Former President and Mrs. Coolidge, honored guests at the Vermont Dinner held in Boston, February 1932. Courtesy of the Leslie Jones Collection.

“There are two kinds of biography which fall short of giving their readers the help which should be secured from an acquaintance with great men. Some of them endow their subjects with all virtue and all wisdom. Such characters appear removed from the reach of common people. They may admire and worship, but they do not feel any kinship. They gain only an impression of a superior being dwelling apart from his fellow men. It would seem almost sacrilege to attempt to imitate him or hope to be like him. Others, proceeding in an opposite direction, represent great men as devoid of most good qualities who have reached the positions they hold by being crafty and successful imposters. They are made to appear unworthy of credit or admiration and left to the inference that all greatness is a sham and a pretense. The logical conclusion is meant to be that there are no heroes and nothing is holy. Neither one of such portrayals is in accord with human nature or the truth” — Calvin Coolidge, February 22, 1932 (Read into the Congressional Record, 75: part 4, pp.4453-55)

“The season approaches when, in accordance with a long established and respected custom, a day is set apart to give thanks to Almighty God for the manifold blessings which His gracious and benevolent providence has bestowed upon us as a nation and as individuals.

“We have been brought with safety and honor through another year, and, through the generosity of nature, He has blessed us with resources whose potentiality in wealth is almost incalculable; we are at peace at home and abroad; the public health is good; we have been undisturbed by pestilences or great catastrophes; our harvests and our industries have been rich in productivity; our commerce spreads over the whole world, and Labor has been well rewarded for its remunerative service.

“As we have grown and prospered in material things, so also should we progress in moral and spiritual things. We are a God-fearing people who should set ourselves against evil and strive for righteousness in living, and observing the Golden Rule we should from our abundance help and serve those less fortunately placed. We should bow in gratitude to God for His many favors.

“Now, therefore, I, Calvin Coolidge, President of the United States do hereby set apart Thursday, the twenty-sixth day of November next as a day of general thanksgiving and prayer, and I recommend that on that day the people shall cease from their daily work, and in their homes or in their accustomed places of worship, devoutly give thanks to the Almighty for the many and great blessings they have received, and to seek His guidance that they may deserve a continuance of His favor.

“In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

“Done at the City of Washington this 26th day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and fiftieth.”

By the President:

      Frank B. Kellogg, Secretary of State

Horace Green’s fast-paced and even incisive perspective on Mr. Coolidge has a welcome review over at The Best Presidential Biographies. Though, as our friend notes, the book was written early in the Coolidge administration, before it had been properly tested, Green’s take lacks neither the incoherence nor the datedness that sometimes accompanies old biographies. It lacks none of the clarity or snap of any good writer’s work. It is unfortunate that the book is so difficult to find because it deserves a far better place in public consciousness not only as an honorable part of understanding Coolidge but also as good reading. It is unfortunate that Mr. Green never went back and expanded on this work after the completion of the Coolidge Era. Check out our friend’s review here.