The Coolidge wit has given rise to a term in biology, “the Coolidge Effect.” According to a story—probably apocryphal—Coolidge and his wife were touring a farm when Mrs. Coolidge was told that a rooster mated several times a day. “Be sure to tell that to the president” she said. Coolidge then asked whether the rooster mated with the same hen every time, and was told no, it was a different hen each time. “Tell that,” he said, “to Mrs. Coolidge.” The Coolidge Effect describes the tendency of male animals to he aroused by new females.
Attorney General Harry Daugherty, a Harding crony, raised questions about whether a state official could administer the oath, and so Coolidge would repeat the ceremony two weeks later with a federal judge in Washington. The vice president by law need not take any oath to succeed to the office. He becomes president automatically when the president dies.