Calvin Coolidge letter to his son, John: April 18, 1930.

John graduated from Amherst in the spring of 1928. By the fall of 1928, he started as a freight clerk at the New Haven and Hartford Railroad in Connecticut, earning about $28 a week according to the New York Times. In a 1947 Chicago Daily Tribune article, John said, “I wanted to see if I could go on my own… I want to prove to myself that I can get along without being pushed—without being the boss’ son.”

Coolidge talks about an undisclosed “temporary emergency” that John took care of himself and praises his son, saying, “Such things are always coming up and the prudent man realizes it and tries to be prepared to meet them.” He goes on, saying, “If men are laid off it will be those who are least efficient. Just be useful enough and they will always want you.” John stayed at the railroad until 1941, when he became president of the Connecticut Manifold Forms Company until his retirement in 1960.

On the back of the letter, John writes, “Gave Father’s signature to Kenneth R. Cole, 4-7-36”. This and the two other letters from Coolidge to John all have Coolidge’s signature missing, evidence that they may have been gifts to John’s friends.