They called him Silent Cal because, as the papers report, President Coolidge did not trouble the nation with speeches, requests, or constitutional niceties. He simply kept quiet, rebuilt the White House roof and attic, and — behold — a Third Floor appeared above the Executive Mansion.
No appropriation. No approval. No Congress. No fuss. Just a silent executive hand, a little scaffolding, and an entirely new level of presidential living space.
Washington society is said to be stunned. If this be conservatism, it is a bold new school indeed: say nothing, ask nothing, build everything, and let the legislature discover it when the hammering stops.
Hence the new title: Silent Cal — not because he was a man of few words, but because he allegedly created a whole floor in perfect silence while Congress stood by like decorative furniture.
April Fools. Congress actually appropriated $375,000 in 1926 for “reconstructing the roof, attic, and ceilings of the second story of the Executive Mansion,” and the 1927 work produced the Third Floor, including the Solarium. Even Silent Cal did not just ignore Congress and freestyle an expansion of the White House. Trump is a jackass and so are his supporters for never following the constitution