The Corner

Coolidge Biographies

Jonah:

I would rank the ones I have read as follows, best at top (though none of

the following is bad):

Fuess (by a mile — real sympathy with his subject… totally out of print)

Sobel

McCoy

Coolidge (that is, his autobiography)

Not that the autobiography isn’t worth reading — it has a wonderful

Coolidgean charm to it. It just doesn’t tell you anything.

(“Fuess,” btw, is pronounced to rhyme with “peace.” He was Bush 41’s

headmaster at Andover.)

There are some fine shorter pieces, too — Gamaliel Bradford on Coolidge’s

spirituality (can’t find the reference), Mencken’s obituary essay (on the

internet somewhere),…

John Derbyshire — Mr. Derbyshire is a former contributing editor of National Review.
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