Grace Coolidge

Grace Coolidge
Coolidge in 1924
First Lady of the United States
In role August 2, 1923 – March 4, 1929
President	Calvin Coolidge
Preceded by	Florence Harding
Succeeded by	Lou Hoover
Second Lady of the United States
In role March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923
Vice President	Calvin Coolidge
Preceded by	Lois Marshall
Succeeded by	Caro Dawes
First Lady of Massachusetts
In role January 2, 1919 – January 6, 1921
Governor	Calvin Coolidge
Preceded by	Ella McCall
Succeeded by	Mary Cox
Second Lady of Massachusetts
In role January 6, 1916 – January 2, 1919
Lieutenant Governor	Calvin Coolidge
Preceded by	Beatrice Barry (1915)
Succeeded by	Mary Cox
First Lady of Northampton
In role January 3, 1910 – January 1, 1912
Mayor	Calvin Coolidge
Preceded by	Margaret O'Brien
Succeeded by	Catherine Feiker
Personal details
Born	Grace Anna Goodhue (1879-01-03)January 3, 1879 Burlington, Vermont, U.S.
Died	July 8, 1957(1957-07-08) (aged 78) Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Resting place	Plymouth Notch Cemetery
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Calvin Coolidge ​ ​ (m. 1905; died 1933)​
Children	2, including John
Education	University of Vermont
Signature

Grace Anna Coolidge (née Goodhue; January 3, 1879 – July 8, 1957) was the first lady of the United States from 1923 to 1929 as the wife of the 30th president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge. She was previously the second lady of the United States from 1921 to 1923 and the first lady of Massachusetts from 1919 to 1921.

Grace was raised in Burlington, Vermont, and attended the University of Vermont where she co-founded the school's chapter of Pi Beta Phi. Inspired by a neighbor, Grace moved to Northampton, Massachusetts, to teach at Clarke School for the Deaf. She met Calvin Coolidge in Northampton before marrying him in 1905, and they had two sons together. Grace stayed in Northampton to raise their children while Calvin's political career progressed in Boston. They moved to Washington, D.C. when Calvin was elected vice president in 1921, and into the White House after the death of Warren G. Harding ascended Calvin to the presidency in 1923.

Grace was active as first lady, hosting thousands of guests each year, and she made regular public appearances in the president's stead. She was a highly popular first lady and highly regarded for her ability to charm visitors. Grace distanced herself from the politically active first ladies that preceded her, though she took quieter interest in helping women's groups and the deaf. She felt restricted by the role of first lady; she believed that it took priority over her own interests, and she was subject to many rules imposed on her by her husband to avoid controversy. She was especially affected by the death of her younger son in 1924, though she interrupted her duties as White House hostess for only a few weeks. In the final year of her tenure, Grace was afflicted with kidney disease which left her temporarily debilitated.

The Coolidges returned to Northampton in 1929, where Grace began writing poetry and autobiographical essays. Following Calvin's death in 1933, she became more independent and began traveling. Grace was an advocate of American involvement in World War II, and she lent her house to WAVES after the U.S. entered the war. She remained active on the board of Clarke School and in programs for the deaf until her death in 1957.

Early life

Childhood

Grace Anna Goodhue was born in Burlington, Vermont, on January 3, 1879, as the only child of Andrew Issachar Goodhue and Lemira Barrett Goodhue. She was part of the Goodhue family that was descended from the 1635 colonist William Goodhue. Each summer, she joined all of the Goodhues for a family reunion in Hancock, New Hampshire, until 1899 when the last of the Goodhue grandparents died. She also visited her maternal grandfather in the summers where she listened to his stories of the Civil War. Grace was close to her mother as a child, following her where she went and taking up the same household chores like sewing.

Grace's father was a milling engineer, and the family rented a house from his employer. Then in the early 1880s, her father built them a new home near the mill at 123 Maple Street. He made the house a luxurious one by installing several desirable features: a bathtub of tin and wood, a furnace that heated the entire home, and electric lights. With the exception of a spinal problem that was treated through exercise, Grace faced little adversity during her childhood. When her father was injured in a work accident in 1886, she stayed with their neighbors, the Yale family. Here she bonded with their adult daughter, June Yale. June began teaching at the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, Massachusetts, and sometimes brought students to Vermont in the summers. By her teenage years, Grace was helping June care for them.

Grace's father left the mill after his accident and co-founded a machine shop. He was a Democrat, and with this experience he was appointed by Democratic President Grover Cleveland as a steamboat inspector later in 1886. This brought money and status to the family in their small town. Grace had a deeply religious upbringing, raised on Puritan values and spending most of the family's social outings at church events. The family was Methodist until she was a teenager, when she convinced them to convert to Congregationalism. Andrew built a new home for the family at 312 Maple Street in 1899.

Education

Grace attended Burlington High School, where she studied Latin and French. She also received private lessons in piano, speech, and singing. She spoke at her school's commencement in 1897, delivering a speech she titled "Tramp Instinct".

