Calvin Coolidge’s Homestead Oath of Office

Calvin Coolidge served as the 30th President of the United States from August 2, 1923 through March 4, 1929. He was notably the only president to share a birthday with America, having been born in Plymouth Notch, Vermont, on July 4, 1872. Coolidge’s presidency coincided with the 150th anniversary of American independence on July 4, 1926, on which occasion he delivered one of the more notable and learned presidential addresses in history. But Coolidge presiding as President over the American sesquicentennial was something of an accident of history, for had everything gone according to plan, Coolidge would have been the Vice President of the United States on July 4, 1926. He had been elected Vice President on a ticket with Warren G. Harding in a landslide victory in the 1920 Presidential election. Harding was popular while he was in office, but he unexpectedly died in office on August 2, 1923, at the age of 57. With his death, Coolidge would become the sixth Vice President to assume the presidency upon the death of the sitting president. Coolidge went on to win his own term in a landslide victory in the 1924 Presidential election, which carried him through the United States’ 150th birthday.

In this article, we will examine Coolidge’s account of the night he received with sadness the news that he would be the President of the United States, beginning with the recollections of Coolidge himself before examining other eyewitness accounts.

August 2, 1923: The Night Calvin Coolidge Became President

After leaving office on March 4, 1929, Calvin Coolidge embarked on the former presidential past time of writing his autobiography. Like the most famous former president autobiographer, Ulysses S. Grant, the bulk of Coolidge’s autobiography did not deal with his five-plus years as President. Coolidge spent much of his book focused on his childhood and career prior to his election as Vice President in 2020. As we will see, Coolidge’s focus on his childhood would unexpectedly enrich his account of the night be became President.

You can read Coolidge’s Autobiography on Standard Ebooks. His description of the events of August 2-3, 1923, is found in chapter 5.

Coolidge was at his childhood home in Plymouth, Vermont, with his father, who was also named John Calvin Coolidge, at the time President Harding passed away. Harding’s illness had been in the news. But Coolidge explained that he had not expected Harding to die:

After President Harding was seriously stricken, although I noticed that some of the newspapers at once sent representatives to be near me at the home of my father in Plymouth, Vermont, the official reports which I received from his bedside soon became so reassuring that I believed all danger past.

Calvin Coolidge

At the time, Coolidge had expected to continue to pass the time as Vice President in Vermont. Lest anyone believes this was ex post de facto revisionist history in Coolidge’s autobiography, a New York Times report on Coolidge’s taking the oath notes that he had articulated to reporters during the day of August 2, 1923, that he had expected to not see them outside his home again due to reports that Harding was recovering. But it was not to be. Coolidge was asleep on the night of August 2, 1923, when the familiar voice of his father woke him. But there was something altogether familiar and unfamiliar in that voice:

I noticed that his voice trembled. As the only times I had ever observed that before were when death had visited our family, I knew that something of the gravest nature had occurred.

Calvin Coolidge

Coolidge, looking back, thought about what is father must have been thinking about the grave news he was about to share with his son. First, of course, pertained to the death of President Harding, who both the elder and younger Coolidge respected deeply:

His emotion was partly due to the knowledge that a man whom he had met and liked was gone, partly to the feeling that must possess all of our citizens when the life of their President is taken from them.

Calvin Coolidge

Bundled with Harding’s death was something of even greater gravity to Coolidge senior: His son was now the President of the United States:

But he must have been moved also by the thought of the many sacrifices he had made to place me where I was, the twenty-five-mile drives in storms and in zero weather over our mountain roads to carry me to the academy and all the tenderness and care he had lavished upon me in the thirty-eight years since the death of my mother in the hope that I might sometime rise to a position of importance, which he now saw realized.

Calvin Coolidge

Coolidge’s mother, Victoria, had died in that same house on March 14, 1885, when the future President Coolidge was just 12-years old. Her death, and Coolidge’s fond memories of her, are present in his recollections of the night he became President. Having already written a full article about Coolidge’s memories of his mother, I will refer readers there for an in-depth look at what he had penned earlier in his autobiography. But before continuing with the events of August 2, 1923, I present one part of Coolidge’s recollections of Victoria which we can infer he was thinking about as he prepared to take the oath of office:

In an hour she was gone. It was her thirty-ninth birthday. I was twelve years old. We laid her away in the blustering snows of March. The greatest grief that can come to a boy came to me. Life was never to seem the same again.

Calvin Coolidge

Coolidge explained that his father, addressing him as President, “placed in my hands an official report and told me that President Harding had just passed away.” Coolidge and his wife Grace “at once dressed.” Coolidge noted that before going downstairs, “I knelt down and, with the same prayer with which I have since approached the altar of the church, asked God to bless the American people and give me the power to serve them.”

As I noted before, he expresses great reverence for Harding and Harding’s family in numerous places in his autobiography. That informed Coolidge’s first course of action as the presumptive President:

My first thought was to express my sympathy for those who had been bereaved and after that was done to attempt to reassure the country with the knowledge that I proposed no sweeping displacement of the men then in office and that there were to be no violent changes in the administration of affairs. As soon as I had dispatched a telegram to Mrs. Harding, I therefore issued a short public statement declaratory of that purpose.

Calvin Coolidge

Let us briefly detour from Coolidge’s autobiographical recollections to note his correspondence from his family home. He sent a simple telegram to Florence Harding, widow of the late President, expressing his deep sympathies. His statement to the nation, also transcribed in his childhood home, foreshadowed what would follow in the early morning hours of what was then August 3, 1923. I re-print Coolidge’s Statement on the Death of President Harding, courtesy of UC Santa Barbara’s American Presidency Project. Coolidge began by expressing his sadness about the death of his predecessor:

Reports have reached me, which I fear are correct, that President Harding is gone. The world has lost a great and good man. I mourn his loss. He was my chief and my friend.

Calvin Coolidge (statement on the death of Warren Harding)

Here, I will skip the middle section of Coolidge’s telegram where he pledged to carry on Harding’s administration with the cooperation of Harding’s appointees and where Coolidge explained his immediate plans:

It is my intention to remain here until I can secure the correct form for the oath of office, which will be administered to me by my father, who is a notary public, if that will meet the necessary requirement. I expect to leave for Washington during the day.

Calvin Coolidge (statement on the death of Warren Harding)

In his first statement to the nation, Coolidge stated that the oath of office would be administered to him by his father, who was a Civil War veteran, esteemed businessman and former elected official in Vermont. Coolidge, in his autobiography, explained how that plan had come about:

Meantime, I had been examining the Constitution to determine what might be necessary for qualifying by taking the oath of office. It is not clear that any additional oath is required beyond what is taken by the Vice President when he is sworn into office. It is the same form as that taken by the President.

