1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to 2 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: the show Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always so much 3 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: for tuning in. Shout out to our super producer, mister 4 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:40,559 Speaker 1: Max Williams. Shout out to another guy, a very cool cat, 5 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:43,479 Speaker 1: who is in fact following up on a pop quiz 6 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:47,840 Speaker 1: for our Ridiculous Historians tuning in earlier this week. Calvin 7 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: Coolidge was not, in fact the basis of Calvinism. There 8 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: are a lot of people named Calvin in the world. 9 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 1: And know all you pointed out, Calvin Clyde, You're no Brown, 10 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 1: I'm ben Bowling. But out of all the US presidents 11 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:06,280 Speaker 1: named Calvin, this guy is automatically the coolest. 12 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, I would agree with that. 13 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 3: And as of the recording of this podcast, forty five 14 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 3: individual human people have held the position of president of 15 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:19,319 Speaker 3: these United States. And Max pointed out that there might 16 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 3: be some personnikity listeners that would say, hey, Max, what's 17 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 3: the deal? There have been forty six presidents. You have 18 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:27,520 Speaker 3: to remember, fair listeners, that Grover. 19 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 2: Cleveland was both the twenty second and the twenty fourth president. 20 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 4: And there are the facts. 21 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, there we go. And there were a lot of 22 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 1: also rants in Potus history. That's just the acronym president 23 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 1: of the United States. One person who gets a lot 24 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: of heat is a president named Warren G. Harding. Hang on, Ben, 25 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 1: you might be saying, why are we talking about Harding? 26 00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: You just made such a big deal about a president 27 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 1: named Calvin Well. That's because Warren G. Harding, Warren G. 28 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:23,839 Speaker 1: Warren G. 29 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 3: It was the regulator. 30 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 1: Yep, he's the first one. Warren G. Gets elected president. 31 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:31,960 Speaker 1: We're abbreviating a lot of this. Here's what you need 32 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:38,639 Speaker 1: to know. Warren G. Becomes president, he is unfortunately unable 33 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: to complete his term of office. He passes away while 34 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: he's president in nineteen twenty three. And this means that 35 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: his vice president, Calvin Coolidge, automatically becomes commander in chief, 36 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: the thirtieth president in the history of the United States. 37 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: And you know, I love credit. I love shouting out 38 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: our research associates. Credit to Max Williams for this beautiful 39 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:09,360 Speaker 1: turn of phrase. Here what would ensue would arguably be 40 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:13,519 Speaker 1: the call mist boringist presidency in the history of America, 41 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: but also somehow the most hilarious and ridiculous. 42 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 2: Dare we say so? 43 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: It's very important to shout out our research associates, and 44 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: in today's episode, we're going to dive into the history 45 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:27,639 Speaker 1: of a guy who had a street name as President 46 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: Silent Cal. 47 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 3: And this is not like one of the classic opposite 48 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 3: day nicknames like Little John, not the rapper, but the 49 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 3: member of the Robin Hood, Mary Band or. 50 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:44,400 Speaker 2: You know what was it. There was actually someone in history. 51 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 3: I know what it was. It was in Skyrim. There 52 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 3: is an orphanage in riftin I believe that is run 53 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 3: by this sort of miss Hannigan type figure. I can't 54 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 3: remember her name, but when you talk to one of 55 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 3: the NPC's when you go in and hear her beating 56 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:02,119 Speaker 3: the child and saying, how you gotta snipes, will never 57 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 3: be adopted ever, you're mine, And they say, the nice 58 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 3: kind lady that works there tells you, yeah, people around 59 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 3: town call her kind Margaret or something loved. 60 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:18,279 Speaker 1: The kind. 61 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:26,000 Speaker 3: Boiler certainly on the Brotherhood also haven't gone. I did 62 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:28,880 Speaker 3: immediately want to murder her. But Silent Cal was in 63 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:31,920 Speaker 3: fact quite a laconic figure, the one that definitely wouldn't 64 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 3: talk unless he had something to say. 65 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 1: Favorite mentioned this on the on the air in a 66 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,320 Speaker 1: previous episode, so got to give credit where its to. 67 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:45,920 Speaker 1: My favorite Talvin Coolidge anecdote is one time someone came 68 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 1: up to him and said, because he's so famously taciturn, 69 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:51,039 Speaker 1: they came up to him and said, I bet I 70 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 1: could get three words out of you, and our buddy 71 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:57,799 Speaker 1: cal looked around, looked at the person, and then said, 72 00:04:58,839 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: you lose. 73 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:06,880 Speaker 3: Ooh, James set match match whatever. Yeah, Calvin, what a guy. 74 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 3: Let's learn more about him, though, Let's do it. David Greenberg, 75 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 3: writer of Calvin Coolidge Life before the Presidency for the 76 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:18,280 Speaker 3: University of Virginia's Miller Center, had this to say. Coolidge 77 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 3: was born John Calvin Coolidge Junior on July fourth, eighteen 78 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:23,359 Speaker 3: seventy two, in Plymouth. 79 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:24,120 Speaker 2: Notch, Vermont. 80 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:28,160 Speaker 3: He grew up helping his storekeeper father tend to the accounts, 81 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,360 Speaker 3: selling apples, and doing other chores around the store at 82 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 3: home on the family farm. As a boy, Coolidge had 83 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:37,480 Speaker 3: little ambition in life beyond hoping to follow his father 84 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 3: as a good. 85 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:40,360 Speaker 2: Honest, small town merchant. 86 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:45,760 Speaker 1: In the original course of research here, I had initially 87 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 1: misread that that passage as Calvin Coolidge grew up helping 88 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: his storekeeper father to tend apples and sell accounts, which is. 89 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 2: You know, sketchy selling it well maybe yeah the time. 90 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 1: So anyway, yeah, let's let's learn about the patter familias here. 91 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 1: The senior Coolidge is a kind of hard nosed guy. 92 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:14,400 Speaker 1: He's a pillar of the community, upstanding dude, probably not 93 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:17,480 Speaker 1: a ton of fun at parties. But he's also active 94 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:21,279 Speaker 1: in local government. He's in the Vermont's House Representatives, he 95 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 1: serves a term in the Senate of Vermont. And he 96 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,680 Speaker 1: also he's one of those guys who is continually in 97 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:31,560 Speaker 1: local office, like one of my kind of sketchy uncles. Sorry, 98 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:32,159 Speaker 1: Uncle Sam. 99 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:33,880 Speaker 2: Isn't Bernie Sanders from Vermont? 100 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:38,159 Speaker 1: Isn't that Sanders? Yeah, Sanders is a Vermont guy. 101 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:42,159 Speaker 3: It just strikes me as a place that breeds level 102 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:43,599 Speaker 3: headed individuals. 