He was the only son of a Vermont storekeeper, John Calvin Coolidge, and his wife, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge.
He was born in the dwelling behind his father’s combined general store and post office in Plymouth Notch.
He attended school at Plymouth Notch and Black River Academy in Ludlow, Vermont.
In 1891, he enrolled in Amherst college in Amherst, Massachussetts. His favorite subjects in college were philosophy and oratory.
After his graduation in 1895, he studied law at Northampton, Massachussetts, and was admitted to practice law in 1897.
In 1905, he married Grace Anna Goodhue from Vermont. She taught at a deaf institute in Northampton. They had two sons, John and Calvin, Jr. The younger one died in 1924.
He maintained law practice in Northampton till 1919.
In 1898, he was elected city councilman of Northampton.
Between 1900 and 1911, he had many political positions in Northampton, including mayor.
From 1912 to 1915 he served as senator in the state legislature and as lieutenant governor from 1916 to 1918.
On March 4, 1921, he was inaugurated as Vice-president, and became president when Warren G. Harding died of a heart attack in 1923.
Presidential Facts
His Father, a justice of peace, administered his presidential oath of office in 1923.
One of his personal mottoes was, ““If you don’t say anything, you won’t be called upon to repeat it.”
He vetoed a farm relief bill in 1927 and 1928 because he opposed government involvement in private enterprise.
He supported the Kellog-Briand Pact of 1928, which unsuccessfully sought to outlaw war.
He had a chronic stomach ache which required 10 to 11 hours of sleep and an afternoon nap everyday.