Calvin Coolidge

As Coolidge notes, he had taken the oath of office on March 4, 1921, when he was sworn in as Vice President. He was unsure whether he needed to take a second oath of office upon ascending to the office of the presidency, noting that the Vice Presidential oath “is the same form as that taken by the President.” Coolidge ultimately decided to take a second oath, and consulted a valuable resource for guidance on its form:

Having found this form in the Constitution I had it set up on the typewriter…

Calvin Coolidge

Early in the morning of August 3, John Calvin Coolidge, senior, administered the oath of office to his son, John Calvin Coolidge junior, President of the United States.

[T]he oath was administered by my father in his capacity as a notary public, an office he had held for a great many years.

Calvin Coolidge

Stranger still than this scenario of a father administering the presidential oath of office to his son was that it occurred in their family home. Coolidge the younger reflected on the significance of the location:

The oath was taken in what we always called the sitting room by the light of the kerosene lamp, which was the most modern form of lighting that had then reached the neighborhood. The Bible which had belonged to my mother lay on the table at my hand. It was not officially used, as it is not the practice in Vermont or Massachusetts to use a Bible in connection with the administration of an oath.

Calvin Coolidge

While Coolidge did not swear on the Bible, per the local custom in Vermont, the presence of his mother’s Bible in the room was something he saw fit to specifically note in his recollections.

Besides my father and myself, there were present my wife, Senator Dale, who happened to be stopping a few miles away, my stenographer, and my chauffeur.

Calvin Coolidge

“Senator Dale” refers to Porter H. Dale. However, Dale took office as a United States Senator from Vermont on November 7, 1923, just over three months after he watched Coolidge take the oath of office as President. At the time Coolidge took the Oath, Dale was a United States Representative for Vermont’s 2nd Congressional District and a candidate for the Senate. But it would be incorrect to say Coolidge erred in describing Dale as Senator Dale. At the time Coolidge penned and published his autobiography, Dale was an incumbent U.S. Senator from Vermont. We will return to the then-soon-to-be Senator Dale in due course. Coolidge’s stenographer was Erwin Geisser and his chauffeur was Joseph McInerney. In the eyewitness accounts we will address further down, we will see that there were likely two additional persons present but unnoted by Coolidge – a local journalist named Joseph Fountain and a friend of Dale’s named L.L. Lane.

Coolidge noted that an artist named Keller later “painted with historical accuracy” the scene in his sitting room. While Coolidge opined that “the likenesses were not good,” he assured us that “everything in relation to the painting was correct.” See the painting below:

Coolidge stated in his autobiography that he was not thinking much about the peculiar significance of taking the oath from his father in the moment. However, with hindsight, he considered that it was a uniquely unusual scenario in the context of the United States’ system of government:

Where succession to the highest office in the land is by inheritance or appointment, no doubt there have been kings who have participated in the induction of their sons into their office, but in republics where the succession comes by an election I do not know of any other case in history where a father has administered to his son the qualifying oath of office which made him the chief magistrate of a nation. It seemed a simple and natural thing to do at the time, but I can now realize something of the dramatic force of the event.

Calvin Coolidge

In addition to grappling with the gravity of the task before him, Coolidge’s sentiments about taking the oath in his childhood home were sentimental. He ended his brief recollection of taking the oath with the following passage:

This room was one which was already filled with sacred memories for me. In it my sister and my stepmother passed their last hours. It was associated with my boyhood recollections of my own mother, who sat and reclined there during her long invalid years, though she passed away in an adjoining room where my father was to follow her within three years from this eventful night.

Calvin Coolidge

Coolidge’s memories of his childhood home and the sitting room were tied up with his late family members. His sister, like his mother, died when he was young. His stepmother died in that room, and his father would pass away in the adjoining room in 1825. Mixed in with all those memories after August 2, 1923, was the memory of the night Coolidge learned that he had been called upon to immediately assume the office of chief magistrate of the nation.

Coolidge cut his vacation short and left Vermont for Washington D.C. on the morning of August 3, 1923. He noted that he made one stop before departing Vermont:

I turned aside from the main road to make a short devotional visit to the grave of my mother. It had been a comfort to me during my boyhood when I was troubled to be near her last resting place, even in the dead of night. Some way, that morning, she seemed very near to me.

Calvin Coolidge

The main reason I published an article about Coolidge’s recollections of his mother was because of how well he wrote them. But here, we see that her memory stayed with him throughout his life and was one of the first things on his mind on his first morning as President, more than 38 years after her death.

Coolidge’s Second Oath

Coolidge did not note in his autobiography that he took a second oath of office after reaching Washington D.C. In fact, at the time Coolidge’s autobiography was published in late 1929, the second oath was not public knowledge. Let us turn to a February 3, 1932 report in The New York Times for the full story as it was reported at the time.

On the afternoon of August 17, 1923, at approximately 2:45 PM, A.A. Hoehling, who was a Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, secretly administered the oath of office to President Coolidge in the New Willard Hotel, where the President was living at the time. Hoehling recalled that a Gideon Bible was used, reflecting that Coolidge used a Bible on the second occasion. News of the oath was kept secret pursuant to the directives of then-United States Attorney General Harry M. Daugherty.

Hoehling stated that he was not told the specific reason Coolidge had decided to take a second oath. However, the New York Times reported that it was believed that it had to do with “criticism that the oath at Plymouth Notch had been administered by a State officer, empowered only to swear in other State officers.” That is, the perceived issue was not specifically related to the familial relationship between the elder and younger Coolidge, but instead reflected that the elder Coolidge, a state officer, had administered the oath for a federal office.

According to a separate contemporaneous report by United Press, the concerns about the legality of the first oath were raised by James M. Beck, who was then the Solicitor General of the United States, and it was Beck, not Daugherty, who was primarily responsible for the second oath. Beck, who was as of the time of the publication of the story a United States Congressman from Pennsylvania, stated that he had believed that the first oath was illegal but would not explain his reasoning beyond what he had written at the time as Solicitor General. However, United Press was unable to find a record of a written opinion on the matter by Beck.

Hoehling noted that he had actually visited the elder John Coolidge several years later, when the elder Coolidge “proudly showed him the room where the early morning ceremony had occurred.” Hoehling did not reveal that Coolidge had taken a second oath. The Times speculated that Coolidge kept the second oath secret because he “possibly preferred the belief to exist that his father had given him the only necessary oath.” United Press reported that there were reporters present for the second oath, but we can only infer that none of them went public with the story.

I found an article by Lawrence E. Wikander titled The Second Oath wherein he quoted from Daugherty’s 1932 book, which he published after Hoehling went public with the second oath story. Daugherty stated that while he had advised Coolidge to take the oath immediately, he had not known that the oath was to be administered by Coolidge’s father, and Daugherty doubted whether, as a State official, he had been qualified to do so. Daugherty sought opinion from Beck, who opined that the oath was invalid. Daugherty then relayed Beck’s opinion to a surprised Coolidge and recommended that Coolidge re-take the oath. Coolidge followed the advice, but kept the affair secret.

