Grayson

" Joel T. Boone
"USS MAYFLOWER
"Washington, D. C."

(End of reel.)

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