Transcripts For CSPAN3 First Ladies Influence Image - Grace

Married to a man known as silent cal, she never spoke to the press, but she did use her office to bring attention to issues she cared about. Good evening, and welcome to cspan series, first ladies influence and image. Tonight, well be telling you the story of first lady Grace Coolidge who came into office with her husband, the president , in 1923 after the sudden death of president harding. Here to set the stage for us as we learn about the fiveplus years of their time in the white house is amity shlaes, who is a coolidge biographer, syndicated columnist, author of other books on that period. Welcome to the program. Lets have you just tell us about of the arrival of Calvin Coolidge into the white house. How prepare was he for the job . Amity actually, quite prepared because hed been a politician all his life. President coolidge was one of those men who started small in city council, a City Solicitor in massachusetts where the coolidges lived, and went all the way up the ladder of the state of massachusetts, and then to vicepresident. So, one could never be prepared for a shock like the death of a president , but he was quite prepared professionally. Susan and Grace Coolidge was at his side all along that way in public life. How ready was she for the white house . Amity well, she didnt think she was. She wrote to her Sorority Sisters and said, you know, pray for me, friends. But she was, too, because shes been a politicians wife, and she had quite a realistic view of politics and that particular job. She called this kind of marriage a double harness. Can you imagine that kind of phrase we would use about marriage in a positive, but shed pulled her load along with the president when they were little politicians. And you know what . Even when they were courting, they were thinking about this sitting in the governors chair. It was clear even when they were courting that calvin, her future husband, was ambitious in politics, and that was part of her deal in the marriage. Susan 1920s were a period of enormous change for this country societally. Just a couple of things that we pulled out as an example of it. Women had voted for the first time in hardings election. So in 1925, the first woman governor in the country was elected in wyoming, nellie ross. In 1926, the National Broadcasting company was founded. The First Talking movie came out in 1927, the jazz singer. In 1928, Amelia Earhart made her famous flight across the atlantic ocean, so just a couple of the enormous changes going on. What kind of country did Calvin Coolidge inherit . Amity he inherited a country in rough water interesting but rough water. When we came out of world war i, remember that was 1918, we owed quite a bit of money. So thats sort of like now, we had far more debt than wed ever imagined. Taxes were very high. There were revolutions overseas, and people wondered if there would be revolutions here if the workers would take over the street as they had done in europe. You know, when we look at what happened in world war i, some of us have forgotten this, it was quite progressive and interesting and unexpected. For example, the government nationalized our big industry, the railroad, and then denationalized it. The stock market was shut down at one point during world war i. So nobody knew how wed come out of it. And then you want to add to that, there was an inflation no one acknowledged. So workers, especially, Public Sector workers were very angry and justifiably so and you know, that was a factor as well. Plus, onethird of the returning vets and remember, there was general conscription in world war i, had some form of disability, and we had no penicillin. Susan wow. Thats a lot. Amity thats a lot, right . Susan so, how did president harding view his vicepresident . In other words, what was the relationship like between the first and second couple . How much was he clued in to what was happening in the National Government . Amity well, you want to separate the first and second ladies and the couples. I think the couples got along quite well. And the famous thing that harding did was invite his vicepresident , Calvin Coolidge, to sit in on the cabinet. And vicepresident s hadnt always done that, so that was a form of welcome. And very useful for coolidge i think, though he never did hear all of the dirty details of the harding administration. So he didnt hear it all, but he had heard some. And as being the president of the senate, of course, he got to know the senate, which he recalled as quite an experience. Between the ladies, it was a little bit rougher. Mrs. Harding was much older. She was a bit envious, in my analysis, of young Grace Coolidge who had was sort of had a beautiful complexion, and that was much treasured in that time and still had the bloom of youth upon her. And mrs. Harding defined one color as her own, a certain blue called harding blue. Well, every color looks good on grace, and she knew it, and she could be snippy with grace. And she we have some letters that suggest she was indeed thinking about the next election, and maybe president coolidge wouldnt be the candidate the next time. When the issue came up that maybe the coolidges should have a vicepresident ial house, there was none. They lived in the willard. Mrs. Harding said she didnt think so. The willard, the hotel was just fine for the coolidges. This was a tension between women. Susan they also were very different in just what we have learned about the two women. Last week was florence harding, we learned that she was, he was really had a very bold personality, the issues that she cared about was, in fact, the person who encouraged her husband into politics. They seemed to have quite the opposite in the relationship between the coolidges. Can you talk about the differences and how the women