Coolidge’s More Conventional, But Still Unconventional, Oath of Office

On March 4, 1925, Coolidge would take a more conventional oath when he was inaugurated as president after winning the election of 1924. But Coolidge could not help but make history with his oaths of office. Following convention, his 1925 oath was administered by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice at the time was William Howard Taft, who had taken office as the 10th Chief Justice of the United States on July 11, 1921, after having been nominated by Harding and confirmed by the Senate. But before joining the Supreme Court, Taft had served as the 27th President of the United States from March 4, 1909, through March 4, 1913. No former President before or since has served as a Supreme Court Justice, let alone Chief Justice, so this unsurprisingly marked the first occasion on which a former President administered the oath of office to one of his successors in office. It remains one of only two such cases, with the second being Taft’s administration of the oath to Coolidge’s successor in office, Herbert Hoover, in 1929.

Eyewitness Accounts to Coolidge’s First Oath of Office

In addition to President Coolidge, three other men published eyewitness accounts of the homestead inaugural: Joseph Fountain, who was a 22-year old reporter and, reportedly, the only journalist on scene, Joseph McInerney, who was Coolidge’s chauffeur at the time, and Porter H. Dale, who was a United States Congressman and ultimately successful candidate for the Senate. I note these accounts in the order they were made public, granting that we will find that Dale wrote the closest to contemporaneously. We will also find that the accounts differ in some notable respects, both with one another and with Coolidge’s more introspective recollection. Before continuing, I will note that I only have available second-hand sources of Fountain’s account, but taken together I think they paint a reasonable picture of what he self-published.

The McInerney Account

Joseph McInerney published his recollection of Coolidge’s oath on June 17, 1967, nearly 44 years after the event. You can read the original in As I Remember, courtesy of the Vermont Historical Society. At the time McInerney published his memories, he and Joseph Fountain were the only still living eyewitnesses. McInerney stated that his account benefited from his contemporaneous notes and newspaper articles and writings that he had collected over the years.

Joseph McInerney was the Vice President’s chauffeur, having held that position since April 1, 1923. According to McInerney, Calvin and Grace Coolidge had been at their home in Northampton, Massachusetts, at the time he was appointed chauffeur. Here, I note that while Coolidge was from Vermont, he was a resident of Massachusetts and he had been serving as Governor of Massachusetts at the time he was elected Vice President in 1920. See also my article on a speech Coolidge delivered as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts on Independence Day in 1918.

McInerney reported driving the Calvin and Grace Coolidge as well as their two sons to Plymouth, Vermont, “on or about July 15, 1923,” where they had planned to remain for “a month or so.” “On or about July 31, I drove their two sons, John, went to work at Camp Devens in Massachusetts to spend a thirty day period in military, and young Calvin to Northampton, where he was to work in the tobacco fields at three dollars per day.” For that reason, neither of Coolidge’s sons were not present when their father became president.

McInerney returned to Plymouth after chauffeuring Coolidge’s sons at about 5:00 P.M. on August 2, 1923. On his way back to the Vice President, he had picked up a telegram from George B. Christian, Secretary to the President, which contained encouraging news regarding the health of President Harding. McInerney delivered it to Coolidge.

McInerney reported that Erwin Geisser, who was ordinarily Coolidge’s stenographer in Washington, acted as secretary when Coolidge was outside the capital. Coolidge’s regular secretary, Edwin T. Clark, was in Washington D.C, where he “look[ed] after the Vice President’s affairs.” Both McInerney and Geisser stayed at a room at the Furman House in Bridgewater, Vermont, about eight miles from the Coolidge homestead.

McInerney received a call at the Furman House at about 11:30 P.M. The telephone operator, W.A. Perkins, was looking for either McInerney or Geisser. She had tried to reach Florence Cilley, who operated a general store across the street from the Coolidge homestead which had previously been owned by Coolidge’s father and had the only phone in Plymouth, but had been unsuccessful. McInerney assured Perkins that he would deliver her message – a telegram – to Coolidge. Prior to trying to reach Cilley and after speaking to McInerney Perkins had informed her husband of the grave news she had received. The telegram that Perkins conveyed to McInerney was from George Christian, who as I noted above was Secretary to President Harding. Christian’s telegram conveyed that the President had passed away at 7:30 P.M., and it was his opinion that Coolidge, who had as a result become President, should take the oath of office as President as soon as possible. McInerney woke both Geisser and a reporter whom he calls Mr. Crawford, who was also staying at the Furman House. He then retrieved the Vice Presidential limousine and drove Geisser and Crawford to the Coolidge Homestead. However, they would not be the ones to deliver the news to Coolidge. W.A. Perkins’ husband had himself set out to the Coolidge Homestead after learning from his wife that Harding had died, and he reached the Homestead about ten minutes before the McInerney party, at which time he delivered the Christian telegram to John Coolidge Sr.

McInerney recalled that when he arrived with Geisser and Crawford, Calvin and Grace Coolidge were just coming down the stairs, and that the woman who had just become First Lady seemed to be crying. McInerney handed his copy of the telegram to Coolidge. Coolidge took the telegram and directed McInerney to go to the general store and wake Florence Cilley, noting that she would need to operate the telephone for important calls. This proved to be a difficult task: “I almost had to break the door down before Miss Cilley was awaken.”

Coolidge then directed McInerney to put in a call to Harry M. Daugherty, Attorney General of the United States. Coolidge sought Daugherty’s legal opinion “as to whether or not Col. John Coolidge, who being a notary public would have the power to administer the oath of office to his son making him the 30th President of the United States.” Upon reaching Daugherty , McInerney returned to the homestead to tell Coolidge that the Attorney General was available and ready to talk. McInerney states that he and Geisser then escorted Coolidge to the general store. Daugherty, according to McInerney, advised Coolidge that Coolidge’s father could administer the oath in his capacity as a notary public.

McInerney recalled that at about 1:30 A.M., just over an hour before Coolidge would take the oath, men from the Telephone Company in Rutland, Vermont, began laying rolls of telephone wire to reach the Coolidge Homestead. They ultimately placed a phone standing up in the kitchen of the Coolidge Homestead – while being under orders that the phone would be removed later on. McInerney noted that the elder Coolidge was old-fashioned and that the Homestead did not even have electricity.

McInerney next recalled that sometime around 1:40 A.M., Coolidge dictated a message to Geisser, who made multiple copies and passed them around to newsmen who were present. Here, McInerney explains how Joseph Fountain, a young local reporter, would be the only journalist present when Coolidge actually took the oath:

When the newsmen got their copy of this message, they all left in order to get their story to their paper. Some of these reporters had to travel thirty or more miles before reaching a telephone. The only reporter to stay at the homestead was young Joe Fountain. He happened to be in Congressman Porter H. Dale’s party who all were in Springfield, Vermont, where Congressman Dale was campaigning at the time for the United States Senate. They heard about President Harding’s death over a crystal radio, therefore, they all came to Plymouth. In this party besides Congressman Dale and Joe Fountain, was L.L. Lane and another man [whose] name I just can’t recall.