103 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 2: I don't know why. 104 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:48,840 Speaker 1: Maybe it's it's beautiful in autumn. Go if you get 105 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:51,799 Speaker 1: a chance, people drive up there just to see the leaves. 106 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: So everybody says, all right, this guy Coolidge is he 107 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:02,920 Speaker 1: he's not a wild Coolidge, the elder patter familius. Again, 108 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: he's not a wild man. You know. You see, some 109 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: years he's the peace officer, some years he's the tax collector. 110 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:13,240 Speaker 1: But he is good at his job. He's good at 111 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 1: running his store, he's thrifty, he's also a farmer, and 112 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:21,680 Speaker 1: he's got this sort of solidity to him. He is 113 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:25,360 Speaker 1: an anchor for the town and he's committed to public service. 114 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:29,560 Speaker 1: And this is something that we know young Calvin aspired to. 115 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: He really looked up to his father on miny levels. 116 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure, and he also appreciated how good he 117 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 3: was with money. And I love how David Greenberg describes 118 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 3: the younger Coolidge in terms of his academic pursuits. He 119 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 3: described him as a fair to average student in the 120 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 3: Plymouth Elementary school, and he did manage to make good 121 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 3: enough grades to get into Amherst College, which was considered, 122 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 3: you know, prestigious at the time. So he must have 123 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 3: worked hard because if if he's considering him a fair 124 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 3: to average student he's getting into a prestigious university, that 125 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 3: probably means he had to bust his butt to like 126 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 3: keep those grades up and that it was important to him. 127 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:13,200 Speaker 2: He wasn't just naturally a whiz, you know in school. 128 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:18,760 Speaker 1: Sure, yeah, he is not necessarily the most precocious student, 129 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: but he does understand the value of study and hard work. 130 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:27,120 Speaker 1: He gets excellent grades in his last two years at 131 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 1: Amherst College. He graduates with honors in fact cum laude, 132 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: and he becomes a member of the Republican Club and 133 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 1: the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. He also gets He also 134 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 1: gets known for his dry wit, and I love that 135 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:47,679 Speaker 1: he was lauded for his public speaking skills. He actually 136 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:52,320 Speaker 1: got the junior prize in oratory competitions, which is just like, 137 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:54,680 Speaker 1: who is the best at talking in front of more 138 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:55,480 Speaker 1: than four people? 139 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:56,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's funny. 140 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:59,440 Speaker 3: I mean, when you think about his reputation as being 141 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:02,240 Speaker 3: somewhat taciturn, it is kind of funny that he was 142 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 3: the one who was brought up to host sort of 143 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:09,440 Speaker 3: like a roast kind of situation of the graduating class. 144 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 3: I just I don't know I can possibly even attempt 145 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:13,560 Speaker 3: to do it. I'm just not funny enough. But I 146 00:09:13,559 --> 00:09:15,840 Speaker 3: would love to see a sketch where someone did like 147 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:19,520 Speaker 3: a stand up comedy set presented by Calvin Coolidge. It'd 148 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 3: probably be something along the lines of like Joe Para, 149 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 3: you know, very monotone, kind of meadow, kind of string 150 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 3: of dad jokes. 151 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 2: I'm just picturing this. I don't know. 152 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:34,200 Speaker 1: He also, in addition to that, and obviously that's a 153 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:38,440 Speaker 1: pitch for his upcoming podcast. He also got first prize 154 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:43,079 Speaker 1: for his essay The Principles Fought for in the American Revolution. 155 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:48,320 Speaker 1: He eventually goes to Northampton, Massachusetts, where he reads law 156 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:50,920 Speaker 1: in a law firm. He passes the bar in the 157 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:53,960 Speaker 1: summer of eighteen ninety seven. One big thing about the 158 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:58,080 Speaker 1: United States versus a lot of other powerful countries is 159 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:02,600 Speaker 1: that many US press scidents have their background in the 160 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,240 Speaker 1: world of law, in the world of litigation. You can 161 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:08,880 Speaker 1: look at other countries where many leaders have their background 162 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:12,119 Speaker 1: in engineering stuff like that. It's just it's a cultural 163 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:15,800 Speaker 1: fun fact. He opens a law office, and if you 164 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 1: own a law office in the late eighteen hundreds, guess what. 165 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:23,839 Speaker 1: You also participate in local politics. And that's what Calvin does. 166 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:27,679 Speaker 1: Following I would argue in his father's footsteps. 167 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:32,960 Speaker 3: And Coolidge's sort of ascension into political life was very 168 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:35,760 Speaker 3: measured and it was just kind of like slow and 169 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:40,280 Speaker 3: steady wins the race. And around nineteen hundred he started 170 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:45,600 Speaker 3: to do some work with the local Republican Club in Northampton, 171 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:50,240 Speaker 3: and this ultimately led to him getting a place on 172 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:51,560 Speaker 3: the city council. 173 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:56,960 Speaker 1: So in his ascension he becomes Lieutenant governor in nineteen sixteen. 174 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:00,280 Speaker 1: He holds that role for two years, and then he 175 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:04,240 Speaker 1: gets some national press because he runs for the position 176 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:09,920 Speaker 1: of governor of Massachusetts and he barely wins. He just 177 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:14,600 Speaker 1: edges out the Democratic candidate, Richard H. Long, and so 178 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:19,040 Speaker 1: now the eyes of the world and probably people in 179 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:25,240 Speaker 1: Congress are upon him. And this is fratuitous timing because 180 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:28,720 Speaker 1: the Republican Party, as we know, returns to power at 181 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:32,040 Speaker 1: the end of World War One. And then also he 182 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:38,520 Speaker 1: does some things that remain controversial to some. He gets 183 00:11:38,559 --> 00:11:43,080 Speaker 1: a lot of press across the nation when he calls 184 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:47,079 Speaker 1: on the National Guard of Massachusetts to break a strike 185 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:50,880 Speaker 1: by the Boston City Police, and then he says, there 186 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:53,680 Speaker 1: is no right to strike against the public safety by 187 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 1: anybody anywhere anytime. 188 00:11:56,520 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 2: We don't like that. That's not great. 189 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:06,199 Speaker 3: This was seen historically, you know, upon further analysis, is 190 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:10,840 Speaker 3: something of a reactionary move, but it was actually pretty 191 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:15,840 Speaker 3: popular at the time because labor sentiment pro labor sentiment 192 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:19,240 Speaker 3: was not necessarily what it is today. 193 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:20,760 Speaker 2: I guess it's still a little. 194 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:22,760 Speaker 3: Bit complicated for some people, but at the time it 195 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:27,079 Speaker 3: certainly wasn't, you know, considered like the position of the 196 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:31,679 Speaker 3: you know, moral individual, the moral citizen, that workers deserve 197 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:34,160 Speaker 3: to be treated with respect, and it got him some 198 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:35,360 Speaker 3: pretty serious support. 