Grace enrolled at the University of Vermont in 1897, but she dropped out that November because of an eye condition and returned the following year. She took little interest in her academics. Instead, Grace was involved with several activities in and out of the university, including dance, skating, tobogganing, sleighing, theater, Bible class, Christian Endeavor, and poetry. She also joined the glee club where she performed as a contralto, and she became her class's vice president in her sophomore year. Grace gained a reputation for being likeable and outgoing, and she was courted by several men over the course of her schooling. Her most serious relationship was with a man named Frank Joyner. Despite her family's reservations about Joyner, the two had an informal agreement that they would wed. Although the prevailing opinion at the time that rotundness was an attractive trait, Grace was insecure about her weight and restricted her diet.

Noticing a lonely-looking woman on the University of Vermont campus, Grace befriended Ivah Gale. Gale eventually moved into the Goodhue home where she shared a bedroom with Grace, and they were among those who co-founded the university's chapter of Pi Beta Phi, a women's fraternity. The group held its meetings in Grace's home. In 1901, Grace traveled to Syracuse, New York, to attend the fraternity's national convention. She graduated from the University of Vermont in 1902.

Once Grace graduated from university, she decided to teach at Clarke School for the Deaf. She wrote to the school's principal, June Yale's aunt Caroline Yale, about training as an instructor for the deaf. Grace moved to Northampton where she taught at the school for three years, first instructing the primary school children before working with middle school students. Her mother opposed the decision, wishing that Grace would be a teacher at a local school. Rather than teaching sign language, Grace followed the school's philosophy of instructing the students in lip reading.

Marriage and family

Grace met Calvin Coolidge in her second year at Northampton. While watering flowers outside of the dormitory, she first saw the young man through a window across from the school, where he was shaving wearing only long underwear and a derby hat. Calvin heard her laugh, and he subsequently asked his landlord, the school's steward Robert Weir, to introduce them. Wier set them up to both appear at a mutual friend's house. Joking about Calvin's reserved nature, he commented that if Grace could teach the deaf to hear, then she could perhaps teach the mute to speak. Grace had kept in touch with her previous suitor, Frank Joyner, but she ended the relationship with him. Grace and Calvin subsequently began a romantic relationship.

Calvin, active in local politics, took Grace to a Republican Party event at city hall for their first date. From then on, he could be found accompanying her to all of her picnics and dances, though he did not participate. To those around them, their relationship was defined by their contrasting personalities, as Calvin was quiet and reserved as opposed to her more outgoing demeanor. Despite this, they bonded over several shared qualities: their background as college educated Vermonters, mischievous senses of humor, religious sensibilities, and feelings of idealism and public service. The two frequently exchanged playful remarks targeting one another, often focused on Grace's cooking and Calvin's quietude, respectively. He welcomed her nasally impression of him. She got along well with Calvin's family and had their approval. Grace also had her friend Ivah Gale take a three hour buggy ride with Calvin, so Gale could form her own opinion on the man. Calvin said nothing during the trip, but Gale wanted the couple to stay together and said she had got along well with him.

The first time Calvin met Grace's parents, he asked permission to marry her. He proposed to Grace in 1905 by telling her "I am going to be married to you". Grace's mother was not fond of Calvin and sought to delay the wedding, but Calvin insisted on a date no later than October. The couple married in the parlor of the Goodhue family's home on October 4, 1905, with fifteen guests in attendance. The newlyweds took a short honeymoon in Montreal, but time was limited as Calvin had to return to Northampton to run as a candidate for the school board—he was not elected. They first lived in the Norwood Hotel for three weeks before staying in a home owned by a professor at Smith College. They moved to their long-term home at 21 Massasoit Street in 1906. The Coolidges had very little money in these early years of their marriage, but Grace was often the recipient of desirable clothes and hats as gifts from her husband. She otherwise made her own clothes. When the Norwood Hotel closed, they purchased some of its branded linen and silverware for their own use.

The Coolidges had two sons: John Coolidge on September 7, 1906, and Calvin Coolidge Jr. on April 13, 1908. Calvin was elected to the Massachusetts legislature shortly after their first son was born, so he spent much of his time in the state capital, Boston. They felt it was important not to let Calvin's career be a burden on the children, so the rest of the family stayed in Northampton and Calvin returned home on the weekends. Even when he was home, Calvin had Grace address the needs of their children. She participated with them in traditionally masculine activities, teaching them baseball and constructing wooden cars for them to ride in. She had little involvement in Calvin's professional life and made no attempt to be present for it after one instance when he asked her not to attend a speech he gave at their church.

Calvin left the state legislature in 1909 and became mayor of Northampton the following year, giving him a job that let him return to his family each night. He was elected to the state legislature again in 1911 and went back to Boston. Grace was a regular participant in church activities while Calvin was away and attended card parties with her friends, where she sewed while the others played. She visited Washington, D.C. for the first time in 1912 when she chaperoned a trip for students of Northampton High School. She is quoted as saying that she would one day return to the White House to play its piano, after a guard rebutted her attempt to do so. Calvin Jr was diagnosed with emphysema the following year, necessitating an operation.