Joseph McInerney

We will see in the accounts of Fountain and Dale that they both, in slightly different ways, placed themselves in events which had occurred earlier in the evening. But McInerney’s recollection of Dale’s party is consistent with those later accounts.

According to McInerney, Coolidge, working with his father and Dale, “all got together in drawing up the proper oath which would be administered by Col. John Coolidge.” He notes that after the elder and younger Coolidge and Dale finalized the form of the oath, Geisser typed three copies, “and at 2:37 A.M. on August 3, 1923, Vice President Calvin Coolidge became the 30th President of the United States.” McInerney recalled where he and the other persons present were:

In the room at the time the oath was administered to Vice President Coolidge by his father, Col. John Coolidge,’ were Mrs. Grace Coolidge, Congressman Porter H. Dale, Joe F. Fountain, and L. L. Lane. The above named persons were standing like in a circle around the small table. Both Mr. Geisser and myself were in the room and both of us standing together near the kitchen door.

Joseph McInerney

Fountain placed seven people in the room at the time, including Fountain and Lane, who were not noted by Coolidge in his autobiography.

Although McInerney distinctly recalled that Geisser had typed three copies of the oath that were used for the swearing in, he stated that they had all been lost or taken. He stated, however, that all seven persons present noted above, including himself, signed the copies of the oath as witnesses.

McInerney noted with some satisfaction that in every account of the event, his name was mentioned – including by Coolidge in his autobiography.

McInerney remembered that among the messages he received was from the President of the Rutland Railroad, who asked to convey to Coolidge that he could have a special train prepared to ferry Calvin and Grace Coolidge to Washington D.C. Coolidge told McInerney to relay that he would accept the offer for a private car, “but to attach it to the regular 9:30 A.M. train leaving Rutland that morning, August 3, 1923.” In light of the fact that Coolidge would be leaving for Washington D.C. less than seven hours after taking the oath, he advised McInerney that he should get some sleep, perhaps in recognition of the fact that McInerney would have to drive 34 miles over narrow, winding roads, in just a few hours later. The elder Coolidge showed McInerney to his room in the family home, telling him that he would be sleeping in the bed that President Coolidge had been born in.

After a very short rest, John Coolidge, Sr., woke McInerney. McInerney had breakfast with the family, noting with some satisfaction that he “had the honor of sitting on right of our new President.” McInerney recalled – consistent with Coolidge’s autobiography – that Coolidge had him stop near the cemetery where his mother and other family members were buried, and directed McInerney to ensure that no one followed him and his wife.

McInerney had some humorous stories from his drive. First, he noted that some newspaper accounts reported that in haste, he had hit and killed a pig while driving. He stated that not only did he drive around the pigs, but Grace Coolidge had specifically mentioned in letters that he did well to miss the pigs. Next, he noted that a car drove behind the limousine and began honking, trying to pass. Coolidge instructed McInerney: “Slow down Joseph, and let this crazy man get passed.” As it would turn out, the “crazy man,” or “men,” were Secret Service agents who had been ordered to catch up to Coolidge and accompany him to Washington D.C. Pursuant to orders, they had been driving all night from Massachusetts to link up with the new President.

McInerney successfully drove Calvin and Grace Coolidge at the train station, where a crowd had gathered to see them off. Coolidge then directed McInerney to return to the family homestead and pick up all relevant material, such as letters and books, before going with Geisser to Northampton, Massachusetts, to pick up other effects of Calvin and Grace Coolidge. Then, McInerney would drive to Washington D.C. and report to Coolidge personally. Fortunately, Coolidge advised McInerney to take his time in reaching Washington.

Upon reaching Washington D.C., McInerney was ordered by President Coolidge to report to Albert B. Cummins, Senate Pro Tempore and now second-in-line to the presidency, until the completion of former President Harding’s funeral. But that was only a short-term assignment, for the office of Vice President would be vacant until 1925, and there was thus no need for a chauffeur to the Vice President. McInerney states that he was taken care of between the cessation of his pay on August 3, 1923, and assuming anew government position. After Harding’s funeral, President Coolidge asked McInerney if he wanted to continue driving at the White House. McInerney stated that he had another government job in mind. “I was appointed to this job within the hour, so I spent about thirty one years in different positions within the government.”

John Fountain: The Only Reporter at Coolidge’s Homestead Swearing In

Coolidge did not note in his autobiography that one reporter was present for his early-morning swearing in. That reporter, as noted by McInerney, was Joseph H. Fountain of the Burlington Daily News, whose experience was described in the August 7, 1923 edition of the paper.

Fountain had been at the Adna Brown Hotel in Springfield, Vermont, when he received news that then-President Harding had died. Also present at the hotel were Congressman Porter Dale and L.L. Lane, who was President of the New England Railway Mail association. According to Fountain, “Congressman Dale suggested that we go to Plymouth and tender our services to Vice President Coolidge.” Fountain recalled that “this suggestion was quickly agreed upon,” and he, Dale, Lane, along with Herbert T. Thompson (commander of the Springfield Post of the American Legion), and Captain Dan R. Barney set out by automobile for Coolidge’s home. It is possible, if not likely, that Thompson or Barney was the individual from Congressman Dale’s party whose name escaped had the memory of McInerney.

Fountain, who lived until 1982, self-published a booklet titled Homestead Inaugural in 1950 on his recollection of Coolidge’s early-morning oath on August 3, 1923. Unfortunately, I do not have the booklet on hand, but we can study Fountain’s recollections from a second-hand source: Lamplight Inauguration, a December 1963 article by Charles Morrow Wilson for American Heritage.

First, Wilson added additional context regarding why Coolidge was asleep at the time news of Harding’s death reached his family homestead:

As the telegram was taking to the wires, the fifty-one-year-old Calvin Coolidge … was lounging in a rocking chair pondering with his father the advisability of ‘sitting out’ the heat or sweating it off in bed. He shortly chose the latter course; evidence stands that he slept quite well.

Charles Morrow Wilson

In a 1998 article, John Cooke, citing to a letter by the elder Coolidge from August 5, 1923, quoted John Coolidge Sr. as writing:

Calvin and Grace retired around 9:30 Thursday night. I was up until 11. At 12 I heard a rap on the door. On opening it I found Mr. Perkins the telephone man from Bridgewater with a telegram conveying the sad news.