199 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:37,320 Speaker 5: I do want to jump in here though, and say, like, 200 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:40,000 Speaker 5: there was actually an extensive writing I found while researching 201 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:42,680 Speaker 5: this that said Coolidge kind of regretted doing this in 202 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:45,160 Speaker 5: the future because he was up despite like, you know, 203 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:48,240 Speaker 5: he was a Republican, he was a fisical conservative, but 204 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:50,320 Speaker 5: he was actually a pretty progressive dude, and he would 205 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:52,679 Speaker 5: look back like, I shouldn't have done that, but because 206 00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:55,240 Speaker 5: it's like, you know, the cops are striking, but also 207 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 5: you know, you shouldn't send the National Guard into break 208 00:12:57,960 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 5: a strike. 209 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:01,000 Speaker 3: Well, yeah, I mean there was a sense I think 210 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:03,920 Speaker 3: maybe it wasn't so much about like the public at 211 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:07,560 Speaker 3: large being anti labor, but the results of these types 212 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,960 Speaker 3: of strikes were lawlessness, or at least we're seeing as lawlessness, 213 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 3: and I think the general population was like looking at 214 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:18,440 Speaker 3: strikes through that lens, right exactly. 215 00:13:18,679 --> 00:13:25,360 Speaker 1: And you know, despite this, overall, he is pursuing a 216 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:30,320 Speaker 1: pretty progressive agenda for a politician of his stature at 217 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:33,679 Speaker 1: the time. He says, look, if you're a public employee, 218 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:36,360 Speaker 1: we know the cost of living is rising. We've got 219 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:39,440 Speaker 1: to pay you what you're worth. If you are a 220 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:43,719 Speaker 1: child who is working, then you shouldn't work more than 221 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:46,640 Speaker 1: forty eight hours, which we knew a week, which we 222 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:49,839 Speaker 1: know sounds terrible now, but that was actually that was 223 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 1: a really good move on his part. He also did, 224 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:56,200 Speaker 1: by the way, limit the work week for women in Massachusetts. 225 00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: He said, there's too many billboards, there's too much advertise. 226 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:04,559 Speaker 1: Let's calm that down. People liked it on both sides 227 00:14:04,559 --> 00:14:06,880 Speaker 1: of the political aisle. People were like, he gets it. 228 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:09,360 Speaker 3: There's a little something for everybody, you know, and the 229 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:11,280 Speaker 3: kind of stuff he's doing. And so he continued to 230 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:14,480 Speaker 3: advance in local politics and eventually went on to marry 231 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:19,240 Speaker 3: Grace Anna Goodhue. That was on October fourth of nineteen 232 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:23,080 Speaker 3: oh five at her parents' house in Burlington, Vermont. And 233 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:27,680 Speaker 3: she was also a graduate of the Higher Education in 234 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:32,080 Speaker 3: the University of Vermont, a Phi Beta Kappa member, and 235 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:35,920 Speaker 3: was a teacher at the Clark Institute for the Deaf 236 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:37,400 Speaker 3: in Northampton. 237 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:41,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, and they've got a nice meet cute. I think 238 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:44,400 Speaker 1: it's good for a rom com So Max, if we 239 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 1: could get some we get some rom calm music. I 240 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:52,520 Speaker 1: leave it to you, sir. So Coolidge gets Grace's attention 241 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:58,760 Speaker 1: one morning because she is walking through town in Northampton 242 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 1: and he was living a boarding house at the time, 243 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:05,520 Speaker 1: and she walks through the streets. She happens to look 244 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:09,200 Speaker 1: up and she sees an open window where there's this 245 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:15,360 Speaker 1: guy standing. It is underwear, shaving and wearing a hat. 246 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:19,400 Speaker 3: Was it a baseball cap? We don't know at this time, glistening, 247 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:21,800 Speaker 3: you know, with shaving cream. It reminds me of like 248 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 3: the trope of like the sexy bare chest to construction 249 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 3: worker with a six pack drinking a diet coke on 250 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:34,120 Speaker 3: a roof, but only way nerdier and schlubbier and less sexy. 251 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 1: I also think it's interesting that we don't know what 252 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:39,520 Speaker 1: part of his body he was shaving. I mean, history 253 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:41,280 Speaker 1: wants us to assume it was his face. 254 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:43,400 Speaker 3: I'm going to come clean on something, y'all. I once, 255 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:45,480 Speaker 3: when I was younger. I don't know why I shaved 256 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:50,480 Speaker 3: my right thigh, or rather a calf, and I swear 257 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:52,560 Speaker 3: to you the hair has never grown back to this day. 258 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:57,440 Speaker 1: A like Lee's story. Oh that's cool, man. I mean, swimmers, hey, 259 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:00,400 Speaker 1: swimmers are some of the most physically fit people, and 260 00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: they shave all the time. They got to get rid 261 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 1: of the friction. Okay, it wasn't love at first sight. 262 00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:13,760 Speaker 1: She thought he looked like a cartoon. And then she 263 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: go thawed, this was not a coquettish cover the mouth 264 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:19,360 Speaker 1: kind of thing. 265 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 2: This is like, are you okay? 266 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:28,600 Speaker 1: And she could fowt as I was saying, and she 267 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:33,040 Speaker 1: laughed long and loud enough for him to notice her, 268 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:37,800 Speaker 1: and then she turned away. And he later like, when 269 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 1: they talk about this later, because they have a long relationship. 270 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:45,200 Speaker 1: When they talk about this later, he tries to justify it, 271 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:48,120 Speaker 1: and he says, well, I wear a hat when I'm 272 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:50,840 Speaker 1: shaving because I get to keep my hair out of 273 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:51,360 Speaker 1: my eyes. 274 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:54,200 Speaker 2: That's respectable. Yeah, I'll buy that. 275 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:57,320 Speaker 3: I do love this though, whenever you hear and I've 276 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 3: got a couple of friends who very similar story. He said, 277 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:05,320 Speaker 3: I am going to be married to you one day. 278 00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:10,760 Speaker 3: I guess that was him actually proposed that. Yeah, that's true. 279 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:12,360 Speaker 3: Maybe it's just a little different. But as a couple 280 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:14,000 Speaker 3: of dear friends of mine who I've known for a 281 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:18,080 Speaker 3: long time, who I knew separately, one of them said 282 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:21,200 Speaker 3: was I'm going to marry that girl, And he definitely did, 283 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:22,359 Speaker 3: which is so romantic. 284 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:29,400 Speaker 1: Again, Rodic and Grace really dug this Calvin Coolidge vibe, 285 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 1: just like the populace of Massachusetts. She immediately said something 286 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:37,280 Speaker 1: to the effect of, I imagine you have mistaken that for 287 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:39,440 Speaker 1: a proposal, But yeah, dude, I'm in. 288 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:42,680 Speaker 2: Al then you rogue. 