Grace coolidge was enormously popular as a first lady and influence the taste of american women by a style icon. Married to a man named simon cautionary spoke to the press but she brought attention to issue she cared about. Good evening and welcome to cspan series, first lady influence and image. Tonight will tell you the story of first lady Grace Coolidge who came into office with her husband in 1932, here to set the stage for us as we learn about their five years plus in the white house. Syndicated columnist, author of other books in that period, welcome to the program. Wed like to have you tell us about the rival of coolidge in the white house, how cool and prepared was he for the job . He was prepared, hes one of those men who started as City Solicitor where the coolidge lived, no one can be prepared for the shock of a president , but he was prepared professionally. And greece coolidge was by his side, how ready bushy for it . Shouldnt think she was, she wrote to her Sorority Sisters and said prefer me sprint, friends. She was ready, she had a real estate view of politics and the particular job. She called this kind of merit a double harness. Its not a freeze we would use now in a positive way about marriage. They were little politicians, recorded they were thinking about this sitting in the governors chair. It was clear that calvin, her future husband was ambitious politics. During this time there was a lot of change decidedly, the women who had voted for the first time in the election. 1935 the first woman was elected, 1926 nbc was founded. First talking movie came out, just finger. Emily air hurt flies across the Atlantic Ocean in 1928. Just part of the enormous changes going on. What kind of country did calvin inherit . A country in rough water, when we came out of world war i, that was 1818 we owed quite a bit of money. We had far more debt than we could ever imagine. Taxes were, highy revolutions were seized, people wondered if there would be revolutions here if the workers would take over the streets as they had done in europe. You know, when we look at what happened in world war one some of us have forgotten, it was very progressive and instructing and unexpected. For example, the government nationalized and the denationalized the industry. The stock market was shut down, no one knew how to come out of it. Then you want add to that there was an inflation no one acknowledged. So Public Sector workers were very angry and justifiably so. And you know, that was a factor as well. Plus one third of the returning vets, there was general conscription in world war i had some four of disability and we had no penicillin. Thats a lot right . So how did president hurting use his Vice President . In other words what was the relationship like between the first and second couple . You want to separate the first and second ladies and the couples, they got along very well, and what he did was he invited his Vice President coolidge to sit in that was a form of welcome and it was cool for coolidge, though he never heard the dirty details of the harding administration. He didnt hear all of, it he got to know the senate which he recalled was quite of an experience. Between the ladies it was a little refer, mrs. Harding was older, she was envious of young Grace Coolidge, who was sort of a beautiful, complexion, 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, parting blue. Will every color looks good on grace. She could be snippy with grace, and we have some letters that suggest that she was thinking of the same election, and maybe coolidge wouldnt be the candidate next time, and when the issue came up that maybe brace coolidge should have a president ial house, there was none. Harding said that the hotel was good for the coolidges. The ladies were also very different, last week we learned that she had a very bold personality. She had issues that she cared about, she encouraged her husband in politics, we seem to have opposites in the relationships between the. Coolidge law. Can you talk about that . Graces biographer says the harding marriage is more like a business, they had a deal, Warren Harding got to do this, it was an older marriage as well. In the coolidge case i wouldnt say that grace was always differential, but she was differential in public. In private there could have been fireworks. In politics, that it was kept the private sphere. She kept her in a prescribed area, one time when she tried a riding habit, he said he didnt want her to do that. You know id advise you not to try while we are in the presidency, so mrs. Coolidge in some ways was a very oldfashioned wife. So were going to be visiting a number of sites associated with the coolidges as we do throughout these programs, the first is vermont, the birthplace of Calvin Coolidge, law his birthplace, well learn what happened there on the night he took office. What is this town . Like im newlythe town and share of the board of our foundation there, the Calvin Foundation their wants to invite all americans to visit, its small, its one of the most beautiful villages in the world, and you can see coolidges birthplace, he wasnt worn over the store like thatcher but he was built right under it, you get an idea of how beautiful but hard life for people in a town like that. Was we are seeing some scenes of a, vermont in just a moment were gonna tell you some dramatic stories about how coolidge found out he was going to be the president of the states. One of the things that has been very special about the series is learning from your questions, we encouraged that in several ways, our phone number will be on the screen throughout the program. Two zero two five three eight one if you live in the mountain pacific time zones, you can also tweet us, our twitter address is at first ladies. You can also join the conversation on our Facebook Page on cspan. You can find the Beautiful Image of the coolidge administration, send us a