Posted on 12/15/2009 9:48:12 AM PST by Captain Kirk
After writing Race and Liberty in America: The Essential Reader (2009), I’ve bumped into a few articles that come to the same unorthodox conclusions about individuals I profile in my “race reader.” One such “unorthodox” column appeared in the Wall Street Journal on 25 November 2009. In "Not-So-Silent Cal Wrote with Eloquence,” Ryan Cole lauds Coolidge’s Autobiography as an example of his eloquence. Cole concludes that “Barack Obama isn’t the first man of letters in the White House.”
I have been told–but not verified–that Coolidge was the last president to write his own speeches. After reading Coolidge’s writings, published while he was president, I am not surprised in the least. “Silent Cal” could be a man of few words but when he had something to say, he did it like a master; and when delivering speeches, he knew that the audience was as important as the speaker. After all, the Ku Klux Klan was at high tide and he refused their offer to speak and chose instead group forums that represented the very minorities attacked by the Klan!
Race and Liberty in America: The Essential Reader includes two documents by Coolidge. I note that his record was mixed on race (and other issues) from a classical liberal perspective. Most significantly, he signed the immigration restriction act of 1924 which slammed the door shut on virtually all immigration from outside the Western hemisphere.
(Excerpt) Read more at hnn.us ...
“immigration restriction act of 1924 which slammed the door shut on virtually all immigration from outside the Western hemisphere”
Yes, prior to that there was no such thing as an “illegal immigrant” as they are known today. It was not illegal to enter the USA without playing NannyState-May-I. It was only illegal for prostitutes, criminals and other named undesireables to enter the USA.
We should go back to the principles of pre-1924 law. Focus on quality, not quantity.
Silent Cal - I once read a biography of his. One funny incident I recall was someone bet him he could make him say three words. Cal responded with “You lost” ....
Silent Cal - I once read a biography of his. One funny incident I recall was someone bet him he could make him say three words. Cal responded with “You lost” ....
bm
I read that Calvin Coolidge is part Black.
From Crazy Words, Crazy Tune by Irving Arronson & His Commanders
I never have heard it said that Coolidge was part black (not many blacks in Vermont), but the allegation was made of Warren G. Harding. Apparently that started when a neighbor of Harding’s great-great-grandfather started a rumor that that ancestor (Amos Harding) was black—probably nothing to it but Harding himself wasn’t sure.
Civilization and profit go hand in hand. Calvin Coolidge
Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery. Calvin Coolidge
Don’t expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong. Calvin Coolidge
Duty is not collective; it is personal. Calvin Coolidge
Economy is the method by which we prepare today to afford the improvements of tomorrow. Calvin Coolidge
I have found it advisable not to give too much heed to what people say when I am trying to accomplish something of consequence. Invariably they proclaim it can’t be done. I deem that the very best time to make the effort. Calvin Coolidge
If you see ten troubles coming down the road, you can be sure that nine will run into the ditch before they reach you. Calvin Coolidge
Industry, thrift and self-control are not sought because they create wealth, but because they create character. Calvin Coolidge
It is only when men begin to worship that they begin to grow. Calvin Coolidge
Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. It may not be difficult to store up in the mind a vast quantity of face within a comparatively short time, but the ability to form judgments requires the severe discipline of hard work and the tempering heat of experience and maturity. Calvin Coolidge
Little progress can be made by merely attempting to repress what is evil. Our great hope lies in developing what is good. Calvin Coolidge
No enterprise can exist for itself alone. It ministers to some great need, it performs some great service, not for itself, but for others; or failing therein, it ceases to be profitable and ceases to exist. Calvin Coolidge
No man ever listened himself out of a job. Calvin Coolidge
Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration has been minding my own business. Calvin Coolidge
Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshipped. Calvin Coolidge
The business of America is business. Calvin Coolidge
The government of the United States is a device for maintaining in perpetuity the rights of the people, with the ultimate extinction of all privileged classes. Calvin Coolidge
The man who builds a factory builds a temple, that the man who works there worships there, and to each is due, not scorn and blame, but reverence and praise. Calvin Coolidge
The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten. Calvin Coolidge
The right thing to do never requires any subterfuge, it is always simple and direct. Calvin Coolidge
There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no independence quite so important, as living within your means. Calvin Coolidge
They criticize me for harping on the obvious; if all the folks in the United States would do the few simple things they know they ought to do, most of our big problems would take care of themselves. Calvin Coolidge
Those who trust to chance must abide by the results of chance. Calvin Coolidge
To live under the American Constitution is the greatest political privilege that was ever accorded to the human race. Calvin Coolidge
Ultimately property rights and personal rights are the same thing. Calvin Coolidge
It is probable that a press which maintains an intimate touch with the business currents of the nation is likely to be more reliable than it would be if it were a stranger to these influences. After all, the chief business of the American people is business. They are profoundly concerned with buying, selling, investing and prospering in the world. Calvin Coolidge
Thanks for posting this.
President Coolidge might be the most under rated president of all time.
SAVE
Coolidge is my number one.
Why do you think leftist schoolteachers and FDR acolytes perpetuate the image of him as ‘silent cal?’
I like Reagan, but man, Cal took over from Harding, and became more popular the second go round, the only president that acheived this status.
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