289 00:17:43,359 --> 00:17:45,600 Speaker 1: So they have a kid. They have John in nineteen 290 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:48,480 Speaker 1: oh six, and then in nineteen oh eight they have 291 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:51,960 Speaker 1: Calvin Junior. The whole time, by the way, our buddy 292 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:56,920 Speaker 1: Calvin Coolidge is pursuing his career in politics, and as 293 00:17:56,960 --> 00:17:59,919 Speaker 1: we know, he reaches some rarefied heights. 294 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:02,760 Speaker 3: He does, and it all really starts with his attending 295 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:08,879 Speaker 3: the Republican National Convention in Chicago as the state's favorite 296 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:11,200 Speaker 3: candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. 297 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:12,399 Speaker 2: That's in nineteen twenty. 298 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:16,040 Speaker 3: He only got thirty four votes on the first ballot. 299 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:19,280 Speaker 3: But then there was some you know how backroom deals, 300 00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:22,359 Speaker 3: especially back in the early days of politics, were really 301 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:25,200 Speaker 3: the thing that elevated well, who am I kidding? 302 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:26,480 Speaker 2: Of course, it's still that way today. 303 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:30,840 Speaker 3: Was come on, I s to have any illusions, but 304 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:34,439 Speaker 3: there were some of these deals going on that helped 305 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:38,000 Speaker 3: ensure that Warren G. Harding was in fact nominated. We 306 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:40,800 Speaker 3: already talked about Warren g All. Remember what happened with him? 307 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:47,480 Speaker 3: He regulated, he did, he got regulated. Coolidge wasn't initially 308 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:50,760 Speaker 3: part of the conversation to be his running mate. They 309 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:53,360 Speaker 3: were hoping for a guy by the name of Irving 310 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:56,520 Speaker 3: Linn Roots, Wisconsin. 311 00:18:57,560 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 2: Honorable Senator Irving Lynn Roots. 312 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:04,600 Speaker 3: I'm we all remember that name, right, definitely Len Root 313 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:09,240 Speaker 3: for life and and Coolidge name did get Coolidge's name 314 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:13,360 Speaker 3: rather did get dropped into the ring. And then there 315 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:17,639 Speaker 3: was some support that rallied around him from some delegates 316 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:21,199 Speaker 3: that were sort of I think, kind of almost I 317 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:24,320 Speaker 3: guess protesting in a way like yeah, it. 318 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:27,480 Speaker 1: Was more like they were voting against Len Roots. That's right, 319 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:30,560 Speaker 1: and that's right in the larger context. Shout out to 320 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:35,040 Speaker 1: our friends at Encyclopedia Britannica. In the larger context, Calvin 321 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:38,480 Speaker 1: just keeps lucking out because he's on the ticket now, 322 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:42,280 Speaker 1: as you said, in the nineteen twenty election is really 323 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: a question for America, and the question is do you 324 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:49,159 Speaker 1: or do you not like President Woodrow Wilson. We know 325 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:52,240 Speaker 1: our pal Max doesn't like Woodrow Wilson because he gave 326 00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 1: Woodrow Wilson, the nickname dumb Dick. 327 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:57,520 Speaker 6: Woodrow Wilson is the fucking worst? 328 00:19:58,000 --> 00:19:58,439 Speaker 1: Is you is? 329 00:19:58,560 --> 00:19:59,160 Speaker 3: Or is you ain't? 330 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 1: My constitut See, well he's no Franklin Pierce, but a 331 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:03,720 Speaker 1: few people yeah. 332 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:08,200 Speaker 5: In my book, I mean she resegregated the national He 333 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:09,120 Speaker 5: sure did. 334 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:09,560 Speaker 7: He was. 335 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:12,399 Speaker 6: He basically murdered Eugene V. 336 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:12,800 Speaker 2: Debs. 337 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:13,760 Speaker 6: So yeah. 338 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:18,399 Speaker 1: Oh also uh oh Andrew Jackson as well. Look, the 339 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:20,159 Speaker 1: presidents aren't perfect nor. 340 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:21,880 Speaker 6: As generally pretty bad. 341 00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:23,760 Speaker 5: If you actually go put it, hold them up like 342 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:25,960 Speaker 5: the wasn't the last one hundred plus a years look 343 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:26,399 Speaker 5: a lot. 344 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:28,680 Speaker 6: Better when you go back before nineteen hundred. 345 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:31,879 Speaker 1: You gotta see there's a great stand up comic who's 346 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:34,360 Speaker 1: really making a name for himself, Shane Gillis. You got 347 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,919 Speaker 1: to see his bit on George Washington. It's amazing, and 348 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:42,119 Speaker 1: visiting the Washing the Washington Museum anyway. So people aren't 349 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:48,440 Speaker 1: surprised that Harding wins the election pretty easily. And part 350 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:51,440 Speaker 1: of the reason he wins this pretty easily, to your point, Max, 351 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:56,879 Speaker 1: is because Eugene V. Debs is imprisoned at the time, 352 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:00,600 Speaker 1: and uh, and the status quo is against him. Republicans 353 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:04,639 Speaker 1: are like, look, our boy Harding and Calvin. We guess 354 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:08,359 Speaker 1: they win, and this means that we can reverse all 355 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:12,120 Speaker 1: of the policies Woodrow Wilson made in the US, and 356 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:15,320 Speaker 1: we can also get rid of all the international overtures 357 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:16,520 Speaker 1: he made across the world. 358 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:19,800 Speaker 3: I love that about government changing hands, where it's like, hey, 359 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:22,000 Speaker 3: let's do everything we can to wipe out what the 360 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:23,000 Speaker 3: last people. 361 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:24,679 Speaker 1: Did psyche other countries. 362 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:26,360 Speaker 2: It seems really effective. 363 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:30,000 Speaker 1: Faclks the number one reason that other countries don't trust 364 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:31,400 Speaker 1: the United States. 365 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:36,920 Speaker 3: And thus begins one of the most corrupt, toward nasty 366 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:40,040 Speaker 3: presidential terms in the history of the United States. 367 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:42,080 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah. 368 00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:46,680 Speaker 1: And that's where people start rightly saying that President Harding 369 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:51,520 Speaker 1: is a very open to and vulnerable to corruption. This 370 00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:56,359 Speaker 1: really stresses Harding out. Historians speculate it may have been 371 00:21:56,359 --> 00:21:58,840 Speaker 1: a factor that led to his early death. He got 372 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:02,280 Speaker 1: a heart attack in August of nineteen twenty three, and 373 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 1: so on August third, nineteen twenty three, at like two 374 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:09,960 Speaker 1: point thirty in the morning, Calvin Coolidge gets the official 375 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:13,840 Speaker 1: word that he is now President of the United States, 376 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:17,600 Speaker 1: and he goes to his dad, because his dad. 377 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:20,440 Speaker 2: Does the shop keep the humble shopkeeper from Vermont. 378 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:23,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, his dad, like me, is a notary public and 379 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:27,439 Speaker 1: so his dad's wait a humble brag. It's easy, you 380 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:30,000 Speaker 1: should do it. It's fun. You get a stamp. So 381 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:36,879 Speaker 1: his own father administers the oath of office, and Coolidge 382 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:42,320 Speaker 1: takes his oath with the family Bible. It might seem weird, 383 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:44,399 Speaker 1: and it might seem a little bit ad hoc, but 384 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:49,880 Speaker 1: we have to remember then as now, there always has 385 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:53,160 Speaker 1: to be a president as immediately as possible. So they 386 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:57,119 Speaker 1: can't hold up to like travel outside of Vermont. They 387 00:22:57,200 --> 00:22:59,720 Speaker 1: can't schedule a day. It has to happen. 