John Cooke

Returning to Wilson’s article, while Coolidge deliberated whether to retire to bed, George Christian, who was Secretary to the President and then in San Francisco, had already dispatched a telegram to Coolidge at 5 PM PST. “The telegram reached the only Western Union office still open in the area—at White River Junction, Vermont—at 10:30 P.M. Eastern standard time…” Its arrival at the Coolidge homestead was delayed because “[a]pparently the White River operator did not know about the lone telephone in Plymouth Notch, for he phoned the message to the telephone exchange at Bridgewater, ten miles from the Coolidges’ village.” Wilson’s article conflicts with McInerney’s recollection that the operator had tried to get in touch with Florence Cilley, but had been unsuccessful. Wilson then, consistent with McInerney’s later recollection, identified W.A. Perkins as the man who delivered the telegram to John Coolidge with news of Harding’s death. However, he differs in writing that Perkins first woke Cilley and that they went to Coolidge’s Homestead together. That of course conflicts with McInerney’s recollection that he was the one who woke Cilley under the direction of Coolidge.

Wilson’s article differs from McInerney’s in some other details. According to him, Coolidge nearly bumped into McInerney in the hallway of his home after getting dressed. McInerney reported that Calvin and Grace Coolidge were just getting downstairs when he arrived at the homestead. Wilson has Coolidge fetch cold water from downstairs before returning upstairs to wash his face and give himself a dry shave. According to Wilson, only after President Coolidge shaved did he wake his wife.

Wilson’s article differs from McInerney’s recollection in the timing and format of Coolidge’s first message as President. In Wilson’s article, Coolidge prepared his message and had it sent from Cilley’s store. In McInerney’s, Coolidge prepared his message later in the evening, and it was delivered by hand to reporters who had arrived on scene.

Returning to the previous section, we know that one reporter – Fountain – did go to Coolidge’s home. According to Wilson’s article, Fountain had been instructed by G.B. Littlefield, the Associated Press bureau chief at Boston, to go to Coolidge’s home at Plymouth Notch. He notes, like the contemporaneous August 1923 article, that Fountain traveled with Dale, Lane, and Thompson. Wilson’s account of their entry is a bit dramatic on account of his description of Dale’s conduct, which he draws from Fountain:

Congressman Dale headed for the doorway, with the slender young newsman keeping pace. Lane and Thompson waited discreetly on the rather narrow porch as the Congressman closed in on Calvin Coolidge, clutched his hand, and began speaking: ‘The country is without a President, Mister Coolidge: The United States has no President … No President … The country should never be without a President …’

Charles Morrow Wilson (quoting Joseph Fountain’s account)

This account is not entirely consistent with either Coolidge’s autobiography or McInerney’s recollection, neither of which ascribes Dale a role in convincing Coolidge to take the oath that evening. Let us continue:

Joe Fountain looked on as Calvin Coolidge listened in silence, at first warily, then with a sort of resigned thoughtfulness … Calvin nodded at his wife with a slight, quick smile, broke away from the Congressman, and strolled to the side of his father, who stood before his high desk, still in his nightshirt uppers with suspenders dangling from his trouser tops.

Charles Morrow Wilson (citing Fountain)

Coolidge then asked his father a fateful question:

Father, Mister Dale thinks I should take the oath of office immediately and here. You are still a notary, aren’t you?

Charles Morrow Wilson (quoting Fountain’s quote of Coolidge)

I confirmed with another source, to be discussed later, that this recollection came from Fountain. In addition to the fact that I will subjectively opine that this quote sounds a bit off, the timing is objectively off in that the telegram Wilson has Coolidge sending earlier had, as we established earlier, stated specifically that his father would administer the oath in his capacity as a notary. But we will continue with Wilson’s article, which is drawn from Fountain. Upon receiving confirmation from the elder Coolidge that John Calvin Coolidge, Sr., was still a notary, Coolidge instructed Geisser to contact Edward T. Clark, who was Coolidge’s principal secretary and at that time was in Washington D.C. Coolidge directed Geisser to relay the following instructions to Clark:

I want Chief Justice Taft to recheck the oath wording and advise on the legality of its administration by a notary public …

Charles Morrow Wilson (quoting Fountain’s quote of Coolidge)

I will note here that Taft, who was both a former President and current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, does not appear in any other account – leading me to suspect that Wilson’s sources – likely Fountain, were off on this point.

While Geisser was out, Grace Coolidge asked her husband if it would not be better for him to wait until morning when more reporters would be present. Coolidge pondered the matter in what Wilson described as a “long silence” before looking at Fountain and saying:

Expect our young friend here might be willing to make the event known through the Associated Press.

Charles Morrow Wilson (quoting Fountain’s quote of Coolidge)

While we will see in our next account that Fountain was not the only eyewitness to note that Grace Coolidge suggested putting off the oath until the morning proper, this is the only account in which Fountain has a notable role in the story.

Geisser reappeared and informed Coolidge that his secretary, Clark, was on his way to seek counsel from Chief Justice Taft and would send a message after his consultation. In the interim, Coolidge decided to venture to Cilley’s Store. He was accompanied by Fountain and Dale. Every account has Coolidge going to Cilley’s Store, but they all differ. McInerney had himself, Coolidge, and Geisser going earlier in the evening. Fountain has only himself, Coolidge, and Dale. As we will see below, Dale has a different three-person configuration. The local newspaper article I cited to at the start of this section on Fountain listed, Dale, Fountain, and Lane. However, it is not entirely clear based on some of the differing details that these three versions are referring to the same event, although I will subjectively opine that some of the article’s description strike me as being the least likely. In this account, Coolidge seemingly went to the store for nostalgia, stating “It’s a real hot night,” before, after some silence, asking Cilley if she had a cold soft drink. She had Moxie, and she poured glasses for Coolidge, Fountain, and Dale. Wilson wrote: “Fountain describes himself as having been frozen with fascination at the prospect of being treated to a Moxie by the man who would soon be President of the United States.” But it was not to be: Coolidge only paid for his own drink, and Fountain paid for both his drink and Dale’s. Coolidge then said simply: “Figure we best get back to father.” (Wilson’s article does later imply that Coolidge had the soda while waiting for a call.)

Upon returning, Coolidge was presented with a copy of the oath that Geisser had transcribed by hand. Coolidge read the copy and then instructed Geisser to type three copies. Wilson noted that by all accounts from the scene, Coolidge was confident that his father, a local notary, could administer the oath, but was nevertheless waiting for confirmation from Chief Justice Taft. Geisser returned with three copies of the oath, which Coolidge reviewed before instructing Geisser to procure signatures from the witnesses.

At 2:35 A.M., Florence Cilley knocked on the door and Coolidge personally answered. She smiled, delivering the following message:

Procedure legal. Best wishes. Taft.

Charles Morrow Wilson (quoting William Howard Taft telegram)

Wilson described Fountain’s recollection:

Joe Fountain recalls that Coolidge slipped the paper into his pocket and without a word approached the center table, behind which his father stood.

Charles Morrow Wilson

Wilson also relayed another eyewitness account:

According to Joseph McInerney, the other surviving witness, Grace Coolidge stepped to her husband’s side, while Congressman Dale and Fountain moved to his left. Edwin Geisser looked on from a corner.

