CALVIN COOLIDGE, IN AN EXTREMELY RARE PRESIDENTIAL ALS WRITES TO THOMAS COCHRAN, THE MAN WHO HELPED COOLIDGE GET NOMINATED FOR VICE PRESIDENT IN 1920, AND REFERENCES THE ‘CALLES-MORROW AGREEMENT’ WITH MEXICO THAT CEMENTED FOREIGN OIL COMPANY RIGHTS IN MEXICO FOR DECADES TO COME
COOLIDGE, CALVIN. (1872-1933). Thirtieth President of the United States (1923-1929). Extremely-rare Autograph Letter Signed, “Calvin Coolidge”, as President, on imprinted The White House, Washington letterhead. Two very full separate pages, quarto. Washington, D.C., February 10, 1928. To Thomas Cochran, New York City. Fine condition. Coolidge writes:
“My Dear Mr. Cochran,
It is not quite time for voluntaries but I myself forgot the date told and I am thinking of you now. I hope you can find plenty of work to keep you engaged in something you find interesting. Someone told me you were walking. Dr John H Finley of the Times wants you to join his walking club. He wanted to take me in but I could not agree to qualify. I am sure he would like me to propose you for membership. There are no fees I understand, but that would not deter you. There are plenty of other people who can advise you where to spend your money.
Mr. Morrow has done the impossible in Mexico. With kind regards, yours, Calvin Coolidge”.
Thomas Cochran (1871–1936). American college football player and coach, who later became a banker and partner at J.P. Morgan. He helped Coolidge get nominated for Vice President at the 1920 Republican convention, thus setting Coolidge’s path to the White House.
The Calles-Morrow Agreement [referenced in the letter] was brokered on the cusp of Mexican oil expropriation. Mexico and the United States negotiated the settlement over the course of 1927 and 1928, after “a decade of wrangling” between the two countries that followed the creation of the Mexican Constitution of 1917. Succinctly, Calles-Morrow affirmed the legitimacy of oil-land titles obtained, and maintained, by foreign industries prior to the ratification of the 1917 Constitution. [wikipedia]
This is a remarkable letter in that Coolidge, in paying homage to Cochran, adopts a tone and approach of almost a sub-servitude / humble position of their previous social positions, while at the same time affirming the fact that Morrow, acting under Coolidge’s direction as President, has achieved success in securing recognition of oil/property rights in Mexico obtained prior to 1917. This information, Cochran almost certainly used to his, and J.P. Morgan’s financial benefit in the coming months. This letter reveals the ‘power-play’ of the correspondents, and the offices involved, on a level that is rarely, if ever seen. Combine this with the rarity of Coolidge in full ALS’s, as President on White House stationery and the combination proves almost unsurpassable.
$8800.00
