Calvin Coolidge writing his son, John: April 11, 1932.

Coolidge says to John, “You looked so badly when you were here that I feel worried about you.” He tells his son: “Do not give any thought to your investments. They may come out all right.” John had reason to worry about his investments. Falling from a high of $381 in September of 1929, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted through the early 1930’s, reaching its nadir of the twentieth century in July of 1932, 3 months after John’s letter, of $41, having lost 89% of its value.

Coolidge urges his son to “get out doors all you can and walk.” Coolidge himself was known for taking a daily walk. The day after his 1924 Presidential election victory the Washington Post reported that, “the President went for his customary walk in the business section at 5 o’clock, strolling east on the south side of F Street with Richard Jervis, head of the White House secret service detail, as far as Ninth Street and back on the north side of the street to the executive offices.” Grace was also an avid walker. In a 1927 article entitled “Mrs. Coolidge Walks,” The Washington Post reported that “Mrs. Coolidge walks five or seven miles every day. Walks because she likes it… If the wife of the President of the United States is not too proud or too indolent to use her legs for what legs were made for the rest of us, men and women, ought to hesitate no longer.”