Entering political life

Grace Coolidge in 1915

Grace ascended in her own political career within the ranks of Pi Beta Phi. She became president of the Western Massachusetts Alumnae Club in 1910, vice president of the fraternity's Alpha Province covering the entire East Coast in 1912, and president of the Alpha Province in 1915. She went on a tour of California for Pi Beta Phi that year, but her trip ended early when she received a telegram informing her that Calvin was a candidate to be lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. Her return home was delayed when her mother fell ill and Grace went to see her in Burlington.

Calvin was inaugurated as lieutenant governor on January 6, 1916. That same year, the couple joined Calvin's political ally Frank Stearns and his wife Emily Clark Stearns on a trip to Washington D.C. The Coolidges took on a housekeeper, Alice Reckahn, who stayed with them for decades. When World War I began, Grace worked with the other women in the community to conduct bond drives and support Red Cross, where she became co-chair of the Women's War Committee of Northampton.

After three years as lieutenant governor, Calvin was elected governor of Massachusetts in 1918. Despite being the governor's wife, Grace refused to move to Boston full time, choosing to stay with her sons in Northampton, which caused some displeasure in the state. She instead made periodic trips to the city. While staying in Boston, Grace joined her husband in his cramped room at the Adams House Hotel on Washington Street, which was expanded to two rooms so she could host guests. She was responsible for entertaining in the capital at times and became popular among guests despite her lack of experience as a hostess. Calvin had little time for Grace while he was governor, rarely visiting her in Northampton and sometimes having a staff member accompany her on his behalf during her visits to Boston.

Grace supported Calvin's decision to accept the Republican Party's nomination to be vice president of the United States in 1920 as the running mate of Warren G. Harding, though she also felt that he should accept nothing short of the presidential nomination. The Republican ticket won, and Calvin became vice president in 1921. Grace moved to Washington D.C. with him and enrolled their sons in boarding school at Mercersburg Academy. Grace and Calvin moved into a suite on the top floor of the Willard Hotel.

Second lady of the United States

Grace Coolidge in 1921

Being second lady of the United States brought Grace a larger national profile. She appeared at ceremonial events with Calvin, and her entertaining duties became much greater than they had been when she was the wife of a governor. Grace received guests at her home each week, sometimes in numbers well beyond her capacity to address them all. She also made weekly calls to the wives of many important figures in Washington. To alleviate her responsibilities, she hired a part-time secretary, and Calvin made a point of setting deadlines for their attendance at events so they could end their day early.

Lois Irene Marshall and Emily Clark Stearns, the previous second lady and the wife of Calvin's political ally, respectively, both became mentors for Grace as she acclimated to her new role. On her first night as second lady, Grace dined with the celebrated general John J. Pershing and the two bonded over their experiences as parents. Grace was president of the Senate Wives Club as second lady, and through this she continued her activity supporting the Red Cross. She also took dancing classes, though Calvin asked that she not be seen dancing in public and risk controversy. Her attendance at the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier left an impression on her in 1921.

The Hardings were not fond of the Coolidges. The first lady, Florence Harding, resented Grace's youth and popularity. Grace became responsible for Florence's hosting duties for a period of time in late 1922, after the first lady fell ill with life-threatening nephritis. The Coolidges were at Calvin's family home in Vermont when they received news that President Harding had died suddenly. Grace wept upon hearing the news and then prayed alongside her husband. She became first lady of the United States on August 2, 1923.

First lady of the United States

White House hostess

Grace Coolidge in 1923

The Coolidges were one of the most socially active families in the White House's history, entertaining many guests each day. Her public receptions brought a total of 20,000 to 25,000 people to the White House annually. In addition to her normal hosting duties, she held exclusive high teas in the Red Room that replaced the brief one-on-one meetings Florence Harding had with guests—Grace felt that these meetings excluded too many people. She believed that as first lady, she should invite as many guests as possible so everyone had an opportunity to meet with her. Grace was responsible for a large staff, including eighteen servants, a valet, a maid, and other cleaning staff. They affectionately referred to her as "Sunshine". Besides hosting, Grace's only daily responsibility was to arrange flowers for her bedroom and the West Sitting Hall. Calvin insisted on organizing White House events and catering, freeing her from a job that was typically expected of the first lady.

Grace preferred meeting common people over holding formal events. She especially found joy in her opportunities to work with children, including the White House egg rolling on Easter and on May Day celebrations. For Christmas 1923, Grace had the First Congregational Church choir and the Marine Band perform Christmas carols, and a new White House tradition was created when she invited watching passerby to come onto the lawn. She also held small musical events during Lent. Though she was personally unhappy with the effects of prohibition, her sense of legal obligation kept her from serving alcohol at the White House.