approached public life and their temperament . Amity well, cyndy bittinger, who is coming on tonight, graces biographer, said, well, the harding marriage is more like a business. And they had a deal that warren got to do this and mrs. Harding got to do that. And she referred to him as Warren Harding like that. It was an older marriage as well. In the coolidge case, i wouldnt say that mrs. Coolidge was always so deferential. It was just that her she was differential in public. And in private, maybe there were some fireworks. But in public, she didnt talk about politics. Her husband didnt want her to talk about politics. He kept her, you know, in quite the proscribed area. One time when mrs. Coolidge tried on a riding habit and went riding, she looks very good in the riding habit, he said he didnt want her to do that, you know. I advise you not to try anything new while were in the presidency. So, mrs. Coolidge in some ways was a very oldfashioned wife, but its complicated. Susan well, were going to be visiting a number of sites associated with the coolidges as we do throughout these programs. And the first one of those is vermont, which is the birthplace of Calvin Coolidge, and theres a little town called Plymouth Notch. Were going to learn what happened there on the night he took office. But what is Plymouth Notch like . Amity well, im just newly the chairman of the board of our foundation there, and it is beautiful. And we, the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation, want to invite all americans to come to visit this place. Its clabbered, its small, its one of the most beautiful villages in the world. And you can see coolidges birthplace. He wasnt born over the store like margaret thatcher, but he was born kind of behind it. And get a feel for how very hard, beautiful but hard, the life of people in a town like that was. Susan were seeing some scenes of Plymouth Notch, vermont. And in just a minute, were going to be telling you the dramatic story of the night Calvin Coolidge got the news that he was about to become the president of the United States. Before we do that, let me tell you about how you can involved in our program tonight. One of the things thats been very special about this series is learning from your questions, and we encourage them in three different ways. You can call us. The phone numbers will be on the screen throughout the program 2025853880, if you live in the eastern or central time zones; 2025853881, if you live in the mountain or pacific time zones. You can also tweet us. Our twitter address is firstladies. And you can also join the conversation on our facebook page, on cspan. You can find the beautiful photograph of the Coolidge Administration. Theres already a conversation underway. And send us a question there. Well try to mix those all in throughout the program. Now, to vermont, Plymouth Notch and the night that Calvin Coolidge and Grace Coolidge learned that theyre coming to the white house. [video clip] william Plymouth Notch is the birthplace and boyhood home of Calvin Coolidge. He was born in a little house attached to the back of the store that his father operated. And then when he was four, he moved across the road to the building we now know as the coolidge homestead. This was an oldfashioned town for most americans of the sophisticated roaring 20s. This is quaint even back then. Grace, of course, spent some of the time just walking around. That was one of her great passions. She loved to walk, and so she would go down to the cemetery, especially after her son, calvin jr. Died, to visit the gravesite there. She did a lot of knitting and other types of handwork while she was here and just enjoying the country air. She was a burlington girl, grew up in the biggest town in vermont. And when she was growing up, her house had electricity and plumbing. When she came here, this was very much a country home still, and so no electricity or plumbing in the house where she stayed with her husband. This is the kitchen of the coolidge homestead. And so, this is where they would have had breakfast and lunch, and some suppers, too, im sure. There was no real dining room in the house. Its very, very simple, a vermont rural home. And in here, there was one running faucet, here in the kitchen, and that was the only plumbing in the entire house. And so, this was quite a contrast in what grace had been experiencing not only as a child growing up in burlington, which was kind of sophisticated at the time, as well as , of course, in the white house years when she had all the modern luxuries. This is a twohole privy, and it was the only sanitary facility in the house. Of course, coming here with calvin was very much a throwback to the previous century. And so this not what she was used to, but hearing all reports about grace, she probably took this in good stride, and regard this as just part of her experience with her husband. The furniture in here is the bedroom set that grace and calvin used when they were here at the coolidge homestead, here at Plymouth Notch, vermont. And as you can see, its a very simple set of furniture. Its very typical of circa 1870s or so. Its a country style. Rooms were small in this house and not the spacious rooms that they were accustomed to at the white house, certainly. She was also present, of course, in 1923 when the word came that harding had died. So she was among the select group in the family sitting room that was witness to the swearing in. This is the sitting room of the coolidge homestead, and we now know it as the oath of office room. This is where the room gathered group gathered when president coolidge was administered the oath of office. And so, all the furnishings in here are original. The group gathered around the center table. The original lamp that lit the scene; the pen that was used to sign the documents; and