Boston Herald/1923/Who Made Coolidge?

by Frank W. Buxton

Who made Calvin Coolidge?

Margaret Foley, of course. When Levi H. Greenwood was president of the Massachusetts Senate he opposed woman suffrage. She opposed his re-election in his district and prevailed. Senator Coolidge became President Coolidge on Beacon Hill, and the signals were set clear for the road to the Governorship.

Who made Calvin Coolidge?

Edwin U. Curtis, of course. When he was a sick man in that old brick building at the dead end of Pemberton Square, the heedless policemen went out on strike to the refrain of "Hail, Hail, the gang's all here." The sick man showed the strength of the stalwart, until finally Gov. Coolidge sent a telegram to Samuel Gompers that tapped his way into national prominence, and is today a sort of magna charta of the people's rights.

Who made Calvin Coolidge?

James Lucey, the Northampton cobbler, of course. No explanation or argument is necessary here, but merely a reminder. The Herald published a fac-simile a few days ago of President Coolidge's letter to him, which said: "If it were not for you, I should not be here."

Who made Calvin Coolidge?

Frank W. Stearns, of course. With as close an approximation to second sight as we may expect in these days, and with an ability to see around the corner years before Einstein told us how rays of light are bent, this substantial, self-made, self-respecting Boston merchant, with his quiet sense of an obligation which he owed to the discerned qualities which hardly anybody else glimpsed. He left a Governor to go to the Republican convention and came back to pay his respects to a potential Vice-President.

Who made Calvin Coolidge?

Senator Crane, of course. He made him by showing him, in precept and practice, the way of wisdom and by vouching for him in high places where his chance say-so was as good as his oath and bond. He gave him that mixture of personal attachment and respect of which he was none too prodigal, but which was a mighty advantage to the few who had than.

Who made Calvin Coolidge?

The Republican party of Massachusetts, of course, a canny organization, with some Bourbonism, some democracy, some vision, some solid traditions and no end of genuine appreciation of the merits of a trustworthy man. It always lined up behind him solidly, even when he displayed that reticence which to the unknowing was some evidence of ingratitude, and to the knowing was merely Coolidgeism.

Who made Calvin Coolidge?

The people of Massachusetts, of course. They took him at more than his own modest valuation, whether he wanted to be a town officer or a Governor. They had that which thousands call a blind faith in him, and which more thousands called a passionate intuition.

Who made Calvin Coolidge?

His mother, of course, who endowed him with her own attributes; his father, who taught him prudential ways with all the quiet vigor of the old Greeks, who preached moderation in all things; his school and his college; his classmate, Dwight Morrow; his guest of a day or two ago at the White House, William P. Whiting.

Who made Calvin Coolidge?

Calvin Coolidge, of course! From the reflective shoemaker and the furious Miss Foley to the complacent Frank W. Stearns and the watchful and discerning senator from Dalton, came some of the makings, but the man himself always had the essentials of greatness. Give another man those same foes and friends and he might still be as far from the White House as many another son of Vermont.