Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Calvin on the value of taking vacations

"Because we have had a difficult year and have many problems to solve such person may think of foregoing any absence from business in the immediate future. The fact is the brains of the country need relaxation and refreshment More than ever this season. They owe a duty to themselves, their business and their associates to get more than the usual period of rest. The country will e further advances in October if July and August find many visitors at the shores and in the hills. Just now we need replenishment of body and soul that comes only in withdrawing from work and familiar scenes and seeking diversion in new activities and new surroundings. This year above most others the brain and the hand need to be replenished by rest."

From the syndicated column "Calvin Coolidge Says" from June 2, 1931.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Coolidge's Two Oaths of Office

Calvin Coolidge taking the Oath of Office in Plymouth Notch, VT on August 3, 1923. This painting, on loan from Amherst College, is on display in the Coolidge Museum.


Did you know Coolidge took the Oath of Office twice in 1923?

August 2, 1923 at 7:30 PM PST, President Warren Harding died in San Francisco, CA while Vice-President Calvin Coolidge was vacationing at his father's home in Plymouth Notch, VT. At 2:47 AM EST on August 3, 1923, Coolidge took the Presidential Oath of Office administered by his father, a notary. It was later determined by U.S. Solicitor General James Beck that a state official could not swear in a federal official. Therefore, Coolidge took a second Presidential Oath of Office at the New Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. administered by Chief Justice A.A. Hoehling.