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Grace Coolidge

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Grace Coolidge
Coolidge in 1924
First Lady of the United States
In role
August 2, 1923 – March 4, 1929
PresidentCalvin Coolidge
Preceded byFlorence Harding
Succeeded byLou Hoover
Second Lady of the United States
In role
March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923
Vice PresidentCalvin Coolidge
Preceded byLois Marshall
Succeeded byCaro Dawes
First Lady of Massachusetts
In role
January 2, 1919 – January 6, 1921
GovernorCalvin Coolidge
Preceded byElla McCall
Succeeded byMary Cox
Second Lady of Massachusetts
In role
January 6, 1916 – January 2, 1919
Lieutenant GovernorCalvin Coolidge
Preceded byBeatrice Barry (1915)
Succeeded byMary Cox
First Lady of Northampton
In role
January 3, 1910 – January 1, 1912
MayorCalvin Coolidge
Preceded byMargaret O'Brien
Succeeded byCatherine Feiker
Personal details
Born
Grace Anna Goodhue

(1879-01-03)January 3, 1879
Burlington, Vermont, U.S.
DiedJuly 8, 1957(1957-07-08) (aged 78)
Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Resting placePlymouth Notch Cemetery
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1905; died 1933)​
Children2, including John
EducationUniversity of Vermont
Signature

Grace Anna Coolidge (née Goodhue; January 3, 1879 – July 8, 1957) was the wife of the 30th president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge. She was the first lady of the United States from 1923 to 1929 and the second lady of the United States from 1921 to 1923. She graduated from the University of Vermont in 1902 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in teaching and joined the Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech in Northampton, Massachusetts, to teach deaf children to communicate by lip reading, rather than by signing.[1] She met Calvin Coolidge in 1904, and the two were married the following year.

As her husband advanced his political career, Coolidge avoided politics. When Calvin Coolidge was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 1919, she remained at home in Northampton with their children. After her husband's election as vice president in 1920, the family moved to Washington, D.C., living at the Willard Hotel. Coolidge did not speak out on political issues of the day, including women's rights. Instead, she dedicated herself to supporting popular causes and organizations, such as the Red Cross and the Visiting Nurse Association. Following the unexpected death of her young teenage son Calvin in 1924 from blood poisoning, she won the sympathy of the country. Unlike previous first ladies, who had withdrawn almost entirely from the public spotlight after personal tragedies, Coolidge resumed her role after a few months.

In 1929, Calvin Coolidge's term as president ended, and the couple retired to Northampton. After her husband's death in 1933, Coolidge continued her work with the deaf and wrote for several magazines. She served on the boards of Mercersburg Academy and the Clarke School. After the start of World War II, Grace joined a local Northampton committee dedicated to helping Jewish refugees from Europe, and loaned her house to WAVES. In 1957, she died of heart disease, and was buried in Plymouth, Vermont, beside her husband and her son.

Early life

[edit]

Childhood

[edit]

Grace Anna Goodhue was born in Burlington, Vermont, on January 3, 1879, as the only child of Andrew Issachar Goodhue and Lemira Barrett Goodhue.[2] Through her father, she was descended from the Goodhue family descended from the 1635 colonist William Goodhue.[3] 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.[4] Grace was close to her mother as a child, following her where she went and taking up the same household chores like sewing.[5]

Grace's father was an engineer at a mill, 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.[5] 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.[6]

When Grace's father was injured in a work accident in 1886, she stayed with their neighbors, the Yale family.[7][3] Here she bonded with their adult daughter, June Yale.[3] June began teaching at the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, Massachusetts, and she sometimes brought students to Vermont in the summers.[8] By her teenage years, Grace was helping June care for them.[9]

Grace's father left the mill after his accident and co-founded a machine shop.[7] He was a Democrat, and with this experience he was appointed by Democratic President Grover Cleveland as a steamboat inspector later in 1886.[10] This brought money and status to the family in their small town.[11] 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.[12] Andrew built a new home for the family at 312 Maple Street in 1899.[5]