Charles Morrow Wilson

According to Wilson, Coolidge placed his left hand on a closed Bible (we can infer from Coolidge’s autobiography that this was his late mother’s Bible) and raised his right hand. His father read the oath in its entirety, and then Coolidge recited the oath in its entirety, “without stumbling or hesitating…” This account of the oath differs from the forthcoming account from Dale, who did not have John Coolidge reading the entire oath in full before Coolidge recited it in full. McInerney’s account is not specific on the matter.

Based on Fountain’s accounts, Wilson wrote that Grace Coolidge was trembling and that the elder Coolidge gulped, his eyes “noticeably moist.” Meanwhile, “[t]he new President was grimly silent.” Congressman Dale pulled out his watch and announced that the time was “exactly two forty-seven!” President Coolidge, without saying a word, took a pen and signed the oath, and then pen went around to all present to sign as witness. The elder Coolidge then found his notary public’s seal impresser and stamped the oath. The younger Coolidge and his wife then walked to the stairs. Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States, said what were, by this account, his first words since taking the oath of office:

Good night.

Charles Morrow Wilson (likely quoting Fountain’s quote of Coolidge)

The President and First Lady retired to bed.

Wilson writes that Fountain enthusiastically thanked the elder Coolidge and left with due haste to deliver what would be the biggest report of his career as a journalist. Dale stayed at the Coolidge home in a guest room.

Other Notes From Wilson’s Account

According to Wilson, President Coolidge delegated the task of notifying their two sons of the news – both of whom were working on a tobacco farm in Connecticut – to his wife. By morning, throngs of people and reporters had arrived in Plymouth Notch. Coolidge dispatched Geisser to deal with the reporters and Dale with the politicians while he shook hands with locals. This account seems to conflict with McInerney’s, who described a relatively quiet scene at the Homestead before setting out by car early in the morning. But Wilson does refer to a different eyewitness, Cilley’s adopted 13-year old daughter Violet, who stated that she was handling the calls to Cilley’s store.

Wilson’s eyewitness-based account of Coolidge’s first morning as President before his departure for Washington D.C. It differs in some significant respects from McInerney’s account, and I will venture that McInerney’s recollections strike me as more plausible given how early Coolidge would have left Plymouth Notch given his schedule. But I will encourage people to read it for themselves rather than recount the entire thing here. But Wilson, like Coolidge, saw fit to mention in some detail Coolidge’s visit to his mother’s grave before departing Vermont:

En route, the President stopped at the Old Plymouth Notch Cemetery, where five generations of Vermont Coolidges lay at rest in the family plot. For at least ten minutes he stood at his mother’s grave in deep meditation. The beautiful Victoria Moor Coolidge had died, presumably of tuberculosis, when Calvin was turning twelve. The President made a briefer pause at the grave of Abbie, his only sister, a beautiful and brilliant girl who had qualified as a country schoolteacher at twelve, followed Calvin (to his great delight) to the Black River Academy at Ludlow, and then died of appendicitis the following year, when Calvin was eighteen.

Charles Morrow Wilson

This account is not inconsistent with either Coolidge or McInerney, granting the additional detail about Coolidge’s sister. Coolidge wrote about the death of Abbie, with great regret, earlier in his autobiography:

In March of my senior year [of high school] my sister Abbie died. She was three years my junior but so proficient in her studies that she was but two classes below me in school. She was ill scarcely a week. Several doctors were in attendance but could not save her. Thirty years later one of them told me he was convinced she had appendicitis, which was a disease not well understood in 1890. I went home when her condition became critical and stayed beside her until she passed to join our mother. The memory of the charm of her presence and her dignified devotion to the right will always abide with me.

Calvin Coolidge

The Recollections of Congressman Dale

The last eyewitness account to be published was that of Porter H. Dale. At the time Dale died on October 6, 1933 (about nine months after then-former President Coolidge died on January 5), his eyewitness account of the events of August 3, 1923, had not been published. In fact, as we learn from a 1994 article in Vermont History titled The Calvin Coolidge Inauguration Revisited: An Eyewitness Account by Congressman Porter H. Dale, Dale’s account was first discovered by his grandson at the family homestead in 1979. According to Dale’s letters, he had transcribed his account the day after Coolidge took the oath (I suppose that could mean August 3 or 4), and then he went through several drafts which are described by his descendants as “consistent in factual detail.”

In the preface to Dale’s letters, Christopher D. Dale and Porter H. Dale noted that it was, and is, still not entirely certain which individuals were present in the room during Coolidge’s inauguration. Dale stated that he, Calvin Coolidge, Grace Coolidge, John Coolidge Sr, Edward Geisser, and Joseph Fountain were present, but he suggested separately that L.L. Lane may have also been inside. Writing in 1950, Fountain agreed with Dale on the first six people inside and placed Herbert P. Thompson, McInerney, and Lane outside. But then he identified Lane as one of the six people “in the room” who signed as an official witness, which is consistent with McInerney. Coolidge himself of course listed only five people: his wife, father, Dale, Geisser, and McInerney, differing from Dale and Fountain in excluding Fountain and Lane and placing McInerney in the room. Dale’s descendants concluded that there seems to be no debate that at least the three Coolidges, Dale, and Geisser were present, and concluded that Fountain was most likely present, notwithstanding his presence not being noted by Coolidge.

Dale’s account spans several pages, all of which I encourage people interested in the subject to read. For the purposes of this article, I will excerpt the passages relative to what we have already read from Coolidge and the summaries of the other eyewitnesses.

Porter Dale wrote that he was with L.L. Lane and Joseph Fountain, about 20 miles from the Coolidge homestead, when a police officer informed Dale that the Western Union Telegraph office was calling him. Dale asked the officer what they wanted, and the offer relayed that he had heard a rumor that President Harding had died. Dale asked the officer to find out whether the report was true. The officer returned with confirmation. This account differs slightly from McInerney’s belief that Dale and his party had learned about Harding’s death over crystal radio.

Consistent with the local newspaper report I quoted at the beginning of the section on Fountain, Captain Dan R. Barney offered to drive Dale, along with Lane and Fountain, to Coolidge’s home. Dale noted that they almost made a wrong turn in the dark and had to stop by a home for directions. He recalled that Fountain told the homeowner why they were making their way to Coolidge:

It may interest you to know why we are going there. The President is dead, and Calvin Coolidge is President of the United States.

The man was stunned, and according to Dale still standing in the doorway as Barney sped away.

Dale, like the prior accounts, noted that there were lights in Coolidge’s home when they arrived, which he correctly took to mean that news had already reached Coolidge. Dale was already acquainted with the elder Coolidge because they had served together in the Vermont Senate. I will note this is true – Dale and the elder Coolidge were both state Senators from 1910-12. But here, Dale’s account differs slightly from the prior account. According to Dale, the elder Coolidge met him on the veranda, and they clasped hands without speaking.

