To James S. Harlan
Pasadena, March 5, [1921]
MY DEAR JIM,—That was a fine long letter in your old-time style, and I am doing the unprecedented thing of answering it promptly. To this I am prompted by the near-by presence of a very handsome young woman formerly named Wyncoop, now Mays, who knows Mrs. Harlan well, having been much at the Crater Club. … Who would have thought such a thing possible—that here as I lie on a couch in a doctor’s office with a rubber tube in my mouth, I should attract the curiosity of a baby who came to see the “funny tube,” and that she should be followed by a nice-looking, blue-eyed, bright-cheeked girl who says, “I believe I saw you once at Lake Champlain. You know Mrs. Harlan.”
Well now, as George Harvey might say—“One day After!” I want to help in any way I can to make this administration a success. … If Hoover can work with Harding, or the latter with him, all will be well. But I fear the politicians—especially … [those] ambitious for a great political machine. The country will be generous for a time to Harding. … But it will turn against him with anger unbounded if he turns the country over to the men who want office and the men who want privilege and favor. The politicians and the profiteers may be his undoing. I hope not!
… I cannot close without a special word to that most gracious, tender, and charming Lady who is your “sweet-heart.” As I wander and see many, I find no limitation, no reservation, or modification to put to that declaration of admiration and devotion, which I made to Her now some fifteen years ago, nearly. Tell her that this old, sick troubled man thinks nice things about her often. My affectionate regards to you, dear Jim.