Education

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Grace began her education at age five at a local public grade school in Burlington and attended Burlington Public Grammar School. In 1893, she entered Burlington High School. There she studied Latin and French, as well as geology, biology, and chemistry.[13] Grace also received private lessons in piano, speech, and singing.[12][3] She spoke at her school's commencement in 1897, delivering a speech she titled "Tramp Instinct".[14]

Grace enrolled at the University of Vermont in 1897, but she dropped out that November because of an eye condition. She returned to the school in 1898.[12] She took little interest in her academics.[15] Instead, Grace was involved with several activities in and out of the university, including dance, skating, tobogganing, sleighing, Bible class, Christian Endeavor, and poetry.[12] She participated in theater, appearing in productions of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night,[13] and she joined the glee club where she performed as a contralto.[8] She became her class's vice president in her sophomore year.[16] Grace gained a reputation for being likeable and outgoing,[17] and she was courted by several men over the course of her schooling.[12] One relationship, that with Frank Joyner, was serious enough that marriage seemed inevitable. She ended the relationship in 1903 when she met Calvin Coolidge.[13]

Noticing a lonely-looking woman on the University of Vermont campus, Grace befriended Ivah Gale.[3] Gale eventually moved into the Goodhue home where she shared a bedroom with Grace. The two women were among those who co-founded the university's chapter of Pi Beta Phi, a women's fraternity.[12] The group held its meetings in Grace's home.[3] In 1901, Grace traveled to Syracuse, New York, to attend the fraternity's national convention.[9] She graduated from the University of Vermont the following year.[18] This would make her the first of the first ladies to have earned a four-year undergraduate degree.[13]

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. She moved to Northampton where she taught at the school for three years, first instructing the primary school children before working with middle school students. Grace's mother opposed the decision, wishing that Grace would be a teacher at a local school.[12][8] Rather than teaching sign language, Grace followed the school's philosophy of instructing the students in lip reading.[19][9]

Marriage and family

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Grace met Calvin Coolidge in her second year at Northampton.[20] 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.[21] Calvin noticed her when she laughed, and he subsequently asked his landlord, the school's steward Robert Weir, to introduce them.[20] They began a romantic relationship with her shortly afterward. [12] Calvin, active in local politics, took her 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 himself.[20] 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.[12][22] Despite this, they bonded over several shared qualities: their background as college educated Vermonters, mischievous sense of humor,[23] religious sensibilities, and feelings of idealism and public service.[24] The two frequently exchanged playful remarks targeting one another, often focused on Grace's cooking and Calvin's quietude, respectively.[25][26]

The first time Calvin met Grace's parents, he asked permission to marry her.[20] Calvin proposed to Grace by telling her "I'm going to be married to you".[12] Grace's mother was not fond of Calvin and sought to delay the wedding, but Calvin stood firm on a date no later than October.[27] The couple married at the Goodhue family's home on October 4, 1905.[28] 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.[29] They first lived in the Norwood Hotel for three weeks before staying in a home owned by a professor at Smith College. Afterward, they moved to their long-term home at 21 Massasoit Street.[30] 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.[29] She otherwise made her own clothes.[31]

Grace had two sons: John Coolidge on September 7, 1906, and Calvin Coolidge Jr. on April 13, 1908. She was their sole caretaker.[32] 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.[29] Even when he was home, Calvin had Grace address the needs of their children. She engaged them in activities traditionally associated with the father, teaching them baseball and constructing wooden cars for them to ride in.[32]

Calvin left the state legislature and returned to Northampton in 1909. He became mayor 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.[33] 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.[29] 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.[34] When World War I began, Grace worked with the other women in the community to conduct bond drives and support Red Cross,[32] where she became co-chair of the Women's War Committee of Northampton.[29]

Entering political life

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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.[35] 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 for lieutenant governor of Massachusetts.[36]

After three years as lieutenant governor, Calvin was elected governor of Massachusetts in 1918.[29] 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.[35] She instead made periodic trips to the city.[32] While 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.[37] She was responsible for entertaining at times in the capital and became popular among guests despite her lack of experience.[35]

