13. Calvin Coolidge became a newspaper columnist
Calvin Coolidge’s reticence in speaking to the press was so famous that during his administration he became known around the country as Silent Cal. In Coolidge’s day, a press conference was usually held in the White House by ushering reporters into the president’s office, by then the Oval Office in the West Wing which had been built by Theodore Roosevelt. In one exchange a reporter asked Coolidge if he had anything to say on the subject of foreign affairs. “No”, Coolidge replied. After a half dozen, similar questions were asked which received the same monosyllabic reply, the reporters were ushered out, only to hear Coolidge call after them, “And don’t quote me”.
So it is sublime that after leaving office Coolidge should author a newspaper column, but he did, entitled Calvin Coolidge Says, during 1930 and 1931. The columns were later compiled into a book with the same title, and Coolidge also authored an autobiography. The columns revealed a somewhat twisted sense of humor in the former president, dry and often cutting. Coolidge also published a collection of speeches he had given and proclamations issued as Governor of Massachusetts. So it seems that Silent Cal had quite a bit to say, after all, he was just choosy about where and when he said it. Calvin Coolidge Says (book version) remains in limited publication in the 21st century.