Charles C. McChord was a Kentucky railroad commissioner and judge who during the Wilson administration came to Washington as one of the Interstate Commerce Commissioners. By the 1920’s, McChord was chairman of the Commission. Presidents Harding and Coolidge were interested in getting railroad rates for agricultural products reduced and doing what they could to influence the ICC and McChord, its head.
A 9 by 12 inch photograph of Coolidge, almost surely as President, inscribed and signed “To Honorable &?Mrs. Charles C. McChord, with appreciation for their many acts of friendship.” It is tantalizing to wonder if this small but personalized gift was part of Collidge’s campaign to curry favor wth McChord.