388 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:00,199 Speaker 2: Now. 389 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:03,600 Speaker 1: I think that's pretty dramatic. Honestly it is. 390 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 3: You know, in Coolidge again, he had a little something 391 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:11,320 Speaker 3: for everybody. As he ascended to the role of the president, 392 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:15,920 Speaker 3: he realized that there was some damage control that needed 393 00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:18,800 Speaker 3: to be done, you know, sort of rebrand this administration 394 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:25,119 Speaker 3: to differentiate them from the corruption of the Harding administration. Yeah, 395 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:28,159 Speaker 3: and really inherited kind of a pile of crap that 396 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,200 Speaker 3: he had to mold into a beautiful sculpture. 397 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:33,679 Speaker 2: I don't, okay do with that image, which it's. 398 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:36,800 Speaker 1: A real messy bowl of spaghetti. And he does have 399 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:40,359 Speaker 1: to bring order out of this chaos and skullduggery. So 400 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:46,080 Speaker 1: he's again a very tenacious guy. He's the kind of 401 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:49,159 Speaker 1: guy who doesn't make a big to do. He just 402 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:53,600 Speaker 1: does what he believes should be done. And so it 403 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:56,000 Speaker 1: comes to pass, I'm saying, And so it comes to 404 00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 1: pass a lot more often because I feel like that 405 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:01,679 Speaker 1: raises our dramatic stakes. And so it comes to pass 406 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:06,440 Speaker 1: that Coolidge one by one starts rooting out the sources 407 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:10,080 Speaker 1: of corruption and making the executive branch of the US 408 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:15,320 Speaker 1: government a model of integrity. And this is in his 409 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:19,720 Speaker 1: own image. He says, Look, you know, America, we might 410 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:23,600 Speaker 1: not agree on everything, but I will deal with you 411 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:27,000 Speaker 1: and the fate of our nation in good faith. I 412 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:28,399 Speaker 1: am someone you can trust. 413 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:29,080 Speaker 2: Yeah. 414 00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:31,840 Speaker 3: And he also, you know, like I keep saying, he 415 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:34,959 Speaker 3: kind of had a little something for everybody. He was 416 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:40,520 Speaker 3: determined to maintain this sense of the old moral and 417 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:45,520 Speaker 3: economic ways, not representing some sort of massive shift that 418 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:49,520 Speaker 3: would freak people out, because America is actually doing pretty well. 419 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:51,840 Speaker 3: And you know, one thing that freaks people out when 420 00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:53,520 Speaker 3: there's a new president coming in is like, are you 421 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:55,719 Speaker 3: going to raise our taxes? Are you going to do 422 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:58,359 Speaker 3: something that's going to affect my money. You know, I 423 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:01,800 Speaker 3: never realized why politics becomes so much more important to 424 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:02,560 Speaker 3: older people. 425 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:05,320 Speaker 2: It's because they're looking out for their money man. 426 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:08,159 Speaker 1: And so it comes to pass. I'm not letting go 427 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:11,359 Speaker 1: of it. It comes to pass that Coolidge has to 428 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:15,760 Speaker 1: explore some of his own moral boundaries. He says, We're 429 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:19,160 Speaker 1: not going to use the economic power the federal government 430 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:25,240 Speaker 1: to stop this boom. We're not going to likewise ameliorate 431 00:25:25,359 --> 00:25:29,439 Speaker 1: the depressed condition of certain industries. We're going to treat 432 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:33,600 Speaker 1: everybody equally. And so his first message to Congress December 433 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:35,880 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty three, it's a very weird year for him. 434 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:38,960 Speaker 1: He says, we're going to be more isolationist in our 435 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:43,199 Speaker 1: foreign policy. We're going to cut taxes, We're going to 436 00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:49,320 Speaker 1: provide some limited aid to farmers and humble farmers. Humble farmers, 437 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:52,239 Speaker 1: guys check out Rebel Moon. It's important to realize that 438 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:55,120 Speaker 1: one guy's a humble farmer. And so it's. 439 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:57,920 Speaker 3: Literally all I know about the movie, right right, It's 440 00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:00,000 Speaker 3: an important point that occurs every ten minute. 441 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:06,479 Speaker 1: But the thing is, these moves are incredibly popular throughout 442 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:09,960 Speaker 1: the United States because no one knows the Great Depression 443 00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:10,720 Speaker 1: is on the way. 444 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:14,639 Speaker 3: So with Coolidge kind of representing the strong arm of 445 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:18,879 Speaker 3: justice and the antithesis of the corruption of what the 446 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:23,639 Speaker 3: Harding administration came to be represented, as he also brought 447 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:26,800 Speaker 3: with him this kind of return to a more conservative 448 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:32,760 Speaker 3: fiscal policy that has been I believe is still I mean, 449 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:35,440 Speaker 3: who knows these days, that sort of the foundation of 450 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:38,680 Speaker 3: what the Republican Party went on to sort of evolve into. 451 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:44,679 Speaker 1: Yeah, Coolidge also again is functioning as a thing to 452 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:49,000 Speaker 1: be held up in contrast to political opponents. Because the 453 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:53,520 Speaker 1: Democratic Party then was not the Democratic Party of today. 454 00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:57,560 Speaker 1: The ku Klux Klan had a lot of influence in them. 455 00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:02,640 Speaker 1: And so in the election nineteen twenty four, Coolidge wins 456 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:05,639 Speaker 1: by a huge margin. He gets like three hundred and 457 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:10,400 Speaker 1: eighty two electoral votes. The Democratic candidate John W. Davis 458 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:14,480 Speaker 1: only gets one hundred and thirty six. And they kept 459 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:19,200 Speaker 1: the same They kept the same idea all throughout this presidency, 460 00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:22,400 Speaker 1: the idea that this was a guy who would hear 461 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:25,720 Speaker 1: you out. This guy was steady, he was an anchor 462 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:29,879 Speaker 1: for America. He would keep calm. They used the slogan 463 00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:34,040 Speaker 1: keep it cool with Coolidge, get it in nineteen twenty 464 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:36,919 Speaker 1: four and nol. You brought up a great point off 465 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:41,400 Speaker 1: off Mike. We've talked so much about this guy's physical 466 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:46,880 Speaker 1: and social kind of like his vibe. So you found 467 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:50,280 Speaker 1: a great clip for us to play of the actual 468 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,200 Speaker 1: Calvin Coolidge, right, Yeah. 469 00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:52,440 Speaker 2: It's great. 470 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:57,960 Speaker 3: It's DeForest Funo Films Present President Coolidge, taken on the 471 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:00,320 Speaker 3: White House grounds. This would be the kind of thing 472 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,080 Speaker 3: would probably be played before the feature, you know, in 473 00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:06,199 Speaker 3: a movie house, like the newsreels or whatever. But I 474 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:11,879 Speaker 3: love the framing and this whole like production sort of plate, 475 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:13,040 Speaker 3: I guess at the beginning of it. 476 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:16,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, he's he's humble, he's got a pince nez, he's 477 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 1: he's holding his notes, and we're just gonna play a 478 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:21,720 Speaker 1: quick clip from nineteen twenty four. 479 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:27,840 Speaker 7: Costs of government are all assessed upon the people. This 480 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:31,280 Speaker 7: means that the palmer is doomed to provide a certain 481 00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:35,760 Speaker 7: amount of out of the sale of his no matter 482 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:39,760 Speaker 7: how low the price, to pay his taxes. The manufacturer, 483 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:42,080 Speaker 7: the professional. 