Grace wrote and received many letters, corresponding with her friends and the public. When she received gifts, she briefly kept them in her bedroom so she could send a truthful reply saying she enjoyed them. She replied to much of her mail personally, though she was assisted by her secretary. Grace first worked with the Hardings' secretary Laura Harlan, but she gave the role to White House staff member Mary Randolph after Harlan's departure in 1925. For her housekeeper, Grace fired Elizabeth Jaffray and replaced her with Ellen A. Riley. Having held the position since 1909, Jaffray had acted entitled to it and the authority it gave her. She retaliated by publishing a tell all, Secrets of the White House, which gave an unkind depiction of the Coolidges and made misleading claims.

Washington society welcomed Grace's unpretentious approach to her role as first lady, and she acted as a comforting presence for guests at receptions. She often saved face for her husband and his unusual social behavior. Grace's love for music meant that popular musicians were a common sight at the White House, which helped with the image of the Coolidge administration. Many of these musicians participated in Calvin's 1924 reelection campaign. The pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff played for the White House many times during the Coolidge presidency. When Al Jolson appeared at the White House, Grace sang alongside him.

Among Grace's more difficult guests was Queen Marie of Romania in October 1926. Known for her overpowering personality and love of media attention, the queen had to be constantly managed. Grace bonded with Marie over their shared experiences as mothers. She took to the queen's young son Nicholas, who felt out of place at the event until Grace welcomed him and had him sit with her at dinner. This contrasted with an enjoyable visit from John D. Rockefeller Jr. the next February, where Grace customized their menu and had high quality dishware brought in.

Public image

Grace Coolidge and her dog Rob Roy in 1924

Grace took on much of the social responsibilities of the president, which Calvin saw as a distraction from his work, and she made regular appearances at public events and charity programs. She typically allowed her photo to be taken, leading to frequent appearances in the newspapers. On Calvin's request, she refused any interviews that were asked of her, and she once responded to a request by making her comments in sign language. She was careful not to speak over radio, despite the attempts of radio technicians to discreetly capture her voice whenever she stood near a microphone at a public event. When they were with company, Grace addressed Calvin as "Mr. President".

The public primarily learned about the first lady through second-hand stories of her sociable demeanor. Anecdotes like her fascination with the 1925 solar eclipse and the Graf Zeppelin helped the public relate to her. When meeting with the public or political figures, she was aided by her ability to remember people's names and facts about their lives. Grace became known for her love of sports, and her support for the Washington Senators and the Boston Red Sox earned her the moniker "First Lady of Baseball", and she was devoted to the baseball player Babe Ruth. Her interest in gardening also became known, and the "Mrs. Coolidge rose" was named after her.

Grace's visibility as a college-educated woman made her into a symbol for women's opportunities in universities. She then became the first of the first ladies to receive an honorary degree; she received an honorary LL.D. from Boston University in 1924. She then received an honorary degree from George Washington University alongside her husband in 1929.

While she was first lady, Grace was plagued by false rumors, including rumors that she intended to divorce Calvin or that she was pregnant. The former caused the couple to make more frequent appearances together in public, while the latter prompted many gifts in the form of baby clothes. The Coolidges refused to openly respond to the rumors. There were also rumors that Grace had become romantically involved with her Secret Service guard Jim Haley or that Calvin was jealous of the time they spent together. Years after leaving the White House, she determined that there was no point where she had genuinely embarrassed herself.

Personal life

Grace Coolidge and her raccoon Rebecca in 1927

Grace was delighted when she became first lady of the United States, but she soon felt constrained by her role and the expectations that came with it. She described a divide between her true self and the person she was in the role, saying that her "personal likes and dislikes must be subordinated" to the first ladyship. When she was not tending to her responsibilities, Grace spent her days shopping and taking miles-long walks. She kept with her sewing and knitting, crafting some of her own dresses. She enjoyed the large residential quarters in the White House and decorated it to her liking.

To limit anything potentially controversial, Calvin strictly controlled Grace's activities. After she received press coverage for going out horse-riding, he instructed her to "not try anything new", and her personal projects were limited to the traditional role of the first lady to work with the Girl Scouts. He also asked her not to smoke in public, a rule which he had also imposed on himself. New constraints on her time also burdened her. She often did not know her own schedule, being told shortly beforehand whether she was to accompany her husband to an event or that he had scheduled an appearance for her. Adding to her stress, the weather in Washington caused problems with her sinuses.

Grace had a penchant for animals and used her time in the White House to gather numerous pets, including several dogs and birds. The family's white collies, Rob Roy and Prudence Prim, were the most popular among the public. For her closer friends, she left calling cards on behalf of her dog in addition to her own. Grace received several wild animals as gifts and had them sent to live in the zoo, but she kept a raccoon, Rebecca. Despite the Coolidge's adoration for the raccoon, Rebecca wreaked havoc on the White House and scared the staff, and she too was sent to live at the zoo.