picture there and we will try to mix those in throughout the program. So back to vermont and the night that kelvin and Grace Coolidge learned theyre going to the white house. Plymouth is the birth home of Calvin Coolidge, his house was attached to the store his father operated. Then he moved to the house across the road, the homestead, an Old Fashioned town for those in the sophisticated twenties. Grace spent some of the time 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 site there. She did knitting and other types of hand work when she was there. She enjoyed the country there. She grew up in the biggest town in vermont, and when she was growing up her house had electricity and plumbing, and when she came here this was very much still a country home, so no electricity or plumbing in the house she stayed in with her husband. This is the kitchen of the coolidge homestead, so this is where they would have breakfast or dinner. No dining in the house. Very simple. In here there was one running faucet in the kitchen, and that was the only plumbing in the entire house, so this was in great contrast to what greece had been experiencing not only as a child growing up in burlington, which was sophisticated at the time, as well as of course in the white house when she had all the modern luxuries. This is a two hall privy, the only sanitary facility in the house. Of course coming here with kelvin was very much throw back to the previous century, so this wasnt what she was used to, but hearing all the reports about grace she probably took this in good stride, and regarded this as part of her experience with her husband. The furniture here is the bed spread that kelvin and greece used when they were in plymouth, vermont. Its very typical of the circa 18 seventies, country style. The rooms are small in the house, not the spacious rooms they were accustomed to in the white house certainly. She was also president when the word came that harding had died, she was part of the select people who witnessed the swearing in. This is the sitting room of the coolidge rooms, we now know it as the oath of office room. This is where the group gathered when he administered his speeches. The group gathered around the center table, the pen that was signed, the bible that was, here but not officially used in the swearengin because that wasnt required by vermont state law, grace would have stood right about where i am, and there is a famous painting with arthur killer of the homestead integral, and it shows the Group Standing around and she is right by kelvins side. I want to introduce you to our second guest at the table, former director of the Calvin Coolidge foundation there, and as we learned earlier the author of another book, set the tone for us about her personality and what she brought to the job. It was sudden, but she had been second lady for a while, she has not been in washington for a. While she didnt have a major role when her husband was governor of massachusetts, as wife of the Vice President she was often invited out to dinner. Should i know the percentages, and as kevin said we have to go somewhere grace. They went out a lot. Its obvious they would have to go out for dinner quite a bit. She set the tone in that she was very joyous and vivacious. Some people said she was the fun one, the front door greeter, whereas her husband was the thoughtful one behind her. Its a interesting dynamic because we often dont see this with first lady president s. Hes not just the thoughtful one, kelvin, he seems to be an anti politician in a lot of ways. What was it about this man . We see politics as a contact sport today. His personality doesnt seem so suited for politics, what brought him to . It he wasnt eight glad hander in that way, one reason he was able to climb up in massachusetts as he went to the constituencies. Very famous stories about what he would say if someone would ask for something hed say well, maybe which would mean you would get it. He under promise and overdelivered. Thats a political tactic, and a likable one because it makes you trust the politician and therefore government. He was a principled and thoughtful politician. More modern than wed like to pretend now. Heres a question that fits for where we are right now. What aspect of her personality or experience he asked helped mrs. Could be such an effective counterbalance for her husband . And you think he could have had the political career he had without her . Thats an interesting one because when he was Vice President she thought he could get back to southampton and the boys quite a bit. He said no, i need you here to help me navigate these political and social waters. So yes i think that she was key and 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 set back and think as i said before. Also, the both had a great sense of humor. They had all these jokes with each other, and of course he played a few jokes on people at the white house as well. So as they were going to office, as harding died, the scandals we heard about came to life. How did Calvin Coolidge handle the scandals . This was his test because this was his own party, maybe we blame them. He appointed a bipartisan group, a modern investigative group, both sides. He stood back from it. One might say today make a clean sweep, lets get rid of everyone, he didnt do that because the continuity was important for him, continuity was important of Harding Coolidge policy. Reduce uncertainty. We kept most of them on until it became clear that there was too much trouble, and some left. But all proper and clear. And he had the blessing of not knowing much. He didnt know much as Vice President , but he suspected in the one thing that he resented about Warren Harding is that harding could be selling the presidency. Coolidge had Great Respect for the presidency. Is it true that coolidge listened in on the scandals of the administration . I think she went to congress and listened