484 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:44,520 Speaker 1: Man he's going through his notes, cret. 485 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:50,000 Speaker 7: Must do the same from their incomes, often the higher 486 00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:52,280 Speaker 7: right when compared with his earning. 487 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:56,320 Speaker 1: I'm falling asleep, guys, I think we can stop Yeah. 488 00:28:58,120 --> 00:28:59,720 Speaker 3: Well, the funny thing, I mean, this, what he's talking 489 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:03,240 Speaker 3: about out here directly pertains to, you know, the policies 490 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:08,280 Speaker 3: that we're talking about. But also, wow, this guy roasted 491 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:10,760 Speaker 3: his senior class again. 492 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:16,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, the dogs. I can handle a roast from this guy. 493 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:19,600 Speaker 1: He's a he is doing though. I love that example 494 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:25,760 Speaker 1: because he is speaking to particular demographics of the United 495 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:29,440 Speaker 1: States and he is saying, look, I get it this, 496 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 1: the the government could be better to farmers things like that. Right, 497 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:40,960 Speaker 1: He's speaking directly to the people, and this is tremendously reassuring. 498 00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:45,400 Speaker 1: We could argue to the American public. But when he 499 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:49,640 Speaker 1: said this, uh, he also he was not He was 500 00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:53,480 Speaker 1: not a fan of like impulsive radical decisions. And our 501 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:58,920 Speaker 1: boy loved a veto He vetoed so much stuff all 502 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:02,280 Speaker 1: the time. He vetoed fifty bills. I think in two 503 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:05,280 Speaker 1: of those, by the way, were far we're relief for 504 00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:08,880 Speaker 1: farmers bills, right, I mean, he was shrewd. 505 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:11,040 Speaker 3: You know, this seems to go back to what his 506 00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:15,120 Speaker 3: pappy taught him back in the old home front, you know, 507 00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:19,560 Speaker 3: keeping keeping the family store. This idea of prudence you know, 508 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:23,160 Speaker 3: with money, and of being a good steward of Resources. 509 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:27,600 Speaker 3: Walter Lippman, journalist and media critic, and also he is 510 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:30,080 Speaker 3: listed as an amateur philosopher, which I'd like to think 511 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:33,880 Speaker 3: we all are. Walter Lippman had this to say. He 512 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:36,800 Speaker 3: actually refers to President Coolidge as having a sort of 513 00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:41,640 Speaker 3: political genius, and he says this active inactivity suits the 514 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:45,520 Speaker 3: mood and certain of the needs of the country admirably. 515 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:48,640 Speaker 3: It suits all the business interests which want to be 516 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 3: let alone, and it suits all those who have become 517 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:55,360 Speaker 3: convinced that the government in this country has become dangerously 518 00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:56,680 Speaker 3: complicated and top heavy. 519 00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:57,720 Speaker 6: Small government. 520 00:30:57,920 --> 00:30:59,240 Speaker 2: Small government, you know. 521 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:03,760 Speaker 1: Also the art of frantically and importantly doing nothing, which. 522 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:08,960 Speaker 2: Activity we've seen. We see this of that. 523 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:12,600 Speaker 1: So this is where he starts to get famous. He 524 00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:17,239 Speaker 1: starts to get known for his taciturn nature, his his 525 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:28,320 Speaker 1: lack of verbosity. Coolidge is seen as a kind of remote, 526 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:31,800 Speaker 1: negative president, but at the same time he's seen as 527 00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:36,680 Speaker 1: the most accessible because he will go to an interview 528 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:40,720 Speaker 1: with you, he just won't expound very much outside of 529 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:43,720 Speaker 1: his like scheduled White House law and speeches or talks 530 00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:47,680 Speaker 1: with Congress. He's like, uh, what is it? Uh, He's 531 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:50,640 Speaker 1: in an interview. He's not I'll get to another noted 532 00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:54,600 Speaker 1: uh literary man of the day, Bernard Barouche, and he says, 533 00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:57,040 Speaker 1: look a lot of times I'll be in these interviews 534 00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:00,840 Speaker 1: and I'll just sit through them. He specifically said, well, 535 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:04,520 Speaker 1: my rooch, many times I say only yes or no 536 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:08,959 Speaker 1: two people even not just too much. It wigns them 537 00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:12,320 Speaker 1: up for twenty minutes. More so, he's basically he's like saying, look, 538 00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:16,479 Speaker 1: if I give these folks anything, they just keep going. 539 00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:17,960 Speaker 2: They're like a dog with the bone. 540 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:20,200 Speaker 3: It reminds me of when people ask David Lynch about 541 00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:22,800 Speaker 3: the meaning of his films or like specifically a raser Head, 542 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:27,240 Speaker 3: where he's just like, no. 543 00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:29,560 Speaker 2: I'm not going to tell you. What do you what 544 00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:30,120 Speaker 2: do your stuff? 545 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:32,200 Speaker 1: What do you think about the music in your films? 546 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:36,080 Speaker 1: David like, well, I do, I do think about it. 547 00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:41,440 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's very important. I like Red Kurtains, I love 548 00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:43,920 Speaker 3: album David Lynch Show. I like his album too, Crazy 549 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:46,320 Speaker 3: Clown Down, Crazy Clown Time. 550 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:51,680 Speaker 1: So we mentioned how he gets the nickname Silent Cal. 551 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:57,600 Speaker 1: It's it goes back to of course, that Washington DC hostess. 552 00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:00,760 Speaker 1: She's a socialite, and she says, oh, you must talk 553 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:03,320 Speaker 1: to me, mister President, I made a bet today that 554 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:05,440 Speaker 1: I could get both in two words out of you, 555 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:10,840 Speaker 1: and Coolidge replies, you lose. So his policies, though, I 556 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:12,760 Speaker 1: think this gives you a hard time to Max. His 557 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:18,520 Speaker 1: policies are conservative. He is very pro business. He is 558 00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:20,440 Speaker 1: very much not a Eugene V. 559 00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:21,160 Speaker 2: Debs. 560 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:26,520 Speaker 1: And there is something impressive, low key impressive for his 561 00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:31,640 Speaker 1: international policy because the Coolidge administration is not rocking a 562 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:36,000 Speaker 1: lot of tectonic plates or cultural boundaries, but they are 563 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:42,200 Speaker 1: pretty competent in terms of what best benefits the people 564 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:46,840 Speaker 1: of America. They're focusing on internal growth. They are, perhaps 565 00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:50,800 Speaker 1: you could argue a bit too isolationists in different places, 566 00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:55,520 Speaker 1: Like Calvin Coolidge says, no way are we joining the 567 00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:59,680 Speaker 1: League of Nations, the predecessor to the United Nations. He's like, 568 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:03,600 Speaker 1: I'm an American president. Beat me here, Max, I do 569 00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:06,640 Speaker 1: shit for Americans. Oh and we should mention that he 570 00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:09,680 Speaker 1: did have a vice president as well, Charles G. 571 00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:14,320 Speaker 2: Dawes. It's right, does what we had to say about Dawes. 