# President's son who died of an infected blister? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 28, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-son-who-died-of-an-infected-blister/405823 "2007-05-28T21:45:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-son-who-died-of-an-infected-blister/405823/1 "2007-05-28T21:45:08Z")
I could have sworn I read somewhere that one of the presidents had a son who died of an infected blister, from playing tennis without socks, in the days before anti-biotics. Am I going nuts, or did this happen? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2007, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-son-who-died-of-an-infected-blister/405823/2 "2007-05-28T21:49:31Z")
Calvin Coolidge’s son, Calvin Jr, died of an infected blister in 1924. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2007, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-son-who-died-of-an-infected-blister/405823/3 "2007-05-28T22:03:03Z")
I thought it was him! Wiki didn’t mention it in Coolidge’s entry, which I found odd. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2007, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-son-who-died-of-an-infected-blister/405823/4 "2007-05-28T22:24:57Z")
I wanna go on, like a blister on the son! Sorry, I just couldn’t help but think of that when I read the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2007, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-son-who-died-of-an-infected-blister/405823/5 "2007-05-28T22:29:35Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] I thought it was him! Wiki didn’t mention it in Coolidge’s entry, which I found odd. [/QUOTE] A Wiki entry which didn’t give all the basics? OMG! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2007, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-son-who-died-of-an-infected-blister/405823/6 "2007-05-28T22:38:42Z")
Don’t complain about it, \*edit \* it! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2007, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-son-who-died-of-an-infected-blister/405823/7 "2007-05-28T23:37:44Z")
Yeah, I know, it’s Wiki. I just thought then I was going crazy, and maybe I remembered the wrong person. :o ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2007, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-son-who-died-of-an-infected-blister/405823/8 "2007-05-28T23:49:22Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] I thought it was him! Wiki didn’t mention it in Coolidge’s entry, which I found odd. [/QUOTE] From [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_Coolidge): > [@](#): > > Shortly after the conventions, Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge’s younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2007, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-son-who-died-of-an-infected-blister/405823/9 "2007-05-28T23:53:52Z")
From [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/poison/coolidge.asp) (Coolidge’s sone did not die from poisonous dye in his socks): … Well, never mind. It won’t let me copy the text. But the link says that Calvin Jr died from blood poisoning after getting a blister on one of his toes as a result of not wearing socks while playing tennis. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-son-who-died-of-an-infected-blister/405823/10 "2007-05-29T00:01:50Z")
In deference to the “no politics in GQ” rule my post is [here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=422639) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-son-who-died-of-an-infected-blister/405823/11 "2007-05-29T02:31:30Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Yeah, I know, it’s Wiki. I just thought then I was going crazy, and maybe I remembered the wrong person. :o [/QUOTE] Just don’t assume that “being right” and “going crazy” are mutually exclusive. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidents-son-who-died-of-an-infected-blister/405823/12 "2007-05-29T04:24:28Z")
When I read **Johnny L.A.**'s posting about not being able to post from Snopes, I just had to head over there: > **[Was Calvin Coolidge's Son Killed by His Socks?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/too-young-to-dye/)** > > Did President Calvin Coolidge's son die from blood poisoning caused by the dye in his black socks? > [@](#): > > On 30 June 1924, Coolidge’s two sons, John and Calvin Jr., set out to play tennis on the White House tennis court. 16-year-old Calvin Jr., in a hurry to get out on the court, donned tennis shoes but no socks. Young Calvin’s sockless exertions raised a blister on one of his toes, which soon became infected. The modern antibiotics that would quickly clear up such an infection today did not exist in 1924, and by the time White House physicians were summoned to treat Calvin Jr., it was too late - he died of pathogenic blood poisoning a week later. President Coolidge blamed himself for his son’s death, and many have claimed that it plunged him into a depression from which he never recovered. That’s the story that Snopes _tried_ to suppress. You _can’t_ hide the truth from the SDMB.