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,[38] though she felt that he should accept nothing short of the presidential nomination.[39] After he accepted, Grace wrote a hundred letters of thanks for those who congratulated him.[40] 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.[38] Grace and Calvin moved into a suite on the top floor of the Willard Hotel.[41]

Second lady of the United States

[edit]

Being second lady of the United States presented Grace with a larger national profile. She began appearing at ceremonial events with Calvin, and her entertaining duties became much greater than they had been when she was the wife of a governor.[38] 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.[42] 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.[43]

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.[32] Grace was president of the Senate Wives Club as second lady, and through this she continued her activity supporting the Red Cross.[44] She also began taking dancing classes, though Calvin asked that she not be seen dancing in public and risk controversy.[45]

The Hardings were not fond of the Coolidges.[46] The first lady, Florence Harding, resented Grace's youth and popularity.[47] 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.[44] The Coolidges were on a trip to Calvin's family home in Vermont when they received news that President Harding had fallen ill and died.[48] Grace became first lady of the United States on August 2, 1923.[49]

First lady of the United States

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White House hostess

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The Coolidges were one of the most socially active families in the White House's history, entertaining many guests each day.[50] Each year, public receptions brought a total of 20,000 to 25,000 people to the White House.[51] Grace wished to invite as many guests as possible so that everyone had an opportunity to meet with her.[52] In addition to her normal hosting duties, she held exclusive high teas in the Red Room.[a] This replaced the brief one-on-one meetings that Florence Harding had with guests, which Grace felt excluded too many people.[52] Grace organized meetings of the cabinet-members' wives on the last Wednesday of each month.[53] She also held small musical events during Lent.[50]

Washington society welcomed Grace's unpretentious approach to her role as first lady,[54] and she acted as a comforting presence for guests at receptions.[55] Grace often saved face for her husband and his unusual social behavior.[50] Though she was personally unhappy with the effects of prohibition, her sense of legal obligation kept her from serving alcohol at the White House.[56]

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 some of what is typically expected of the first lady. Her secretary further assisted her by responding to her mail, though Grace also wrote many of the replies herself.[50] First working with the Hardings' secretary Laura Harlan, she gave the role to White House staff member Mary Randolph after Harlan's departure in 1925.[57]

Grace fired the housekeeper Elizabeth Jaffray and replaced her with Ellen A. Riley. Having held the position since 1909, Jaffray 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 and misleading depiction of the Coolidges.[58]

To acquire new furniture for the White House, Grace had Congress approve a call for citizens to donate period pieces in 1925. The request went unanswered. When the press discovered that she was to try again the following year, Calvin put an end to the idea.[59]

Grace enjoyed meeting common people and preferred it over formal events.[60] 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.[61] Among the staff, Grace was known as "Sunshine".[62]

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.[63] The pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff played for the White House many times during the Coolidge presidency.[64] When Al Jolson appeared at the White House, Grace sang alongside him.[65]

Public image

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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.[66] She typically allowed her photo to be taken, leading to frequent appearances in the newspapers.[67][66] On Calvin's request, she refused any interviews that were requested of her.[68] 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.[69]

Grace's visibility as a college-educated woman made her into a symbol for women's opportunities in universities.[70] She then became the first of the first ladies to receive an honorary degree;[69] she received an honorary LL.D. from Boston University in 1924.[71] She then received an honorary degree from George Washington University alongside her husband in 1929.[72]

The public primarily learned about the first lady through second-hand stories of her sociable demeanor.[73][63] Anecdotes like her fascination with the 1925 solar eclipse and the Graf Zeppelin helped the public relate to her.[68] 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".[71] She was devoted to the baseball player Babe Ruth.[74] Her interest in gardening also became known, and the "Mrs. Coolidge rose" was named after her.[75]

While she was first lady, Grace was plagued by false rumors, including rumors that she intended to divorce Calvin and 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.[76] The Coolidges refused to respond to openly respond to the rumors.[68] 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.[77][78]