The Coolidges always dined with guests or people staying at the White House during afternoon and evening meals, but each morning Grace and Calvin ate breakfast privately in their bedroom. Through her role, Grace became friends with figures like Alice Roosevelt Longworth and William Howard Taft. When Longworth discovered she was pregnant, Grace was the first person she told outside of her family. The Coolidges spent many of their weekends on the presidential yacht. During Calvin's presidency, the family vacationed in Massachusetts, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin. They also made occasional trips to attend events in New York City. In 1925, the Coolidges established a Summer White House in Swampscott, Massachusetts. She chose the location, but she regretted her selection when Calvin did not take to it. Grace enjoyed attending film and theater events, and she was a common sight at the National Theatre. In some cases, she sat among the audience instead of in a box. Grace was also the first of the first ladies to listen to the radio in the White House. In early 1924, Calvin Jr. taught his mother how to swim. According to Ike Hoover, the White House Chief Usher, Grace was the first first lady to try a cigarette.

The Coolidges were devastated by the sudden death of their son Calvin Jr. on July 7, 1924. He developed a blister on his foot while playing tennis a few days before, which caused lethal blood poisoning. Grace stopped hosting at the White House for several weeks while she grieved. She and Calvin became emotionally distant as neither were comfortable expressing their grief. To ease her pain, Grace took up poetry and looked to religion. Each day, she placed one rose in a vase beside his photograph and one on his bed. She invited people they knew to comfort them at the White House, including her father-in-law as well as Alice Roosevelt Longworth with her infant child.

Grace attended the farewell party for C. Bascom Slemp, her husband's presidential secretary, at the onset of Calvin's second term; Slemp requested her presence specifically at the event where there were otherwise no women. Grace maintained her close relationship with her father-in-law until his death in March 1926, and her letters about the family's goings on brought him comfort toward the end of his life. John became quite popular and frequently received invitations to parties by early 1927 when he was out of school for the winter, but Grace restricted her son's activity knowing that these events could go until 5:00 a.m.

Political activity

Calvin and Grace Coolidge in 1924

Grace kept away from politics and is not seen as having influenced Calvin's political positions. She followed her husband's request that she not express opinions publicly or speak to the press. Her silence on political issues put the public at ease as she followed the more active first ladies Florence Harding, Edith Wilson, and Helen Herron Taft. She wrote only one formal publication during her tenure—an article on knitting for which the Home for Needy Confederate Women received a donation of $250.

Although Grace's popularity benefited her husband's reelection campaign, she had minimal participation leading up to the 1924 presidential election as she was still grieving the death of her son. Her only solo campaign appearance was at the Montgomery County Maryland Women's Republic Club, where she sat in the audience on September 19. She filled in her absentee ballot in front of the press on the White House lawn to encourage women to vote.

Despite her silence around politics, Grace subtly paid attention to current events by sitting in on budget meetings and attending Senate hearings regarding the Teapot Dome scandal. She took interest in the government's involvement in the arts and got to know the chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts, Charles Moore. When General Pershing brought a design for a war memorial to the president, she informed the general that it looked too much like a guillotine and that it should be returned to the architect for a different design. She also took interest in the passing of the Public Buildings Act of 1926. Grace once used her position to influence the Veterans' Bureau; when she discovered that her maid's son had breathing problems from a gas attack in World War I, she had the bureau relocate him to the Western United States where clearer air would help his recovery.

Grace was most active in children's welfare and support for the deaf. She often invited deaf people, including students from Clarke School, to visit the White House. Helen Keller was a frequent guest. The Coolidges did not engage in any outward advocacy for the cause of deaf children to avoid the appearance of favoring it, especially since both held board positions for groups supporting the deaf. The financial editor Clarence W. Barron encouraged the Coolidges to hold a fundraiser for Clark School in 1928. Without fanfare, Grace raised the most funds any first lady ever had for a cause, over $2 million, for the school. Grace similarly invited women's groups to the White House as she privately supported women's causes, and she ensured that the wives of cabinet-members were seated as a distinct group during her husband's first address to Congress. She privately supported the idea of a working woman, even if she preferred domestic life for herself. She opposed the more radical aspects of the contemporary feminist movement such as the actions of Alice Paul. Publicly, Grace was more likely to speak about religion, believing that it was an essential part of American society.

Renovation and vacation

Grace Coolidge at Dupont Circle in 1927

To acquire new furniture for the White House, Grace had Congress approve a call for citizens to donate period pieces in 1925. She received only one piece of furniture. When the press discovered that she was to try again the following year, Calvin put an end to the idea. She acquired other historical pieces from the White House storerooms.

The White House underwent a significant period of restoration in 1927, so the Coolidges temporarily stayed at Dupont Circle. After the demolition began in March, Grace made frequent appearances at the White House to see the construction. While changes to the design of architect Charles Follen McKim would have caused backlash, the replacement of the roof gave Grace an opportunity to modify the attic and upper floors, which were separate from McKim's work. Among the changes was a sunroom installed for her use. In her contribution to the refurbishing, she crocheted a bed cover for the Lincoln Bedroom. Separately, she was involved in expanding the White House gardens. In addition to a Vermont spruce tree she planted in her son's memory, she had a birch tree and a lily pond added to the garden.

