Willie Lincoln and Calvin Coolidge, Jr

[Juan Marrero]

Thanks you, Rob,

You are probably right. Lincoln might likely have soldiered on, president or not, Civil War or not, after Willie died.

It is particularly sad that the contaminated drinking well at the White House (as President Buchanan seemed to have warned) may have been at the root of Willie's and Tad's ailment in February 1862. We will never know, of course, whether Willie might have lived to adulthood had he and his family stayed in Springfield.

It is good that in life we are unaware of the dilemmas we are presented. Imagine Lincoln having to decide choosing between Willie's life and saving the Union.

I wonder if Calvin Coolidge should not have elected to "soldier on" after his son died. Perhaps popular sentiment at the time would not have forgiven a President (so soon after the death of his predecessor) to resign. Moreover, Cal, Jr. died just after his father was nominated in 1924, so it would have been a particularly awkward time for a President to step down or even just resign from the ticket.

There is a video on YouTube showing highlights of the 1925 inaugural, showing an animated, smiling Grace Coolidge sitting alongside a nearly expressionless president. Grace Coolidge reminds me of Pat Nixon, dignified and stoic no matter what.

Like Lincoln, Coolidge's mother and only sister died while he was young. Apparently, young Cal suffered deeply and part of his preference for his son Cal was that he thought he was just like his grandmother.