A phrase that altered history: "I do not choose to run..."

August 8, 2015 | Self

[re_nortex]

It was 88 years ago this month that President Calvin Coolidge handed out strips of paper (that he cut himself) to members of the press during a brief conference with these words:

I do not choose to run for President in 1928.

This stunning event took place at the Summer White House in the Black Hills of South Dakota on August 2, 1927. The implications of Coolidge not actively seeking the Republican presidential nomination for 1928 reverberate to this day. While the terse phrasing appeared to leave the door open for a draft movement, the result was that Herbert Hoover became the standard-bearer for the party in the election against New York DemonRAT Al Smith in the general.

There's no doubt in my mind that this was THE critical turning point for the Republic in the 20th Century. Hoover was, at best, a RINO and had resonance with the Republican Progressive wing (Hiram Johnson, George Norris and even the extremist Robert ``Fighting Bob'' La Follette). It's no secret that Coolidge held Hoover in low regard, sarcastically calling him "Wonder Boy" and stating, "That man has offered me unsolicited advice every day for six years, all of it bad."

With Hoover winning the party's nod at the 1928 Convention in Kansas City, the stage was then set for the end of "Coolidge Prosperity" era, a period of domestic tranquility, world peace though strength and a series of tax cuts at home. The economy boomed with solid, substantial growth during the Coolidge years with the inspired guidance of Andrew Mellon, the Secretary of the Treasury. Both leaders took a hands off approach when it came to the economy. The results through the 1920s are self-evident and President Coolidge summed it succinctly when he stated, "After all, the chief business of the American people is business. They are profoundly concerned with producing, buying, selling, investing and prospering in the world."

In my opinion, had John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. not penned those words, he would have swept to a landslide victory against in 1928 and secured American prosperity and strength for generations to come. Instead, proto-RINO Hoover was elected and the meddling of "Wonder Boy" ultimately led to the Great Depression and year after year of disastrous 'RAT rule.

[re_nortex]

Calvin Coolidge was admired by President Ronald Reagan to the extent that he removed the picture of 'RAT Harry Truman in the Cabinet Room and replaced it with that of Coolidge.

Although I'm neither Harry Turtledove nor Nostradamus, had Coolidge served that term in 1928, here's what I think would have been different:

1). The Great Depression would not have happened because the years of "Coolidge Prosperity" would have been extended.
2). Franklin Roosevelt would have never emerged from obscurity. Likewise the author of his communist social programs, Frances Perkins, would have been relegated to the dustbin of history.
3). All of the socialism originating from the FDR/Perkins cabal would never exist: Social Security, Medicare, the minimum wage, the New Deal, the Great Society, affirmative action and so on.
4). While global circumstances probably would have made WWII inevitable, the leadership put in place under Coolidge-inspired successors would lead to a quick Allied victory, free from the waffling and dithering of FDR.
5). Communism would have been stopped dead in its tracks by the 1940s. There never would be a Berlin Wall and Cuba would be a staunch ally not an enemy.
6). Barack Hussein Obama? Who?

[Fiddlstix]

[GeronL]

Another term might have delayed everything another generation, but the left never stops, they eat, breathe and dream power.

[Longbow1969]

Hey interesting stuff. Thank you for posting

This is a part of history I don’t know much about. Will have to add to my reading list.

[TangibleDisgust]

i wish kids were taught today in school just how compromised FDR’s government was by communist spies and agents. quite a lot of people FDR surround himself with, took advice from, and appointed to bureaucratic posts were out-and-out communists. many on the payroll of the USSR. we’ve still never recovered from that malicious treason. those communists poisoned the governmental and diplomatic waters for generations.

it’s an insult to all those who died for the cause of freedom from communist tyranny that FDR has a monument to his memory now in Washington DC.

[SunkenCiv]

This stunning event took place at the Summer White House in the Black Hills of South Dakota on August 2, 1927.

Well, he'd managed to finish hiding that huge Olmec treasure under Mt Rushmore...

[Arthur McGowan]

Coolidge died of a massive heart attack in January of 1933, two months before the end of Hoover’s term. If Coolidge had been President, he probably would have died even sooner.

Would Charles G. Dawes have continued Coolidge’s policies?

[TangibleDisgust]

Thatcher called it “rachet socialism”. they never stop and whenever they have power, they give the rachet a couple of pulls. when they are out of power, their opponents (i.e. the stupid party) NEVER turns the rachet any pulls backwards, so it becomes inevitable that the left will eventually get everything they want. ugh.

[re_nortex]

Another term might have delayed everything another generation, but the left never stops, they eat, breathe and dream power.

I strongly disagree. By the time Harding and, later, Coolidge rose to power, the 'RAT party had been thoroughly discredited under the bankrupt "leadership" of Woodrow Wilson (and his colleague, the despicable William Jennings Bryan). The DemonKKKrats were headed to the fate of the Whigs, at best a rump party.