While at Dupont Circle, the Coolidges hosted Charles Lindbergh after his celebrated Spirit of St. Louis trans-Atlantic flight. Grace declined his offer to fly in a plane with him, as one of Calvin's rules was that she was not to fly in an airplane. Lindbergh's visit was a massive event with crowds gathered around the house to see him.

The Coolidges left Dupont Circle in June. From there, they visited the Black Hills in South Dakota. Here Grace and her Secret Service guard Jim Haley got lost on one of her walks when they misjudged the terrain. Calvin had Haley transferred away, depriving Grace from the rare walking partner who could keep up with her and causing rumors that the president was acting out of jealousy. This was the only time that Grace faced serious public embarrassment as first lady. Instead, Grace was assigned to Edmund W. Starling, and she was forbidden from leaving their cabin when Starling went fishing with Calvin. She stayed in contact with Haley and his wife without Calvin's knowledge. The Coolidges left for Washington in September.

Grace did not know about Calvin's announcement in 1927 that he would not run for another term until after he made it. While she was not aware that he made the announcement, she never said to others whether she was aware of his intention. She was glad to hear the news. Calvin's decision was strongly influenced by the emotional divide that had grown between the Coolidges over the previous years and his desire to mend it. The Coolidges took a trip to Cuba in January 1928 and met with President Gerardo Machado.

Illness and departure

Grace was afflicted with kidney disease in February 1928, which became apparent when she collapsed after an especially strenuous reception. She was secretly taken to the National Naval Medical Center to receive x-rays and a cystoscopy, which revealed that her right kidney was enlarged, infected, obstructed, and out of place. Grace spent the following weeks in considerable pain. At its worst, Calvin feared that the illness would kill her. Grace stayed in her sky parlor as she slowly recovered, resenting the boredom and the rules imposed upon her by the doctors. Calvin's own health declined with a weak heart and severe asthma. Grace watched over the president's activity to keep his health problems a secret from the press, and she advocated for him to have a lighter schedule. The Coolidges relocated to Brule, Wisconsin, for the summer to recuperate. They stayed until September.

In the final months of Calvin's presidency, the Coolidges spent their time on Sapelo Island and in Mountain Lake, Florida. The Coolidges left the White House on March 4, 1929. After years of declining to speak over the radio, Grace finally took the microphone after Calvin broadcast his farewell address to deliver her own brief message: "Good-bye, folks".

Later life and death

Return to private life

Grace Coolidge in 1931

The Coolidges initially returned to their Northampton home after Calvin's presidency, but they moved to a new home just outside of the city, The Beeches, for privacy the following year. The Beeches was larger than their previous home, allowing Grace to keep a work room instead of working out of the dining room. They also had a new house constructed by Calvin's childhood home where they could spend their summers. Grace kept in touch with her successor Lou Henry Hoover.

Grace approved of her daughter-in-law Florence Trumbull, the daughter of Connecticut governor John H. Trumbull, after the highly publicized wedding of Florence and John in 1929. The Coolidges traveled across the United States in 1930, visiting Mount Dora, Florida, and then New Orleans before going to California. They stayed at Hearst Castle with William Randolph Hearst, where Grace was at one point trapped in an elevator. Calvin refused Grace's request to visit Europe, as he feared possible foreign policy implications of international travel by a former president.

Grace began writing poetry and descriptions of her time in Washington, publishing them in magazines. This included an article about her husband, "The Real Calvin Coolidge". She wrote a poem about Calvin Jr. titled "The Open Door" on the fifth anniversary of his death, which was published in Good Housekeeping for $250 (equivalent to $5,000 in 2024) and positively received. Calvin encouraged her literary activity and helped get her works published. She also appeared in a promotional film for the Christmas seals drive, in which she rang the bell of the Northampton Memorial Hall and recited a sentence for the camera. Grace received honorary degrees from Smith College in June 1929 and the University of Vermont in June 1930. She received a medal from the National Institute of Social Sciences in 1931, and Clarke School's art building was named for her upon its completion in 1933. She was president of the Northampton Republican Women's Club, but this was an honorary position and she did not engage in any political activity with the group.

Widowhood

Calvin died on January 5, 1933, and Grace was discomforted by her sudden independence. She took her husband's place as trustee of Mercersburg Academy, Clarke School, and another local school. Calvin left Grace his entire estate of about $700,000 (equivalent to $17,000,000 in 2024). Grace became a grandmother with the birth of Cynthia Coolidge later that year; she feared becoming an imposing mother-in-law and tried limiting her involvement in the child's upbringing. She closely followed the events of the Lindbergh kidnapping, especially during the trial of Richard Hauptmann in 1934. After Calvin's death, Grace started breaking some of the rules he had set for her throughout their lives. This was accelerated when she befriended the feminist Florence Adams, who encouraged this new lifestyle. Grace bobbed her hair, and she began wearing hiking shorts and trousers. She learned how to drive a car, and in 1936 she flew in a plane with Governor Trumbull.

