Despite being nicknamed "Silent Cal", many reporters covering the White House found President Calvin Coolidge to be fairly accessible once he took office in 1923 following the death of President Warren G. Harding. During his over five years in office, Coolidge held approximately 520 press conferences, which averaged out to nearly 8 per month. The term "White House spokesman" was used extensively for the first time during the Coolidge administration, as press conference rules mandated that reporters could attribute quotes or statements only to a "White House spokesman" and not directly to the president himself. Former Associated Press editor W. Dale Nelson suggests that this practice was a precursor to the more modern use of "senior administration official" offering statements or quotes not directly attributable to a specific person, which was used frequently by Henry Kissinger during the Nixon administration.