Dale then wrote he entered Coolidge’s home and Coolidge took him by the hand, saying: “This is serious, isn’t it?” After some time, they heard cars approaching outside. Dale informed Coolidge that he had brought Lane, and asked if Lane should keep watch outside – noting that Lane carried a revolver as a railway service man. Coolidge replied: “Yes, don’t let anyone in.”

Here, again, Dale’s account differs from Wilson’s account taken from Coolidge, McInerney, and Fountain as it was conveyed through Wilson and other sources. Dale writes that Coolidge, on his own initiative, asked if Dale knew the form of the oath to be taken by the President. Dale replied that it was in the Constitution, and that the elder Coolidge should have on hand a copy of the Revised Statutes of Vermont, which included the Federal Constitution. Coolidge’s secretary returned with the copy, and he and Dale studied the relevant language in the Constitution. Then, according to Dale, Coolidge asked:

Do you think my father, as Notary Public, has authority to administer the oath to me?

Dale asked Coolidge if he wanted his father to administer the oath, to which Coolidge replied simply: “Yes.” Dale then offered his opinion:

If you want him to do it, I would have him. If there is any irregularity in it, that could easily be remedied by having the oath administered again by some other authority.

It is not clear whether Dale would have known that Coolidge did in fact take a second oath before the news became public. Here, I will note that McInerney did give Dale a role, along with Coolidge son and father, in finalizing the language of the oath to be taken – so the accounts are consistent in that respect. But the timing seems off since in McInerney’s account, Coolidge had already decided on the course of action in consultation with the Attorney General before Dale entered the scene. Coolidge’s own Autobiography also strikes me as more consistent with McInerney’s account.

Coolidge considered Dale’s opinion and then stated:

Well, I think he has it. Get ready father.

Dale added a note: “This conversation was very deliberately had, up to the last expression,” evincing that he is recalling it verbatim.

According to Dale, Coolidge then asked him to accompany him to the nearby store, which we know from Wilson’s article was run by Florence Cilley. However, Dale’s account differs significantly from what Wilson compiled from other eyewitnesses. McInerney’s recollections do not have Dale, much less Lane, accompanying Coolidge to Cilley’s store. Fountain’s account placed him and Dale at the scene, but not Lane. Dale states that the storekeeper, presumably Cilley, had been called by Coolidge’s secretary, Edward T. Clark, from Washington D.C. Coolidge took the phone and asked Dale to write down what he said as he said it. Here, Dale is playing the role that Geisser played in McInerney’s account. In another difference, Dale reports that the elder Coolidge had joined them and held a lamp over Dale’s shoulder while he wrote. None of the other accounts situate John Coolidge doing anything outside of his home. Regarding the elder Coolidge, Dale noted he was, at that moment, “chiefly conscious of the man seventy-eight years old, called from sleep by the unexpected message that his son was President of the United States, who did think to get the light, and who did hold it some minutes…” Before leaving, Coolidge instructed Lane to remain in the store and answer the phone if there was another call. Dale thought it would be best for Lane to accompany them, but was unsure how to address Coolidge in light of the fact that Coolidge had not yet taken the oath. Dale settled the matter by asking Coolidge: “Hadn’t Lane better go with us?” That was enough, Coolidge simply said “Yes” and summoned Lane to follow them.

Dale states that he, Coolidge junior and elder, and Lane returned inside, where Grace Coolidge, Edwin Geisser, and Fountain were sitting. Here, he says that the only six individuals in the room were everyone mentioned here, minus Lane, but simultaneously says that Lane hasped the screen door on the inside, suggesting that there were in fact seven people in the room.

Dale then states that Coolidge sat down for the first time all evening. Here, consistent with Wilson’s article and Fountain’s recollections, Grace Coolidge suggested that her husband consider waiting until the morning to take the oath. However, “he indicated that he wanted no delay.” Dale further states that he, referring to himself, “knew from the message [Coolidge] had received from Washington that immediate action seemed best to others.” Dale is presumably referencing the call Coolidge had at Cilley’s store, but he does not offer further details.

In another notable difference, Dale states that “Calvin Coolidge took the statutes and copied the oath with a pencil on a piece of paper,” differing from the other accounts which had him direct Geisser to type multiple copies. Dale wrote that they were then joined by the elder Coolidge, who “had shaven and put on his collar and tie” (note that Wilson’s article reported that Coolidge Senior did not have a tie) and spoke quietly with his son for several minutes. Then, suddenly, they proceeded to the oath. Here, we have some additional significant differences between Dale’s account and Wilson’s article.

Firstly, Dale does here specify that Lane was a witness:

Col. Coolidge took the paper on which his son had transcribed the oath, and we all stood up. Calvin Coolidge stood by the corner of the table facing his father, Mrs. Coolidge by her husband, and I on the opposite side the table, and Fountain and Geisser by the tall sheetiron stove beyond Col. Coolidge and Lane by the screen door.

Next, Dale states that John Coolidge, Sr., “did not raise his hand, as it has been reported he did, but Calvin Coolidge raised his right hand.” Here, recall that Wilson’s article, which was based on other eyewitness accounts, did have John Coolidge raising his hand.

According to Dale, John Coolidge did not read the entire oath before Coolidge recited it. Dale has John Coolidge first read, “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States,” before Coolidge repeated that section of the oath, followed by John Coolidge continuing.

Finally, Dale’s account appears to be consistent with Coolidge’s autobiography regarding the disposition of Coolidge’s mother’s Bible. He writes that upon Coolidge’s saying “So help me God”:

As he lowered his hand it rested on his mother’s Bible.

Dale’s account concludes with Coolidge finishing his oath. He completed his recollection with his own thoughts:

It was finished. A scene the like of which you may not find in all history. In the mountain notch where prevails the ancestral influence of generations of righteous men and saintly women; at night among the hills from whence cometh the strength for which men have praised God since ancient days, a venerable father had sworn his son by the oath which made him Chief Executive of the greatest nation of the world.

Two Additional Biographical Accounts

I thought it would be interesting to look at two accounts of Coolidge’s oath of office from 1925, which predates Coolidge’s autobiography, and 1940, which had the benefit of Coolidge’s autobiography and subsequent reporting.

In 1925, William Allen White write in Calvin Coolidge: The Man Is President. White’s account, which appears to have not benefited from eyewitnesses, states that there were reporters present in the Coolidge home (possibly referencing Fountain as one), but makes no reference to the other dramatic personae. According to White’s book, the suggestion for Coolidge to take the oath immediately came from Secretary of State Charles Evan Hughes. This would be plausibly consistent with Dale’s account insofar as Dale suggested that Coolidge had received an opinion from Washington D.C. that he should take the oath without delay. Moreover, Hughes was a renowned lawyer and Constitutional scholar, having previously served as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court before resigning to run for President in 1916, and he would later succeed William Howard Taft as Chief Justice in 1930. There is no direct reference to Hughes in the eyewitness accounts, although it is possible Dale was referencing him when he stated without specifics that Coolidge received a positive opinion from Washington regarding his father’s ability to administer the oath.