Personal life

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When Grace first became first lady of the United States, she was delighted.[62] But she soon felt constrained by her role and the expectations that came with it.[79] 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 they were with company, Grace addressed Calvin as "Mr. President".[49]

To limit anything potentially controversial, Calvin strictly controlled Grace's activities. After she received press coverage for going out horse-riding, Calvin 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.[80] He also asked her not to smoke in public, a rule he had also imposed on himself.[79] The new constraints on her time also burdened her.[71] 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.[49] Adding to her stress, the weather in Washington caused problems with her sinuses.[71]

Grace had a penchant for animals and used her time in the White House to gather several pets. Besides dogs and birds, she kept a raccoon. For her closer friends, she left calling cards on behalf of her dog in addition to her own.[50]

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.[81] When she was not tending to her responsibilities, Grace spent her days shopping and taking walks that lasted for several miles.[50] She also kept with her sewing and knitting, crafting some of her own dresses.[71] According to Ike Hoover, the White House Chief Usher, Grace was the first first lady to try a cigarette.[70]

Grace enjoyed attending film and theater events and was a common sight at the National Theatre.[67] She was also the first of the first ladies to listen to the radio in the White House.[82] 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.[83]

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. [61] Grace began wearing black and stopped hosting at the White House for several weeks while she grieved.[84] To ease her pain, Grace looked to religion, and she took up poetry.[85] She invited people they knew to visit them at the White House, including her father-in-law as well as Alice Roosevelt Longworth with her infant child. The Coolidges' other son received death threats at this time, causing further stress.[61]

Political activity

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Grace kept away from politics and is not seen as having influenced Calvin's political positions.[50][86] She followed her husband's request that she not express opinions publicly or speak to the press.[87] Grace's 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.[63][88] She wrote only one formal publication during her tenure, producing an article on knitting for charity, donating $250 to the Home for Needy Confederate Women.[57][89]

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.[85] She filled in her absentee ballot in front of the press on the White House lawn to encourage women to vote.[90]

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.[71] 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 John J. 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.[91] 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 were clearer air would help his recovery.[92]

The areas she was most active were children's welfare and support for the deaf. She often invited deaf people, including students from Clarke School, to visit the White House.[93] Helen Keller was also a frequent guest.[94] 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.[93] Without fanfare, Grace raised the most funds any first lady ever had for a cause, over $2 million, for Clarke School.[95]

Grace similarly invited women's groups to the White House as she privately supported women's causes,[63] and she ensured that the wives of cabinet-members were seated as a distinct group during her husband's first address to Congress.[57] Privately, she supported the idea of a working woman though she herself preferred domestic life. She opposed the more radical aspects of the contemporary feminist movement such as the actions of Alice Paul.[50] Publicly, Grace was more likely to speak about religion on the political stage, believing that it was an essential part of American society.[96]

Renovation and vacation

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The White House underwent a significant period of restoration in 1927.[91] 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.[97] Among the changes was a sunroom installed for her use.[91]

The Coolidges stayed at Dupont Circle. In her contribution to the refurbishing, she crocheted a bed cover for the Lincoln Bedroom.[84][98] 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.[91]

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 a plane while she was first lady.[76] From Dupont Circle, the Coolidges 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.[99]

Grace did not know about Calvin's announcement in 1927 that he would not run for another term until several days after he made it.[83] While she was not aware that he made the announcement, she never said to others whether she was aware of his intention not to run.[78][100]

Illness and departure

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Grace became very ill in early 1928 and spent the spring recovering.[91] At its worst, Calvin feared that the illness would kill her.[101] After an extended time at home to recover, Grace relocated to Brule, Wisconsin, until her health had mostly returned.[91] Calvin's own health also 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.[101]

In the final months of Calvin's presidency, they spent their time on Sapelo Island and in Mountain Lake, Florida.[102] The Coolidges left the White House on March 4, 1929.[83] 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".[102][103]

Later life and death

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Calvin Coolidge summed up his marriage to Grace in his autobiography: "For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces."

Grace received a gold medal from the National Institute of Social Science. In 1931 she was voted one of America's twelve greatest living women.