In fact, I'll go so far as to say that the two remaining political parties would have both been Conservative, perhaps a northern-based GOP and a Southern/midwestern coalition Republican brand. In such a scenario, which I consider plausible, liberalism would have withered and died in these United States.

[Calvin Locke]

I do not choose to run for President in 1928.

In leaving the field wide open, the pubbie governor of MA decided to show his tough side on crime in hopes of winning the GOP nod, and decided not to commute the death sentences of Sacco and Vanzetti (executed on 8-27-1927).

[re_nortex]

This is a part of history I don’t know much about. Will have to add to my reading list.

To start things off, I recommend reading "A Puritan in Babylon" by William Allen White. It has a breezy, approachable style and can easily be digested in a couple of nights. I must raise the caveat that White, although a Republican and friendly to Coolidge, paints a distorted picture of the man and ultimately pins the blame on both Mellon and President Coolidge for the Great Depression. Of course, history shows that is totally wrong.

A book with more substantial meat and free from bias is "Coolidge: An American Enigma" by Robert Sobel. It's a tad bit ponderous in terms of presentation than White's effort but is far more revealing of the truth about this truly great president.

---

Additional ping to the best and brightest of FReepers when it comes to history: nathanbedford and lentulusgracchus. They may have additional recommendations.

[tenthirteen]

President Coolidge was a notorious spendthrift. He absolutely hated spending any money; either ours in taxes or any of his own. He was also known as Silent Cal, never saying much of anything anywhere at anytime if he could help it. Famously a woman had come up to him and stated that she bet her friend that she could get him to say more than two words to her. His answer? “You lose”.

[Longbow1969]

Thank you very much.

The former book by White doesn’t appear to be available on Kindle, so I’d have to wait on it.

The latter by Sobel I can download now. It will have to wait behind a couple other books I am reading, but I’ve a long flight ahead of me in a few weeks which might be a good time to dig into it.

It really is an era of history I am fairly ignorant about. I appreciate your suggestions and bringing this topic up.

[re_nortex]

Coolidge died of a massive heart attack in January of 1933, two months before the end of Hoover’s term. If Coolidge had been President, he probably would have died even sooner.

My belief is that President Coolidge, who was a high-strung individual in spite of his "cool" demeanor, was shaken by the direction of the country by then. He saw the stage for its downfall under "Wonder Boy" Hoover and then ultimately driven off the cliff by the victory of the FDR criminal gang in 1932. Unfortunately, President Coolidge never took his health seriously, snacking a lot and the death of his son contributed to his stress.

That said, the continuation of "Coolidge Prosperity" under his watch in 1928 would have given the Republic strength and I think would have fortified the man.

[KC_Lion]

Ping!

[sparklite2]

One wag remarked that Coolidge looked like he had been weaned on a pickle. LOL

As for Harding, the book to read is Shadow of Blooming Grove, a book so controversial that the Harding family of today got passages of the book suppressed. Nan Brittan’s book, the President’s Daughter, was heavily suppressed at the time, too.

Tea Pot Dome was the scandal Harding is best remembered for, although he likely knew nothing about it at the time. His personal life, however, has to be read to be believed.

[re_nortex]

President Coolidge was a notorious spendthrift. He absolutely hated spending any money; either ours in taxes or any of his own.

Although he was lovingly generous with his wife, Grace, the finest First Lady of the 20th Century until Nancy Reagan, your point stands. Even when occupying lowly political positions in Northampton, MA, with equally modest pay, he was able to save a little bit every year. He hated debt. His personal fiscal Conservatism was applied to the country as a whole with the remarkable years of true prosperity and a balanced budget. He also had the benefit of trusted adviser Andrew W. Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury.

Yankee has now become a pejorative term especially for those of us fond of Dixie but there was a time when "Yankee Conservatism" was not an oxymoron. The irony that Vermonter Calvin Coolidge is buried in the state that has given hussein stunning majorities in both 2008 (67.8%) and 2012 (67.0%) is noteworthy. And adding further to the ironies of history is that an out-and-out declared Socialist, Barnie Sanders, is senator from Coolidge's beloved home state.

[re_nortex]

It's hard to fathom nowadays, but there was a time when Massachusetts was a leading state when it came to Conservatism, in spite of being the home to Harvard and other leftist institutions. Calvin Coolidge's term as governor was marked by his impressive handling of the 1919 police strike which put him in the national spotlight. In what seems particularly ironic in the year 2015, his widely published speech, "Have Faith in Massachusetts" was quite possibly the precursor to his rise to the VP slot and eventually the presidency.

And to top it off, the town where he climbed the political ladder (losing only one election in his entire career), Northampton is now a haven for the sodomite cult. Once the home of Calvin Coolidge, it's now where Rachel Madcow dons her mannish attire.

[brothers4thID]

Bookmarking for later. Thank you for the educational post.

[Demiurge2]

IMHO, the depression of 1929 would have happened anyway, but would have been handled much better, as was the sharp but short recession of 1920-21.