The Man Who Knew Coolidge by Sinclair Lewis

The Man Who Knew Coolidge is one of Sinclair Lewis's strangest novels, actually set up as a series of monologues by a town's local story teller, a Mr. Lowell T. Schmaltz who's biggest claim to fame is that he is an acquaintance of then President "Silent" Cal Coolidge back from his college days.

Schmaltz is a small businessman from the made up Midwestern town of Zenith, which is located in the also made up state of Winnemac. He is a business person who specializes in office supplies, but as a Kiwanian and business traveler, he is locally very well thought of, and sought after, as a speaker.

What is interesting is how Lewis uses narrative distance to show that Schmaltz actually is kind of an idiot, and the question rises by the end among readers on whether or not he really knew Coolidge at all.

Why did Sinclair Lewis choose President Coolidge? There are several reasons why Cal Coolidge might have been a popular choice. For one, he was a fairly popular President, who really had the "he's one of us" thing going among voters. He was the only President born on the 4th of July, and even in his time there were many popular stories around "Silent" Cal Coolidge, who was known for actually being an exceptional speaker, but very quiet outside of those speeches.

John Calvin Coolidge, Jr., better known as "Silent" Cal Coolidge, was the 30th President of the United States, taking over after Warren Harding's death, and then getting elected for a term based on his own merit.

Coolidge was a Republican lawyer from Vermont, who got his political career going from neighboring Massachusetts. He climbed his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor.

Coolidge had the attention of several politicians due to his speaking abilities (making his nickname of "silent" all the funnier), but the actions he took during the Boston Police Strike of 1919, and his response (which was published in national papers) put him in the national limelight, and he was a surprise pick for Vice President for then Senator Warren G. Harding.

Coolidge was elected President in 1924, and he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative, which made him popular with the masses.

Coolidge was very popular because after the terrible scandals of President Harding, Coolidge restored public confidence in the White House, and left office as one of the more popular Presidents in anyone's memory.

It was as Harding's Vice President, however, that Coolidge would earn his famous nickname. He didn't have many official duties, but Harding invited Coolidge to attend cabinet meetins, making him the first VP who consistently did so.

As Vice President, Coolidge and his wife, Grace, a very social and vivacious woman, were invited to quite a few parties. While Coolidge was a great speaker, he wasn't much on small talk and so would attend parties and barley say a word. Thus "Silent Cal" was born.

The most famous story of this is about a woman at a dinner party who sat next to Coolidge at a dinner and said, "I've made a bet with a gentleman that I could get you to say more than two words."

Coolidge's famous reply was: "You lose."

As President, Coolidge defending his rare words by saying: "The words of a President have an enormous weight, and ought not to be used indiscriminately."

Coolidge was a popular President, who was still alive at a time when the Presidency was still seen as a position of prestige, making him a popular celebrity. In this way, The Man Who Knew Coolidge would be like a fiction writer who wrote a story about hanging out with Michael Jordan or Tom Hanks.