On the 10 Reasons Why Coolidge and Dawes Should Have Your Support card used in Coolidge and Dawes' 1924 Election campaign, seven of the ten reasons for supporting Coolidge for President speak directly of how his character that had and would directly affect his performance in public office.
"One - The standard bearers of the Republican party are first of all typical Americans. One (Coolidge) came from a farm in Vermont,....Both represent the best in American tradition and training.
Two - Both have spiritual qualities which fit them for leadership. By the light of a flickering oil lamp on his father's farm in Vermont, Calvin Coolidge's first statement as President to the American people was: 'I have faith that God will direct the destinies of our nation.
Three - These two men are simple and direct. There is a common bond between the man (Coolidge) who wrote to the cobbler at Northampton 'I want you to know that if it were not for you, I should not be here,....
Four - Calvin Coolidge took his place on the Republican ticket for Vice President in 1920, a nationally recognized progressive. (underlining is mine) Both Coolidge and Dawes stand for sound progress. They stand for simplicity, the absence of red tape and quick, forward-looking action.
Five - A high type of courage is required of men who serve as President and Vice President of the United States. Courage has marked every step in the lives of Coolidge and Dawes. Particularly did Coolidge prove this when he made and upheld the great issue of law and order during the police strike in Boston.
Six - Both men are essentially human. Of Coolidge it has been said: 'He personifies the plain, simple virtues of our citizens at their best. He is close to the American People because he is so much one of them.
Seven - Both are men of decision. They have demonstrated this in the effective way in which they have served the nation and their communities...(follows is a list of Coolidge's Offices) ...he has won widespread admiration for the fearless, honest way in which he has stood for the best interests of the people."1
As the reader of this article on Coolidge can easily see, I have very positive feelings about Coolidge the man, and the public servant. But thanks to William Allen White's book I grew up believing in a far different Coolidge stereotype.
It was not until the John F. Kennedy Library, in cooperation with The Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation sponsored a conference on July 30-31, 1998 (on the 75th Anniversary of the beginning of Calvin Coolidge's Presidency) entitled "Calvin Coolidge: Examining the Evidence" that the stereotype of Coolidge which follows, changed.
"For more than half a century, at nearly all levels of American historical scholarship and education, Calvin Coolidge has been characterized as a complacent, lazy and humorless man and an extreme reactionary-hostile to government and progressive legislation, oblivious to the needs of working Americans and devoted only to the material wealth of the nation and the interests of business."2
The conference revisited the evidence on this stereotype and a whole new image of Calvin Coolidge emerged.
I attended the celebration in Northampton and in Plymouth Notch at which various participants in the conference gave summary reports on the real Calvin Coolidge - not the one portrayed by William Allen White!
The video and other recordings of the talks given at this conference are available at Forbes Library in the Archives Room attached to the Museum.
The Calvin Coolidge described in my article is the real Calvin Coolidge that an honest and thorough examination of eyewitnesses and written records indicate.
Endnotes
1. 10 Reasons Why Coolidge and Dawes Should Have Your Support, paragraphs 1-7.
2. "Calvin Coolidge: Examining the Evidence", John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, July 30 to 31, 1998, News Release, copy from The Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum, Forbes Library, Northampton, Massachusetts.