572 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:18,040 Speaker 6: He received the Nobel Prize for helping Germany. 573 00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:21,080 Speaker 2: Oh that's cool, I like that, Gon, Max. What else 574 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:23,080 Speaker 2: did this? Dawes fellow do so. 575 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:26,680 Speaker 5: Dawes actually because they were not involved in international stuff, 576 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:28,520 Speaker 5: but when they did, they were actually good at it. 577 00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:33,040 Speaker 5: Dawes helped Germany meet its war debt obligations, you remember, 578 00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:34,560 Speaker 5: they're paying everybody off. 579 00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:38,200 Speaker 1: Which were huge and indeed part of the economic factor 580 00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:39,879 Speaker 1: leading to World War two. 581 00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:43,840 Speaker 5: Ultimately, yeah, great depression than World War two. Uh So 582 00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:45,200 Speaker 5: he helped with that. And they also had this guy 583 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:51,080 Speaker 5: named Secretary of State, actually Frank B. Kellogg, who was 584 00:34:51,239 --> 00:34:55,000 Speaker 5: very influential in this pack called the Kellogg Brand packed. 585 00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:56,320 Speaker 6: We figured out how to stay. 586 00:34:56,200 --> 00:34:58,200 Speaker 5: At one point because we have a we have an 587 00:34:58,239 --> 00:35:01,279 Speaker 5: episode about this is we do. It's titled something along 588 00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:04,719 Speaker 5: the lines of when they outlawed war, So basically it 589 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:08,719 Speaker 5: outlawed this we're taking your land type of war, which 590 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:11,719 Speaker 5: is still you know now, whenever countries go to war, 591 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:15,399 Speaker 5: they come up with some fake reason, like Russia has with. 592 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:20,920 Speaker 1: Ukraine that time everyone tried to outlaw war. January sixth, 593 00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:27,440 Speaker 1: twenty twenty two. Complete coincidence. So no presidency lasts forever 594 00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:31,440 Speaker 1: by design, you know. And you can look to the 595 00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:36,360 Speaker 1: Administration of FDR to see why that can become unpopular 596 00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:40,600 Speaker 1: and dangerous. So let's go to nineteen twenty eight. Our boy, 597 00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:46,240 Speaker 1: our boy, the cool cat Cow is pretty popular still, 598 00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:49,360 Speaker 1: you know, some warts, some bumps along the way, but 599 00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:52,759 Speaker 1: he's up for reelection, and there is no law at 600 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:56,520 Speaker 1: this time that limits the amount of times you can 601 00:35:56,600 --> 00:35:58,799 Speaker 1: run for president. There was sort of what we could 602 00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:02,400 Speaker 1: call I hate to use this phrase, but there was 603 00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:07,239 Speaker 1: like a gentleman's agreement or house rule of US politics 604 00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:10,040 Speaker 1: that you should only run for president twice. 605 00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:11,360 Speaker 2: Yeah. 606 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:13,520 Speaker 3: Is that more of like a, like you said, like 607 00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:15,640 Speaker 3: a decorum thing at this point? 608 00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:18,960 Speaker 2: Yeah? Yeah, okay, gotcha, gotcha. But now it's official. Good, 609 00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:22,120 Speaker 2: Now it's super efficial. Yeah, it's good. I'm glad, Thank god, 610 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:23,120 Speaker 2: thank god. 611 00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:25,160 Speaker 3: And he could have run again if he had wanted to, 612 00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:28,320 Speaker 3: based on that sort of social norm of the time, 613 00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:30,719 Speaker 3: but he just was kind of done with it. I 614 00:36:30,719 --> 00:36:32,960 Speaker 3: think he'd felt like he had accomplished all he'd wanted 615 00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:35,000 Speaker 3: to do and wanted to maybe step out of the 616 00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:36,120 Speaker 3: public eye for a while. 617 00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:41,319 Speaker 1: Yeah, and going back to that excellent work by David Greenberg, 618 00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:45,680 Speaker 1: we know this. He was pretty low key and abrupt 619 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:48,600 Speaker 1: with his announcement. He said, look, I'm not going to 620 00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:52,719 Speaker 1: seek reelection. With one statement, I do not choose to 621 00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:56,320 Speaker 1: run for president in nineteen twenty eight. The first people 622 00:36:56,320 --> 00:36:59,080 Speaker 1: to find out about this are reporters who are traveling 623 00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:02,480 Speaker 1: with him during his summer vacation in nineteen twenty seven, 624 00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:05,080 Speaker 1: and he just gets He doesn't even publicly say it. 625 00:37:05,239 --> 00:37:08,040 Speaker 1: He hands it to them on little strips of paper. 626 00:37:08,239 --> 00:37:10,720 Speaker 1: It's like he gave them a very specific and weird 627 00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:17,440 Speaker 1: fortune cookie. And so people like the word spreads, and people, 628 00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:20,839 Speaker 1: including his family members, have no idea what's going on. 629 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:24,279 Speaker 1: Someone asks his wife Grace, what she thinks about the announcement, 630 00:37:24,320 --> 00:37:28,600 Speaker 1: and she goes, what announcement? And there's one story, a 631 00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:30,920 Speaker 1: little bit saucy. We don't know if it's totally true, 632 00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:35,640 Speaker 1: but according to one kind of cinematic story, he hands 633 00:37:35,680 --> 00:37:40,080 Speaker 1: these reporters these slips of paper and then immediately kid 634 00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:42,920 Speaker 1: you not, hops in a row boat and starts rowing 635 00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:46,239 Speaker 1: a way before they can say anything, Row row, row 636 00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:46,680 Speaker 1: your boat. 637 00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:50,280 Speaker 5: That's how I was taught this story in APUs history, 638 00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:50,759 Speaker 5: and I. 639 00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:55,200 Speaker 1: Humble brag I learned it from my ap teacher. But 640 00:37:55,760 --> 00:37:58,640 Speaker 1: she said, she said, I'm telling you the version of 641 00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:00,040 Speaker 1: the story that I like. 642 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:02,960 Speaker 5: I'm gonna say it right now. Considering this guy He 643 00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:04,960 Speaker 5: was actually pretty into physical fitness too. 644 00:38:05,239 --> 00:38:07,960 Speaker 1: He would like swim naked and stuff. 645 00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:11,680 Speaker 5: Yeah, him rolling away in a boat would seem like 646 00:38:11,719 --> 00:38:13,279 Speaker 5: something very relaxing to him. 647 00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:16,320 Speaker 3: It's like a slow fade, man. It's like Homer disappearing 648 00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:17,560 Speaker 3: backwards into the bushes. 649 00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:17,839 Speaker 2: You know. 650 00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:20,720 Speaker 1: It feels like Wes Anderson has made this film. 651 00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:23,640 Speaker 3: It just takes so long to get You see them 652 00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:26,319 Speaker 3: for so long on the horizon, you know, it's like 653 00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:27,760 Speaker 3: slowly backing away. 654 00:38:27,920 --> 00:38:31,480 Speaker 2: I like that. I like this Calvin Coolidge's vibe. 655 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:37,320 Speaker 1: And so Calvin Coolidge kind of retires from public life 656 00:38:37,719 --> 00:38:41,200 Speaker 1: sort of because he writes an autobiography. He writes articles 657 00:38:41,200 --> 00:38:45,120 Speaker 1: for magazines of note. He has a nationally syndicated column 658 00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:48,359 Speaker 1: for a newspaper for a while called Thinking Things Over 659 00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:51,440 Speaker 1: with Calvin Coolidge, because he's at that point in his 660 00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:53,440 Speaker 1: career where he feels like he has to put his 661 00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:56,680 Speaker 1: name in the title of everything. Anyway, I walked down 662 00:38:56,719 --> 00:39:00,600 Speaker 1: the street from that one. He lives his life until 663 00:39:00,719 --> 00:39:05,680 Speaker 1: January fifth, nineteen thirty three. It's just after lunch. He 664 00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:08,799 Speaker 1: usually takes a two hour nap after lunch at this 665 00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:12,040 Speaker 1: time in his life, but on January fifth, he collapsed 666 00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:17,160 Speaker 1: he collapses in his bedroom and later doctors conclude he 667 00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:22,760 Speaker 1: has died from heart failure. His passing comes right before 668 00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:26,920 Speaker 1: the inauguration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who, as I mentioned, 669 00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:30,360 Speaker 1: is the reason we have hard limits on presidential terms 670 00:39:30,400 --> 00:39:33,200 Speaker 1: in the modern day. But we didn't want to end 671 00:39:33,680 --> 00:39:38,799 Speaker 1: on a total down note. So instead of closing with 672 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:43,000 Speaker 1: that cinematic look at his row boating career to syndicate 673 00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:46,520 Speaker 1: a columnists switch, we've got to tell you about his 674 00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:50,120 Speaker 1: presidential pets, because we did an episode on this, and 675 00:39:50,160 --> 00:39:52,640 Speaker 1: this had to have appeared in that episode, right. He 676 00:39:52,719 --> 00:39:54,680 Speaker 1: loved dogs and cats. 677 00:39:54,719 --> 00:39:57,760 Speaker 3: He had several by the name of Climber, Tiger and Blackie, 678 00:39:57,800 --> 00:40:00,440 Speaker 3: which is maybe a little bit problematic now, but it 679 00:40:00,520 --> 00:40:02,360 Speaker 3: is what it is. I'm not sure which was the 680 00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:05,600 Speaker 3: dogg or which was the cat in that in that trio. 681 00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:07,760 Speaker 1: I know you didn't name the dog tiger. 