to what was going on. She kept in the background, more in the tradition of first ladies to have a happy home life, greet the public, the care of children, but not meddle in public policy. Were going to go back in time and find out about how they look met, the double harness . Double harness. Here is a bit of a story of how the coolidges met. This is where cabin and greece met for the first time. She was a teacher, he was a tenant in the boarding property. We are standing outside of the building that grace lived, and she lived on the second floor of this building in the dormitory, were living, we were standing on the court yard area. The building right beside us is where Calvin Coolidge lived, his room was up on the third floor at the back of the building, and he would have stood there watching grace. He cut a glimpse of her in her undershirt, he watched her take care of the garden. Were in the dormitory building and this building is where grace would have seen calvin out across the courtyard and she would put a candle to say hello. Were now in the parlor room of the dormitory that Grace Coolidge lived in, and in this room is where grace and kelvin would meet and sit and talk together. Despite him being in his thirties and her in her twenties, they still had to abide by the rules of the school, and had to meet somewhere where they would be chaperones and supervised on campus. Here they would sit and talk and get to know each other. And we learned but their northampton meeting. What about the two attracted them to each other . I think coming from vermont, both coming from vermont attracted them to each. Other he is from roll plymouth, and she was from a big city in vermont. She found him engaging and thoughtful, and he found her beautiful, but it he didnt quite know how to romance her. He asked a friend who happened to be a shoemaker in town what to say to grace. The shoe maker said compliment. Or tell her her shoes are beautiful. Do that kind of thing. Grace save the letters kevin wrote. Even though they were neighbors he saved the letters. They were very affectionate. How long did the court . Two years. Her family, she was an only child, i read that her mother wasnt happy about the relationship. So myra adored her child, and she thought that she would stay in the wellington area. Grace had her own mind and she said that she would like to teach at the clark school for the death. Gray said she would like to move to northampton. And myra said that is the home of Smith College and i guess most of the men are married so it will be okay. So myra could still look for a has been for grace. So that was her idea of what would happen here, but grace with her mind of her own finds kelvin, and the rest is history. Then myra didnt get what you wanted, and on the wedding day when myra has a headache. She got married earlier than her mother would have liked, as cindy liked, with trepidation writing to her friend that she was going into an adventure, but they were quite determined. This was a modern thing. They chose one another. She had been to college. Coit college. She had a trade. A very modern marriage compared to a lot of the proceeding presidencies. Jennifer on facebook, im interested in the work with disabled. One of the first to do so. Was she involved with the university when she was in washington d. C. . No because she believed in liberating and was trained to do that. Not sign language. Ive been to the clerk school for the death many times and i would say its a difficult art. Here we have our first color of the evening, this is john watching us from seattle. I think you just answered my question. Did grace no asl. Was there a lot of controversy about how to teach the death . There was not much controversy. They were different concepts. The feeling was that you could feel better in society through liberating. Sign language wouldnt van see it in terms of your career. I think we feel differently about that now. Back then there was a real drive to fit in, and participate in society. Next is jim from springfield illinois. Hi jim. Iran. Okay, i had a couple of questions. One is on a mechanic note, and by the way i apologize to jim koch. As one man show. Anyway, there was a story about women in the white house, when calvin went to church alone, and when he returned grace asked him what had been the subject of the sermon, and he replied sin. And grace said what does the preacher have to say about it, and calvin is alleged to have replied he was instant. Are you familiar with that or any of the other anecdotes about their relationship in the white house . Thanks very much. There seem to be all kinds of stories about the man of few words. Give a favor yourself . Thats a good one. If youve lived in new england, thats what you would say. Coolidge is humor was very much of his region, jim koch, the impersonator mention captures this, takes a full minute to, see the word cow. He spoke more interest to me as lowly. Coolidge goes to a dinner party, and a bright lady says well, coolidge, i meet a bet that i could get you to say more than two worth tonight, and fellow. I think the Vice President said, you lose. That was colleges humor. Today we think thats a little cold. Theres a little pause after and you laugh. Thats a boarding house. What are some of the other things that we should know but the early years of the relationship before they go to the white house that are key . Will building on some of the stories, when they get married calvin delivers to greece 52 soft to be darned. Gray says did you marry me too darn socks. He said no but it comes in handy. She started to do it. It was okay. They kid each other quite a bit. I think that she had just to some of his personality. I think he was tough when writing speeches, and she said he waits his safety valve. She listened to him and was positive when he was doing Something Like that. Also some key roles, we talked about the president ial years