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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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The Washington EVENING STAR under date of October 28, 1924, had a photograph of the casket of Secretary Wallace being carried out of the front door of the north portico. Each side of the casket, cabinet standing {begin inserted text}cabinet{end inserted text} officers. Left to right, at the left of the photograph representative of the Secretary of State at the head of the line, Secretary of the Treasury Mellon, Attorney General Stone, Secretary of the Navy Curtis D. Wilbur, Secretary of Labor James J. Davis.

Right hand side of the casket listed right to left is Secretary of War John W. Weeks, Postmaster General Harry S. New, Secretary of Interior Doctor Hubert Work.

Then the article is captioned, "Funeral Services For Wallace Today From White House". Subheading, "Dr. Radcliffe Will Officiate; Cabinet Members To Be Honorary Pallbearers." Another subheading, "Three Sons Of Secretary Arrive In Washington." Next subheading, "Gore Cancels Speeches As He Takes Charge As Head Of Department".

Then to quote portions of the article:

"Funeral services will be held today for Henry C. Wallace, in Secretary of Agriculture, from {begin inserted text}in{end inserted text} the East Room of the White House at 11 o'clock. At 2 o'clock this afternoon the body will be taken to Des Moines, Iowa, for burial Wednesday."

Services were very impressive. In this East Room I had personally delightful and Joyous experiences. I had very, very sad ones,attendance there four funerals in a very short time of patients whom I knew intimately, {begin inserted text}(for){end inserted text} whom I had labored hard, giving every ounce of strength

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in their behalf, having very great affection for each one, because I knew them in their hours of trial, hours of suffering, hours when they faced into eternity. (President Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Jr., Mrs. Work {begin inserted text}{begin handwritten}died May 9{end handwritten}{end inserted text} , and Secretary Wallace were the four.)

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I was directed to ac o {begin inserted text}c{end inserted text} ompany Mrs. Wallace to Des Moines, Iowa. We left Washington at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, following the services in the White House, on special cars provided by the railroad company, arriving at Des Moines, Iowa, the next evening at 6 o'clock, the funeral being held in Des Moines the following day, which was October 30th.

We left Des Moines that evening for Washington.

I had become very fond of Mrs. Wallace and I was introduced, following the funeral services, to each member of the family. Before I left Des Moines that evening Mrs. Wallace took me out into the pantry, very informally there, in a family circle introduced me to her children, and I was very much impressed by the different ones. They were each different, and after each had left the room Mrs. Wallace described characteristics of each one and how different each was from the other. I remember very vividly her saying how Henry was my firstborn and my oldest child. She said, "I love him dearly, but I have never been able to understand him." That thought, or what she said rather, passed through my mind many, many times in later years with the events of history in which her son Henry were very intimately involved as Secretary of Agriculture, Vice President, two years later as a Presidential candidate so-called Progressive Party, whatever that may have connoted in those days. Her other th children were more appealing to me as I met them. Very taken with the two

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daughters, both of whom married diplomats of foreign countries.

The day after I left Des Moines the train passed through Chicago, I had an opportunity during the hours in Chicago to call on Mr. William M. Butler, the National Chairman of the Republican National Committee at his headquarters. I have spoken of him heretogore in these memoirs as a very intimate friend of President Coolidge in whom President Coolidge had such confidence that he wished him to be unencumbered let with an advisory committee and that {begin inserted text}let{end inserted text} Mr. Butler run the campaign himself, close advisement by the President. He later became United States Senator. I shopped at Marshall Fields magnificent store. Visited the Board of Trade. Never saw such excitement. Then continued on my journey to Washington.

One day I received a note from the office of Secretary of Agriculture, clipping attached, and with the request that I comment if I saw fit on the contents of that clipping, which stated : ,

"Henry Wallace Gave Last Thought Of Iowa". Article:

"There is a touching story of the last hours of Henry C. Wallace, Secretary of Agriculture, which appears in the " {begin inserted text}'{end inserted text} Iowa Legionnaire'. The scene was laid in the room of a Washington hospital. Mr. Wallace was lying in his room very ill. A physician, seeking to revive him from a sinking spell, began to whistle the Iowa Corn Song.

"As the strains of the song floated through the room, Mr. Wallace opened his eyes a {begin inserted text}s{end inserted text} lowly and a faint smile lighted up his face. The physician whistled on, finally coming to the last line: 'That's where the tall corn grows.' (To explain, that is the Iowa theme song. I had been taught it by Secretary Wallace as he taught the other members of

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the Presidential party on our cruising of Alaskan waters up into the great far North. He sang it lustily many, many times on the trip.)

"With a great effort Mr. Wallace drew his arm from under the covers, held it up as high as he possibly could for just a moment in his weakened state , . Then he lapsed again into unconsciousness.

"It was his last conscious act. The end came a few hours later. His heart was in his beloved Iowa near death, had been in his life."

I can verify being the physician in the case and the one standing beside the Secretary at the time this supposed . . . .

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