This summer, I interned with the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation in Plymouth Notch, Vermont—the small town where our 30th President was born, grew up, was sworn into office and vacationed in the summer. Fun fact: in the dance hall above the general store, where President Coolidge did all of his White House business while he was in Vermont, there is a secret passageway into his birthplace disguised as a cupboard—in case the KKK came for him.
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I had a lot of fun in a very beautiful town with a lot of very wonderful people. I also learned a lot about a very strange and interesting time in American history. While Coolidge may be one of our less-recognized Presidents, I think that he was overall a very relatable guy—he liked playing pranks on the Secret Service, spoke little but said much and had a pet raccoon. Here are some pictures of classic Coolidge reactions:
1. When your hat game is strong.
Quite the Stetson lover, Mr. President Coolidge often wore classy hats, but this one was given to him by the "Smoki" tribe—a fictitious Native American tribe in imitation of a local Hopi tribe.
2. When you're sad because you had to dress up today.
It's hard being a gangster.
3. When Henry Ford wants you to sign his sap bucket.
Also pictured: the Firestone brothers, Thomas Edison, Grace Coolidge and Colonel John Coolidge.
4. When you just want to be left alone to read.
Coolidge read ravenously, from school onward. His autobiography is well worth reading—succinct, humorous, and a valuable insight into why he governed the way he did.
5. When you find the prettiest kitty.
The Coolidges had a lot of pets, including Rebecca the raccoon, several cats, dogs, birds and wild animals gifted to them by other heads of state (notably, two lion cubs named Tax Reduction and Budget Bureau).
6. When your fish is high quality.
This one wasn't a pet. Newspapers of the time liked to portray Coolidge as "rustic", following him up to Vermont to photograph him in his natural habitat.
7. When you have good taste in shoes.
While Coolidge was a very frugal man, his frugality did not reach to shopping for his wife, Grace—she was one of the most well dressed first ladies in history! Coolidge was a very stylish guy.
8. When you finally get that pony.
FINALLY. Coolidge actually had a mechanical horse that he kept in the White House, much to the amusement of Grace.
9. When you're cruising in style.
This shows Calvin, Grace and Senator Charles Curtis of Kansas traveling to Coolidge's second inauguration—after he won the office himself in 1924, in one of the most low-key Republican conventions ever.
10. When you're working on getting those natty gains.
Gotta stay fit, yo.
Bonus: Grace Coolidge with Rebecca.
I told you they had a raccoon.
