There Is More In You Than You Know
Not many people realize that
President Calvin Coolidge did not always live in the White House.
As Vice-President, he became President upon the death of Warren G.
Harding.
Mrs. Harding continued to live
in the White House for a time, so the Coolidges remained where they
had been living - in the third-floor suite of the nearby Willard Hotel.
Once in the middle of the night, the new President
awoke to see an intruder going through his clothes. He watched as
the thief first removed a wallet, then unhooked a watch chain. Coolidge
calmly spoke up from the darkness: "About that watch, I wish
you wouldn't take that."
The startled man, gaining his voice, asked, "Why?"
Coolidge answered, "I don't mean the watch and
chain, only the charm. I'm very fond of that charm. It means a great
deal to me. Take it near the window and read what is engraved on the
back of it."
The burglar read: "Presented to Calvin Coolidge,
Speaker of the House, by the Massachusetts General Court." And
now he was more surprised!
"Are you President Coolidge?" he asked.
He evidently did not think he'd find the President sleeping in a hotel!
"Yes, I am, and I don't want you to take that
charm," he said. Then he asked, "Why, Son, are you doing
this?"
The young man explained that he and a friend traveled
to Washington during their college break. They spent all of their
money and had no money to pay the hotel bill or pay for train passage
back to school. "If you don't mind," he said, "I'll
just take the wallet."
Coolidge did mind. He knew he had about $80 in his
wallet. So he said, "How much will it take to pay your hotel
bill and get you and your friend back to the campus? Sit down and
let's talk this over."
Coolidge added up the room rate and two rail tickets.
It came to $32. That may not sound like much now, but it was a considerable
sum then. "I'll give you the $32 as a loan," the President
said, "and I expect you to pay me back."
The youth thanked him. Coolidge then advised him to
leave by the same window he used to enter the room, as secret service
agents were sure to be patrolling the hallway.
As the young man climbed out, Coolidge left him with
this admonition: "Son, you're a nice boy. You are better than
you are acting. You are starting down the wrong road. Just remember
who you are."
It wasn't until after the death of Mrs. Coolidge in
1957 that this story was allowed to come out. It was first published
in the "Los Angeles Times."
And most interesting of all is that the President's
notes show that the young man was indeed better than he was acting.
He repaid the $32 loan in full.
Kurt Hahn, the founder of Outward Bound, said this:
"There is more in us than we know. If we can be made to see it,
perhaps, for the rest of our lives, we will be unwilling to settle
for less."
Steve Goodier Publisher@LifeSupportSystem.com
is a professional speaker, consultant and author of numerous books.
Visit his site for more information, or to sign up for his FREE newsletter
of Life, Love and Laughter at http://LifeSupportSystem.com