682 00:40:08,040 --> 00:40:10,440 Speaker 2: You know what tiger makes sense for the cat. 683 00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:13,080 Speaker 6: I don't know what this guy's this guy's sense of humor. 684 00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:16,920 Speaker 1: Though I know he's a swing I get it. 685 00:40:17,800 --> 00:40:19,040 Speaker 2: But he also had birds. 686 00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:23,319 Speaker 3: Uh And most importantly and delightfully, if you're a fan 687 00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:27,600 Speaker 3: of something that the internet just gives beautifully now is 688 00:40:27,719 --> 00:40:28,560 Speaker 3: raccoon content? 689 00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:30,640 Speaker 2: He had a raccoon named Rebecca. 690 00:40:31,040 --> 00:40:33,760 Speaker 3: I think I personally, yeah, I follow like six different 691 00:40:33,840 --> 00:40:38,560 Speaker 3: raccoon Instagram accounts. They got human hands man. It's weird, 692 00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:41,680 Speaker 3: but also it's also cute. He got lion cubs too, 693 00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:44,200 Speaker 3: that's wild lion cubs. He got those as a gift 694 00:40:44,239 --> 00:40:48,200 Speaker 3: actually from the Mayor of Johannesburg, South Africa, and the 695 00:40:48,239 --> 00:40:51,160 Speaker 3: White House named the Cubs. I guess they sort of 696 00:40:51,160 --> 00:40:55,240 Speaker 3: were almost like soft ambassadors, named the Cubs Budget Bureau 697 00:40:55,520 --> 00:40:57,320 Speaker 3: and tax Reduction. 698 00:40:57,239 --> 00:40:59,800 Speaker 1: All right, well, not every joke is going to land. 699 00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:00,640 Speaker 2: Wow. 700 00:41:00,719 --> 00:41:03,239 Speaker 1: They probably called him Budgie and Taxi, you know, a 701 00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:04,000 Speaker 1: pet names were. 702 00:41:04,360 --> 00:41:07,359 Speaker 3: But he also had his sort of flagship pet, which 703 00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:10,319 Speaker 3: was a Collie by the name of Rob Roy, which 704 00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:16,840 Speaker 3: was a historical war hero I believe in Scotland, the 705 00:41:16,920 --> 00:41:21,160 Speaker 3: inventor of dubstep. Okay, fair enough, but also a delightful cocktail. Rebecca, 706 00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:25,279 Speaker 3: the raccoon, though, was less of Calvin's Special Guy and 707 00:41:25,320 --> 00:41:27,480 Speaker 3: more of Grace's. In fact, you can find a lot 708 00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:30,520 Speaker 3: of photos of them posing together at the White House. 709 00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:34,480 Speaker 1: Very domesticated, so much so that one day the Coolidge 710 00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:37,839 Speaker 1: family said, we should get Rebecca a friend. Let's get 711 00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:40,840 Speaker 1: her another raccoon. We'll name it Ruben. Get it a literation. 712 00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:46,160 Speaker 1: They're cute. However, Ruben was much less domesticated and much 713 00:41:46,160 --> 00:41:49,080 Speaker 1: more He's more of a street raccoon, you know what 714 00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:51,480 Speaker 1: I mean. He was for the streets, he was for 715 00:41:51,640 --> 00:41:52,320 Speaker 1: the dumpsters. 716 00:41:52,680 --> 00:41:55,720 Speaker 2: But this is for history. 717 00:41:55,840 --> 00:41:58,359 Speaker 1: This is a pretty good look at Calvin Coolidge. There's 718 00:41:58,360 --> 00:42:00,160 Speaker 1: a lot of stuff we didn't get to, which I 719 00:42:00,160 --> 00:42:03,480 Speaker 1: think will show up in one of our forthcoming episodes, 720 00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:04,759 Speaker 1: stuff that got left over. 721 00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:06,479 Speaker 2: We love it. Yeah, well, that's for sure. 722 00:42:06,560 --> 00:42:09,000 Speaker 3: And also in the meantime, if you want to read 723 00:42:09,120 --> 00:42:12,000 Speaker 3: more about his life following suit with his kind of 724 00:42:12,600 --> 00:42:16,640 Speaker 3: soft spoken demeanor. His autobiography is I believe, one of 725 00:42:16,640 --> 00:42:18,200 Speaker 3: the shortest and presidential history. 726 00:42:18,480 --> 00:42:18,879 Speaker 2: Mm hmm. 727 00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:23,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a series of haiku. It is actually super short. 728 00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:27,160 Speaker 1: But again a man of few words, the words he 729 00:42:27,360 --> 00:42:32,479 Speaker 1: chose did have tremendous impact even today in twenty twenty four, 730 00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:36,399 Speaker 1: I almost said, twenty twenty three, Oh geez, when did 731 00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:40,880 Speaker 1: we start this show? What was it twenty seventeen, twenty seventeen. 732 00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:42,400 Speaker 3: I guess that's right. We talked about that the other day. 733 00:42:42,400 --> 00:42:46,240 Speaker 3: We've been doing this for over what's five six years. 734 00:42:47,480 --> 00:42:50,239 Speaker 2: Later? This year will be years seven years. Yeah, Oh, 735 00:42:50,320 --> 00:42:52,000 Speaker 2: the fingers. 736 00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:54,440 Speaker 1: Bargain, the Faustian bargains, come and do. Shout out to 737 00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:57,440 Speaker 1: anybody who gets that weird joke. I just want to 738 00:42:57,480 --> 00:42:59,800 Speaker 1: say the time has flown. So grateful to all or 739 00:43:00,280 --> 00:43:03,759 Speaker 1: ridiculous historians and Noel Max, I'm so grateful to you. 740 00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:04,040 Speaker 2: Guys. 741 00:43:04,080 --> 00:43:05,919 Speaker 1: We were talking about this a little bit off air, 742 00:43:06,200 --> 00:43:08,400 Speaker 1: but this is just one of my favorite things to do, 743 00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:10,480 Speaker 1: and we hope you enjoy it as well. Folks. 744 00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:12,280 Speaker 2: Oh, the feeling is mutual. 745 00:43:12,520 --> 00:43:15,319 Speaker 3: I can definitely speak for both myself and Max. Even 746 00:43:15,360 --> 00:43:17,799 Speaker 3: though Max occasionally does a face palm, I think they're 747 00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:20,839 Speaker 3: good natured face palms, and these face palming out of love. 748 00:43:21,040 --> 00:43:23,400 Speaker 1: I always like to think maybe his hand just smells 749 00:43:23,440 --> 00:43:23,919 Speaker 1: really good. 750 00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:31,680 Speaker 3: It's possible, especially the cast hands, especially of getting a 751 00:43:31,719 --> 00:43:35,200 Speaker 3: little ripe. But no, truly I feel the exact same way. 752 00:43:35,400 --> 00:43:38,520 Speaker 3: I love you both to death and I can't wait 753 00:43:38,640 --> 00:43:40,880 Speaker 3: till we reconvene. I was thinking this might be a 754 00:43:40,920 --> 00:43:43,359 Speaker 3: two parter, but I think we we we in the 755 00:43:43,400 --> 00:43:48,080 Speaker 3: spirit of Calvin himself, exercise the spirit of brevity, and 756 00:43:48,120 --> 00:43:51,000 Speaker 3: that is so appreciate that. Yeah, a little longer for 757 00:43:51,040 --> 00:43:53,120 Speaker 3: a one partner, but I think that there was no 758 00:43:53,160 --> 00:43:53,680 Speaker 3: other way to do. 759 00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:54,879 Speaker 1: We had a lot of stuff to do. 760 00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:58,879 Speaker 5: I joked beforehand, and I'm like, I think ed an 761 00:43:58,880 --> 00:44:00,480 Speaker 5: episode about Calvin Coolidge. 762 00:44:00,560 --> 00:44:02,319 Speaker 6: We should make sure to go along on it. 763 00:44:02,800 --> 00:44:05,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, and also, you know how it is you got 764 00:44:05,560 --> 00:44:07,920 Speaker 1: to kill your darlings. I am chock full of dumb 765 00:44:07,960 --> 00:44:11,480 Speaker 1: facts about baseball hats. I'm hoping they'll fade bye by 766 00:44:11,520 --> 00:44:14,080 Speaker 1: the time we record our next episode. Big Big thanks 767 00:44:14,080 --> 00:44:18,479 Speaker 1: to superproducer and research associate for this episode, mister Max 768 00:44:18,520 --> 00:44:23,239 Speaker 1: Williams Alex Williams, real life brother of the show and 769 00:44:23,760 --> 00:44:26,719 Speaker 1: biological brother of Alex, who composed this slap and bop. 770 00:44:27,120 --> 00:44:27,760 Speaker 2: It's true. 771 00:44:27,840 --> 00:44:31,279 Speaker 3: Thanks to Chris frostiotis here in spirit, Eves, Jeffcoach, the 772 00:44:31,320 --> 00:44:35,200 Speaker 3: whole pantheon of ridiculous historians that came before. 773 00:44:35,680 --> 00:44:39,360 Speaker 2: We hope you guys have a really great weekend and life. 774 00:44:40,120 --> 00:44:41,400 Speaker 2: We'll see you next time, folks. 775 00:44:48,480 --> 00:44:52,280 Speaker 3: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 776 00:44:52,360 --> 00:44:54,520 Speaker 3: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.