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MacCarthy

Coolidge

Springfield Union

$32

The President never told MacCarthy the intruder's name. As the 25th anniversary of the event approached, 15 years after Coolidge's death, MacCarthy, by then working for the Springfield Union, asked Mrs. Coolidge to let him use the story. She declined, saying, "There is already too much publicity given to acts of violence." MacCarthy honored her request, asking only that she review the story for accuracy and allow him to use if after her death. Mrs. Coolidge died July 8, 1957, and MacCarthy died less than four months later without publishing his article. MacCarthy had shared the story with me when we worked together. Because all reasons for keeping the secret have disappeared, this report has been reconstructed from MacCarthy's own article. I have called the young man a burglar because MacCarthy's article so identifies him, but his notes show that Coolidge said the young man repaid the $32 loan in full.