the bible that was here but not officially used in the swearing in because that was not required by vermont state law. Grace would have stood right about where i am now. And there is a famous painting by Arthur Keller of the homestead inaugural, and shows the group gathered around, and she is right next to calvins side. Susan i want to introduce you to our second guest at the table, cyndy bittinger, who knows the Plymouth Notch very well, a former director of the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation there. And also, as we learned earlier, biographer of Grace Coolidge. Her book is called sudden star. Thanks for being with us. Well, set the tone for us about her personality and what she brought to this job, being thrust into the office as suddenly as she was in 1923 . Cyndy it was sudden but she had been second lady for a little while, and she was new to washington. And she also had not had a major role when her husband was governor of massachusetts. She was very much in the background. So, as the wife of the vicepresident , they were invited out quite a bit to dinner and she got to know the personages, she said, in washington d. C. So that was very good. And as calvin used to say, we have to eat somewhere, grace. So they would go out a lot and they were staying at the hotel willard. So it was obvious that they would need to go out to dinner quite a bit. But she was set the tone in that she was very joyous, very vivacious. Some people said she was the fun one, she was the front door greeter; whereas, her husband was the thoughtful one behind her. So, its an interesting dynamic, because we often dont see that with first ladies and president s. Susan well, you have to solve this question for me, because everything ive been reading about Calvin Coolidge over the years hes not just the thoughtful one. He earns his moniker silent cal, but he seems to be an antipolitician in a lot of ways. What was that about this man . We see politics as a contact sport today. What was it about this man that brought him to politics . His personality doesnt seem so suited for it. Cyndy the principles, but also the politics. He wasnt a gladhander in that way, but he did shake a lot of hands. The one reason he was able to climb up in massachusetts was because he went to the constituencies. Very famous stories about what he would say when he met someone, if hes asked for something, hed say, well, maybe. And well maybe meant you would get it. More than, he underpromised and overdelivered, thats a political tactic and a likeable one, because it makes you trust the politician, and therefore, also government. So, he was a principled and thoughtful politician, more modern than wed like to pretend now. Susan so on facebook, david welch asked a series of questions, but heres one that fits to where we are right now with the story. What aspect of her personality or experience, he asked, helped mrs. Coolidge be such an effective counterbalance for her husband . And, do you think he could have had the political career he had without her . Cyndy now, thats an interesting one. Because when he was vicepresident , she thought she could get back to North Hampton boise quite a bit. He said, no. I need you here to help me navigate these political waters waters. Social so, yes, i think she was key in giving him a social stability and reaching out to others. She remembered peoples names and faces, so she could be very engaging with people. And he could sit back and think, as i said before. And also they both had a great sense of humor that they had all these jokes with each other. And of course, he played a few jokes on some of the people at the white house as well. Susan so as they were coming into office, as Warren Harding died, the number of very big scandals we all learned about in school, the teapot dome and others, were beginning to come to light. How did Calvin Coolidge handled handle these scandals . Amity well, this was one of the tests because it was his own party, you know, maybe we blame them. And what he did was he appointed a bipartisan group, the equivalent of a modern investigative group, both sides. And he stood back from it. And also, interestingly, when he came in as president , nowadays, one might say make a clean sweep. Lets get rid of the suspect ones and use the excuse of the turnover for that. He didnt do that, because the continuity was important to him. Continuity was a big part of hardingcoolidge policy dont change a lot, reduce uncertainty. So, he kept most of them, i think all of them on until it became very clear that there was too much trouble, and some left, but all very proper, all very clear. And he had the blessing i think of not knowing much about it, and people could see that he hadnt really known much as vicepresident , though he had suspected. And really, the one thing he resented about Warren Harding whom he liked very much was that harding might be sullying the presidency. Coolidge had Great Respect for the presidency. Susan is it true that Grace Coolidge went to listen to some of the Senate Hearings on the scandal of the administration . Cyndy well, im not sure about the scandals, but i think she did go from time to time to congress, and she did listen in on what was going on. But she kept very much in the background. She was more in the tradition of first ladies to have a happy home life, take care of her children, greet the public, but not meddle in public policy. Susan were going to go back in time now and learn a little bit about how the two of them met, and how this political partnership. What was it, the double harness . Cyndy double harness. Susan double harness. And how that all got started . Heres a bit of the story of how the coolidges met. [video clip] this is the clark school for the deaf where calvin and grace met for the first time. She was a teacher living in a dor