Grace became more politically active later in life. She helped campaign for the reelection of President Herbert Hoover in the 1932 election. She was not entirely opposed to Franklin D. Roosevelt during his presidency, though she did not speak publicly on the matter. Grace avoided involvement in biographies about Calvin so as not to look like she was influencing them, though she provided several interviews for biographer Claude Fuess in the years following Calvin's presidency. She became board president of Clarke School in 1935; she kept active here, directly working with classrooms and keeping up with research related to hearing aids. A false rumor spread that she was to marry Congressman Everett Sanders.

Grace spent much of her time at Adams' vacation home in North Carolina, where the two found safety from the public attention Grace wished to avoid. She made her final visit to Washington in December 1934, where she and Adams saw the Works Projects Administration constructing new government buildings and visited the first ladies' gowns collection in the Smithsonian Institution. Wearing horn-rimmed glasses to alter her appearance, she was recognized only by a single traffic officer who had once served on the presidential yacht, the USS Mayflower. In 1936, Grace went with Adams on a six-month tour of Europe where they drove across ten countries. When they returned, she sold The Beeches and had Road Forks, a house in Northampton, built for her. The pair regularly listened to baseball games over the radio, and on occasion they drove to Boston with their friend Joseph D. Collins to watch a game. Grace took up reading more heavily around this time and kept up with popular novels. Her second granddaughter, Lydia Coolidge, was born in 1939.

Grace supported American involvement in World War II, and in 1939 she began raising funds for child refugees from Germany. When the U.S. entered the war, she offered support to Red Cross and WAVES. She lent Road Forks to WAVES' Captain Herbert W. Underwood as the organization was operating out of the nearby Smith College. In the meantime, she lived in he home of Adams and their other friend Julia Warner Snow across the street. Grace also volunteered as a civil defense watcher where each week she spent three hours as a look out for a possible German bombing of the United States, though none ever occurred. Wishing to avoid publicity, she chose not to become head of the Massachusetts Women's Defense Corps.

Ivah Gale, Grace's long-time friend, lived with her off-and-on at Road Forks beginning in 1946. They were later accompanied by the Coolidge family chauffeur John Bukosky and another friend Lilian Carver. Grace's tenure as board president of Clarke School ended in 1952, but she remained as a board member for the remainder of her life. She supported Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1952 presidential election even before he was nominated as a candidate. Grace was afflicted by heart problems later in life. Her heart did not fully recover after an illness in 1952, and an elevator was put into Road Forks for her. Her health declined significantly in 1954, and she was hospitalized at one point in 1955. She went out less frequently as she feared the spectacle of dying in public. Though she was no longer healthy enough to visit Clarke School in her final years, its president and its principal continued working with her to develop school programs. Grace died of kyphoscoliosis-induced heart disease on July 8, 1957.

Legacy

Contemporary image

Grace Coolidge official portrait by Howard Chandler Christy

Grace's legacy as first lady is most associated with her charm and cheerfulness. By the time she was second lady, Grace had already become one of the most popular social figures in Washington D.C. This was unusual for what was typically a less important role in Washington society. Her relative youth, photogenic appearance, and fashion sense brought a revitalization to the role of the first lady, although she kept a reserved demeanor at her husband's request. Journalists characterized her as "the college type of woman". Her popularity invited comparisons to former first ladies Frances Cleveland and Dolley Madison. Clarke School principal George T. Pratt saw her work with deaf children as legitimizing the profession.

Positive appraisals were made by the press, with laudatory profiles in The New Yorker and Good Housekeeping among other publications. The New York Times described her as being among the "most photographed persons on earth outside of movieland" in 1928. After meeting Grace, the humorist Will Rogers described her as "Public Female Favorite No. 1". She was generally seen as a more domestic figure in contrast to the active feminist movement of the day.

Grace's fashion influenced popular trends in the 1920s, especially in her choice of headwear, and she tried to present a modest approach to the styles of the time. When knee-length skirts were common apparel, Grace wore longer skirts and gowns that were at most 10.5 inches from the ground. First lady biographer Betty Boyd Caroli said that Grace "epitomized current flapper style". Calvin admired his wife's appearance and took an interest in her wardrobe. He often helped her pick dresses to wear during events and went clothes shopping with her. The otherwise frugal man imposed no budget for her clothes. Despite Calvin's preference for picture hats, Grace eventually adopted the style of short, close-fitting hats of the 1920s. Each dress she wore as first lady was scrutinized by the press. The attention on her clothing influenced the importance of fashion for future first ladies and their role in setting fashion trends.

Howard Chandler Christy painted Grace's portrait in 1924, depicting her in a red dress alongside her white collie Rob Roy. This was done on the initiative of Pi Beta Phi, which had funded the project to accompany Calvin's official painting. The painting hung in the China Room until it was moved to the Red Room by first lady Jacqueline Kennedy in 1961. The red dress in the painting reinforced an association of Grace with the color. Another painting of Grace was done by Christy depicting her in white.

