versation, Mr. Hoover reiterated his belief in Coolidge's intellectual recti- tude and his moral courage. In Northampton, I am under great obligations to Judge Henry Field. He is by odds the most intelligent of Coolidge's Northampton mare street friends; understanding, sympathetic, appreciative of Coolidge's strength while realizing the oddities which sometimes pass unfairly for his weak- nesses. To Judge Harlan F. Stone I am indebted for many recollections of Amherst in the eighteen nineties and for his characteristically careful com- ments about Coolidge in the White House. Mr. Frank Stearns also gave me vital facts. He was kind beyond words, as was William M. Buffer. I talked profitably with James A. Bailey, a prominent organization Republi- can, of Boston, and with Tom White, Coolidge's political mentor and manager in Massachusetts, and with S. B. Pearmain who added several striking episodes. I had occasion to quote Herbert Parker, who took some trouble to verify the few sentences of his I have used which are of impor- tance. Also H. Parker Willis, M. A. DeWolfe Howe, W. H. Grimes, of the Wall Street Journal, Walter H. Newton, former secretary to President Hoover, James Truslow Adams, and James Jackson, of Westwood, Massa- chusetts, have contributed illuminating facts. Harry Slattery, of Washing- ton, D. C.; Charles G. Dawes, former Ambassador to England; Wm. S. Culbertson, former Ambassador to Chile; Nelson T. Johnson, Ambassador to China; Louis M. Lyons, of the Boston Globe; James Derieux, of Sum- merville, South Carolina; Norman Lombard, of New York City; Adolph Miller, of Washington, D. C.; Dr. Nicholas Murray Buffer, of New York City; Robert T. Brady, of the Boston Post; Judson C. Welliver, of Philadelphia; Walter Millis, of New York City; Harriet W. DeRose, of the Hampshire Gazette, Northampton, Massachusetts; Miss Mary Ran- dolph, author of "Presidents and First Ladies"; and Joseph R. Grundy, of Bristol, Pennsylvania, have furnished significant facts. I am also indebted to Charles A. Andrews of Amherst, who has furnished me much valuable material about Coolidge's student days. Also I am deeply indebted to the family of the late William Howard Taft, who gave me access to his letters now on file in the Library of Congress, and Val R. Lorwin, of Washington, D. C., who went through the files for me. -xvi- |