In 1940, Claude M. Feuss wrote about Coolidge’s first Presidential oath in Calvin Coolidge: The Man From Vermont. Feuss agreed with both White and Dale that Coolidge had decided to take the oath immediately after receiving counsel from Washington D.C. According to Feuss, Coolidge received counsel from his Secretary, Ted Clark, Attorney General Daugherty, and Secretary of State Hughes. Feuss credited Hughes with advising Coolidge on the form of the oath.

Considering the Differences

I came across a 1998 publication of The Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation called The Real Calvin Coolidge. It includes a collection of articles about Coolidge, including Jim Cooke’s Dramatis Personae: Plymouth Notch, Vermong, Thursday-Friday, August 2-3, 1923 (pages 18-39 of The Real Calvin Coolidge pdf). Cooke, an actor and Calvin Coolidge impersonator, considered the different accounts of the events of August 2-3, 1923, and tried to discern the truth of various details. Below, I will share his thoughts along with my own from having studied the source material for this article.

First, I noted there is some disagreement in the accounts regarding whether the elder John Coolidge was wearing a tie. Cooke, perhaps subjectively, “dismiss[ed]] the suggestion that he was without collar or tie,” noting that when he met the elder Coolidge’s grandson (presumably Calvin Coolidge’s son John Coolidge, who died at the age of 93 on May 31, 2000), “he straightened the collar on my jacket.”

As I noted in the Wilson section, Cooke cited to a letter by the elder Coolidge himself in resolving that only W.A. Perkins delivered the news that Harding had died in the first instance, which rebuts Wilson’s article stating that it was Perkins and Cilley.

Cooke noted that McInerney’s account that he went to the Coolidge Homestead with Geisser and a magazine writer named William H. Crawford was corroborated by Crawford, who published an article. However, we learn here that Crawford claimed to have been the first person to address Coolidge as President. Coolidge himself said the first person was his own father. Here, I would opine that Coolidge’s own account is likely correct since he spoke to his father before Crawford arrived with McInerney.

Regarding Congressman Dale, Cooke wrote something I was thinking while reading Wilson’s article. I quote Cooke:

Orton and Fountain, I think, unfortunately represent Dale as a pompous fool–carelessly trying to persuade Coolidge to take the oath … In fact, Fountain’s and Orton’s general attitude of superiority and condescension causes me dismay. In Fountain’s case, he was drafting on Dale’s coat tails; I think he should have been a little more grateful.

Jim Cooke

(Orton refers to Vrest Orton, who was the former chairman of the Vermont Historic Sites commission and an advocate for Fountain’s sometimes-contested position that he was an eyewitness to Coolidge’s oath.)

I agree with Cooke in doubting that Congressman Dale beclowned himself in the ways described by Fountain (which we read second-hand in Wilson’s 1963 article). Mr. Cooke opined that Dale likely encouraged Coolidge to take the oath, but added that it was not clear that Coolidge needed urging, having already received counsel from the Attorney General and Secretary of State. I concur. Both Coolidge’s and McInerney’s accounts suggest that Coolidge had decided to take the oath based on his own opinions and consultations with his cabinet. Cooke added that Theodore Roosevelt had taken the oath expeditiously upon the death of William McKinley just over two decades earlier, which would have been on Coolidge’s mind. From Dale’s account, I glean that he did also advocate for Coolidge taking the oath, but it seems likely that the decision had already been made.

Mr. Cooke noted that whether Fountain had been present in the room at the time Coolidge took the oath was a subject of debate, something I found through other sources. I am more confident than Mr. Cooke that Fountain was present based on the accounts of McInerney and Dale. However, I agree with Mr. Cooke that from what I read of Fountain’s account second-hand, he “overflows, inflating his small role in events of the evening” (not to mention seemingly having an axe to grind with Dale). I also agree with Mr. Cooke’s assessment that Fountain’s quoting Coolidge as saying – “Father, Mr. Dale thinks I should immediately take the oath of office. You are still a notary, aren’t you?” – seems unlikely.

Mr. Cooke opined that Geisser likely typed three copies of the oath, which is consistent with all accounts but Dale’s, who had Coolidge writing it by hand. I agree that it seems more likely than not that Geisser typed the oath, especially in light of Coolidge’s reference to it being typed.

According to Mr. Cooke, Fountain did at one time place Lane and McInerney outside with Herbert Thompson, but I doubt that not least because Coolidge included McInerney among the smaller list of eyewitnesses.

Regarding Fountain’s story about Coolidge encouraging him and Dale to get bottles of moxie, but only paying for his own, Mr. Cooke noted different opinions on the story. For whatever it is worth, I will submit that I am not entirely convinced based on the differing accounts that Fountain was present when Coolidge went to Cilley’s store, much less about the soda, but as I noted above, it is possible that Coolidge made more than one trip to Cilley’s store to take phone calls, which would make it possible to reconcile some of the different accounts.

Mr. Cooke offered some additional context on the roles of members of the Harding-Coolidge cabinet. Citing to an account from 1932, Mr. Cooke noted that then-Attorney General Daugherty had first attempted to wire Coolidge at Northampton, where Coolidge had been a couple weeks earlier. Daugherty said that he had recommended that Coolidge take the oath immediately. However, as we noted earlier in the article, Daugherty would soon thereafter opine that John Coolidge, Sr., was not qualified as a state official to administer the oath. Citing to a 1951 book, Mr. Cooke states that Secretary of State Hughes spoke by phone with Coolidge multiple times before Coolidge took the oath. Hughes opinion, which was correct as a matter of law, was that Coolidge was President the moment Harding died, but he nevertheless advised Coolidge to take the oath at once.

Conclusion

A strange series of circumstances lead to Coolidge taking the presidential oath of office from his father in his family home. He happened to be vacationing there at the time of Harding’s death, just hours after he and the media in the area had received what appeared to be good news about Harding’s health. Coolidge, noting that his father was a notary, seized the moment and staged what is, without much doubt, the most unique presidential oath in American history. (I will note here that I am inclined to doubt Coolidge’s statement in his autobiography that he did not think much of the significance of having his father administer the oath until after the fact.) Some of the details in the various eyewitness accounts are difficult, if not impossible, to fully reconcile – but Coolidge’s autobiography along with those additional accounts offers a general picture of what transpired. For Coolidge, he began his presidency in a way that was very on brand for his political persona, a persona he would lean on to decisively win his own term in office just over one year after his famous “Homestead Inauguration,” thereby earning a more traditional Presidential Inauguration in Washington D.C. on March 4, 1925.