Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb__ A Tour of Presidential Gravesites - Brian Lamb [53]
The Harding Tomb, one of five presidential gravesites in Ohio, contains exhibits detailing Harding’s life
August 2, a sultry Thursday in the nation’s capital. A few minutes after 10 p.m., Mrs. Harding’s favorite astrologer, a former vaudevillian and Coney Island palm reader reborn as Madame Marsha, held court in a Dupont Circle townhouse. Asked by newspapermen about reports that Harding was suffering from food poisoning, Madame Marsha quietly replied, “The president is dead.”
And so he was, having succumbed to a massive coronary a few minutes earlier in his San Francisco hotel room. Returning to the White House, Florence Harding sat by her husband’s open casket for a post-midnight monologue with the rouged corpse. “No one can hurt you now, Warren,” she told him, thereby putting the seal on the creepiest administration in American history.
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Calvin Coolidge
Buried: Plymouth Cemetery, Plymouth, Vermont
Thirtieth President - 1923-1929
Born: July 4, 1872, in Plymouth, Vermont
Died: 12:45 p.m. on January 5, 1933, in Northampton, Massachusetts
Age at death: 60
Cause of death: Heart failure
Final words: Unknown
Admission to Plymouth Cemetery: Free
The classic illustration of “Silent Cal” Coolidge’s personality involved a woman who bet she could make him say more than two words. He responded simply, “You lose.”
The shy, frugal Coolidge married his perfect match: vivacious, outgoing Grace Goodhue. The two settled in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he began a career in public service that spanned three decades. He worked his way up through Republican ranks in his home state until he was elected governor in 1918. Coolidge’s handling of a Boston police strike brought him national attention, earning him the vice presidential nomination in 1920.
Calvin Coolidge spent just two years as Warren Harding’s vice president. When the president died on August 2, 1923, the vacationing Coolidge was roused from his bed at his father’s Vermont home to take the oath of office. His father, a notary public, swore in his son with a form he found on the shelves of his library.
“Silent Cal” Coolidge’s simple headstone
The new president returned to Washington and tried to make the transition as smooth as possible. Grace Coolidge became a popular White House hostess. A healthy economy helped him win election in his own right the following year. Despite prosperity and political success, 1924 was a tragic year for the Coolidges. While playing tennis, sixteen-year-old Calvin Coolidge, Jr. got a blister on his toe that caused a fatal blood infection. His parents never got over their grief.
The couple sought privacy at their Northampton estate, The Beeches, after Coolidge’s retirement in 1929. The former president wrote his autobiography and a daily newspaper column. On January 5, 1933, Grace Coolidge returned from a shopping trip to find her beloved husband dead of a heart attack.
Calvin Coolidge’s funeral reflected his simple tastes in life. Funeral services were held at the Edwards Congregational Church in Northampton. Mourners, including President Herbert Hoover and Eleanor Roosevelt, paid their respects. Finally, his widow made a hundred mile trip by car to see the former president returned to his Vermont roots. He was buried on a steep hillside in the Coolidge family plot after a five-minute ceremony. Grace Coolidge was buried at his side when she died in 1957.
Each year on the Fourth of July, a wreath is laid at his grave in honor of the only president born on Independence Day.
Touring Calvin Coolidge’s Tomb at Plymouth Cemetery
Plymouth Cemetery is open daily from dawn until dusk. Six generations of Coolidges are buried there. Admission is free.
From New York and New Jersey: Take I-87 through Albany to the Northway. Continue north on I-87 to exit 20/Fort Ann and Whitehall. Follow Route 149 East into Fort Ann. Turn left onto Route 4 and follow through