For more privacy in Northampton, the Coolidges purchased The Beeches, a large house with spacious grounds. The former president died there after a sudden heart attack on January 5, 1933, at the age of 60. After her husband's death, Grace Coolidge continued her work on behalf of the deaf. She was also active in the Red Cross, civil defense, and scrap drives during World War II. Grace kept her sense of fun and her aversion to publicity until her death on July 8, 1957, at the age of 78. She is buried next to her husband in Plymouth, Vermont.[104]

Legacy

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Grace's legacy as first lady is most associated with her charm.[105] By the time she was second lady, Grace had already become one of the most popular social figures in the history of Washington D.C. This was unusual for what was typically a less important role in Washington society.[87] Her relative youth, photogenic appearance, and fashion sense brought a revitalization to the role of the first lady, although she kept a reserved appearance on her husband's request.[63] Journalists characterized her as "the college type of woman".[87] Her popularity invited comparisons to former first ladies Frances Cleveland[106] and Dolley Madison.[55][107][63]

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.[68] Each dress she wore as first lady was scrutinized by the press.[31] This influenced the importance of fashion for future first ladies and their role in setting fashion trends. She became associated with the color red, especially after Howard Chandler Christy painted her wearing red in her official portrait.[74] First lady biographer Betty Boyd Caroli said that Grace "epitomized current flapper style".[108]

Biographers Robert Hugh Ferrell and Kristie Miller attribute Grace's presence as a reason for Calvin's success, describing her personality as a necessary balance to Calvin's reservedness that may have otherwise lost him support.[109][110] Ferrell also cited her ability to provide Calvin a calm home-life without arguments or marital problems.[109] Calvin was quick to anger, and she was often the one tasked with de-escalating him.[111] Observers such as Gamaliel Bradford and William Allen White commented that Calvin had an emotional dependence on Grace, to which he agreed.[53]

Positive appraisals were made by the press, with laudatory profiles in The New Yorker and Good Housekeeping among other publications.[55] After meeting Grace, the humorist Will Rogers described her as "Public Female Favorite No. 1".[69] She was generally seen as a more domestic figure in contrast to the active feminist movement of the day.[63]

People close to the Coolidges similarly felt that Grace benefited her husband. The suffragette Florence Jaffray Harriman considered her "the administration's greatest success".[55] Vera Bloom, the daughter of Congressman Sol Bloom, said that Grace was worth one million dollars a year for the Republican Party.[63][85] Frank Stearns, one of Calvin's backers, credited Grace's ability to quickly make friends and her decision to "not meddle with" Calvin's political activity as assets.[32][112] Secretary of Labor James J. Davis compared her management of the public to be on par with a campaign manager.[85] 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.[69]