Many people close to the Coolidges felt that Grace benefited her husband. The suffragette Florence Jaffray Harriman considered her "the administration's greatest success". Vera Bloom, the daughter of Congressman Sol Bloom, said that Grace was worth one million dollars a year for the Republican Party. Calvin's political backer Stearns credited Grace's ability to quickly make friends and her decision to "not meddle with" Calvin's political activity as assets. Secretary of Labor James J. Davis compared her management of the public to be on par with a campaign manager. Her involvement in child welfare, and her practice of traveling with the president, set precedents for succeeding first ladies. Grace's popularity pushed the first ladyship into a more public-facing role, adding a new facet to the job that persisted through future generations of first ladies.

Historical study

Historians have debated how much Grace affected Calvin's political career. Biographers Robert Hugh Ferrell and Kristie Miller attribute her presence as a reason for his success, describing her personality as a necessary balance to Calvin's reservedness that may have otherwise lost him support. Ferrell also cited her ability to provide Calvin a calm home-life without arguments or marital problems. Calvin was quick to anger, and she was often the one tasked with de-escalating him. Her biographer Ishbel Ross emphasized their devotion to one another and their shared sense of humor, though she also cast doubt on Grace's happy acceptance of the rules her husband imposed on her. Biographers Paul Boller, Betty Boyd Caroli, and Carl Sferrazza Anthony expressed similar concerns. Contemporary observers, such as Gamaliel Bradford and William Allen White, commented that Calvin had an emotional dependence on Grace, which the president acknowledged. Multiple people who knew the Coolidges attested to Calvin's devotion to Grace, with one friend saying that he "worshiped" her. At the same time, she believed that he looked down on her intellectually. Historians have given varied accounts regarding how happy she was in the relationship, and its exact nature remains disputed.

Correspondences and other papers from Grace's life have been kept by the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library, the Coolidge Foundation, and the Vermont Historical Society. Lawrence E. Wikander and Robert Hugh Ferrell published a collection of her papers and autobiographical writings titled Grace Coolidge: An Autobiographyin 1992. The first major biography about her was Grace Coolidge and Her Era: The Story of a President's Wife written by Ishbel Ross and published in 1962. The book was written in part using direct accounts from Grace's son John Coolidge, her daughter-in-law Florence Coolidge, and her friends Florence Adams and Ivah Gale. Cynthia Bittinger of the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation released Grace Coolidge: Sudden Star in 2005, and Robert Hugh Ferrell released Grace Coolidge: The People's Lady in Silent Cal's White House in 2008. Although Grace was more active later in her life, this has received relatively little scholarly attention.

Since 1982, Siena College Research Institute has periodically conducted surveys asking historians to assess American first ladies, where Edith ranked:

• 17th of 42 in 1982
• 19th of 37 in 1993
• 17th of 38 in 2003
• 17th of 38 in 2008
• 21st of 39 in 2014
• 25th of 40 in 2020

References

• Anthony, Carl Sferrazza (1990). First Ladies: The Saga of the Presidents' Wives and Their Power, 1789–1961. William Morrow and Company. ISBN 978-0-688-11272-1.
• Caroli, Betty Boyd (2010). First Ladies: From Martha Washington to Michelle Obama. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 978-0-19-539285-2.
• Ferrell, Robert H. (2008). Grace Coolidge: The People's Lady in Silent Cal's White House. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 9780700615636. LCCN 2007045737.
• Finneman, Teri (2016). "Grace Coolidge". In Sibley, Katherine A. S. (ed.). A Companion to First Ladies. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 404–422. ISBN 978-1-118-73218-2.
• Miller, Kristie (1996). "Grace Goodhue Coolidge". In Gould, Lewis L. (ed.). American First Ladies: Their Lives and Their Legacy. Garland Publishing. pp. 384–408. ISBN 978-0-8153-1479-0.
• Ross, Ishbel (1962). Grace Coolidge and Her Era: The Story of a President's Wife. Dodd, Mead. ISBN 978-0-944951-04-0.
• Schneider, Dorothy; Schneider, Carl J. (2010). First Ladies: A Biographical Dictionary (3rd ed.). Facts on File. pp. 211–219. ISBN 978-1-4381-0815-5.
• "Ranking America's First Ladies" (PDF). Siena Research Institute. 2008.
• "Siena College Research Institute/C-SPAN Study of the First Ladies of the United States 2014" (PDF). Sienna Research Institute. 2014.
• "Siena College Research Institute/C-SPAN Study of the First Ladies of the United States 2014" (PDF). Sienna Research Institute. 2020.

Further reading

• Coolidge, Grace (1992). Wikander, Lawrence E.; Ferrell, Robert H. (eds.). Grace Coolidge: An Autobiography. High Plains Pub. Co. ISBN 1881019012. LCCN 92072825.

External links

• Coolidge Presidential Foundation

• Grace Coolidge: First Lady of Baseball Archived 2017-11-14 at the Wayback Machine
• Wombats and Such: Family Pets of Grace and Calvin Coolidge Archived 2018-02-03 at the Wayback Machine
• Grace Coolidge at Find a Grave
• Grace Coolidge at C-SPAN's First Ladies: Influence & Image