Notes

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  1. ^ "Grace Coolidge | biography - American first lady". Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  2. ^ Schneider & Schneider 2010, pp. 211–212.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Miller 1996, p. 385.
  4. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 5.
  5. ^ a b c Ferrell 2008, p. 7.
  6. ^ Ferrell 2008, pp. 7–8.
  7. ^ a b Ferrell 2008, p. 8.
  8. ^ a b c Miller 1996, p. 386.
  9. ^ a b c Ferrell 2008, p. 18.
  10. ^ Ferrell 2008, pp. 8–9.
  11. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 248.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Schneider & Schneider 2010, p. 212.
  13. ^ a b c d "Grace Coolidge Biography :: National First Ladies' Library". www.firstladies.org. Archived from the original on 2012-05-09. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  14. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 9.
  15. ^ Ferrell 2008, pp. 14–15.
  16. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 15.
  17. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 285.
  18. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 12.
  19. ^ Anthony 1990, pp. 285–286.
  20. ^ a b c d Miller 1996, p. 387.
  21. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 20.
  22. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 286.
  23. ^ Miller 1996, p. 388.
  24. ^ Ferrell 2008, pp. 20–21.
  25. ^ Caroli 2010, p. 172.
  26. ^ Anthony 1990, pp. 399–400.
  27. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 25.
  28. ^ Schneider & Schneider 2010, pp. 212–213.
  29. ^ a b c d e f Miller 1996, p. 389.
  30. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 28.
  31. ^ a b Ferrell 2008, p. 69.
  32. ^ a b c d e f Schneider & Schneider 2010, p. 213.
  33. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 39.
  34. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 332.
  35. ^ a b c Miller 1996, p. 390.
  36. ^ Anthony 1990, pp. 358–359.
  37. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 41.
  38. ^ a b c Miller 1996, p. 391.
  39. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 381.
  40. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 44.
  41. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 388.
  42. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 53.
  43. ^ Ferrell 2008, pp. 53–54.
  44. ^ a b Anthony 1990, p. 393.
  45. ^ Anthony 1990, pp. 393–394.
  46. ^ Ferrell 2008, pp. 54–55.
  47. ^ Anthony 1990, pp. 383, 388.
  48. ^ Miller 1996, p. 392.
  49. ^ a b c Schneider & Schneider 2010, p. 214.
  50. ^ a b c d e f g h Schneider & Schneider 2010, p. 215.
  51. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 82.
  52. ^ a b c Ferrell 2008, p. 78.
  53. ^ a b c Anthony 1990, p. 399.
  54. ^ Caroli 2010, p. 173.
  55. ^ a b c d Caroli 2010, p. 171.
  56. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 413.
  57. ^ a b c Miller 1996, p. 398.
  58. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 64.
  59. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 67.
  60. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 411.
  61. ^ a b c Miller 1996, p. 397.
  62. ^ a b Anthony 1990, p. 397.
  63. ^ a b c d e f g h Miller 1996, p. 393.
  64. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 81.
  65. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 412.
  66. ^ a b Anthony 1990, p. 408.
  67. ^ a b Miller 1996, p. 396.
  68. ^ a b c d Anthony 1990, p. 409.
  69. ^ a b c d Anthony 1990, p. 407.
  70. ^ a b Anthony 1990, p. 414.
  71. ^ a b c d e f Miller 1996, p. 399.
  72. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 86.
  73. ^ Caroli 2010, p. 174.
  74. ^ a b Anthony 1990, p. 410.
  75. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 91.
  76. ^ a b Miller 1996, p. 400.
  77. ^ Anthony 1990, pp. 425–426.
  78. ^ a b Miller 1996, p. 401.
  79. ^ a b Miller 1996, p. 395.
  80. ^ Caroli 2010, pp. 174–175.
  81. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 79.
  82. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 398.
  83. ^ a b c Schneider & Schneider 2010, p. 217.
  84. ^ a b Caroli 2010, p. 175.
  85. ^ a b c d Anthony 1990, p. 404.
  86. ^ Caroli 2010, p. 170.
  87. ^ a b c Anthony 1990, p. 394.
  88. ^ Anthony 1990, pp. 398–399.
  89. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 406.
  90. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 415.
  91. ^ a b c d e f Miller 1996, p. 402.
  92. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 416.
  93. ^ a b Miller 1996, p. 394.
  94. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 421.
  95. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 422.
  96. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 10.
  97. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 68.
  98. ^ Schneider & Schneider 2010, pp. 216–217.
  99. ^ Miller 1996, pp. 400–401.
  100. ^ Anthony 1990, pp. 426–427.
  101. ^ a b Anthony 1990, p. 428.
  102. ^ a b Miller 1996, p. 403.
  103. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 432.
  104. ^ text copied from White House biography Archived 2010-05-30 at the Wayback Machine
  105. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 73.
  106. ^ Anthony 1990, pp. 397, 414.
  107. ^ Anthony 1990, pp. 394, 407.
  108. ^ Caroli 2010, p. 157.
  109. ^ a b Ferrell 2008, p. 27.
  110. ^ Miller 1996, pp. 388–389.
  111. ^ Ferrell 2008, p. 34.
  112. ^ Anthony 1990, p. 368.
  1. ^ Carl Sferrazza Anthony places these on Mondays and Fridays,[53] while Robert Hugh Ferrell places them on Mondays and Wednesdays.[52]

References

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Further reading

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