most conspicuous were Major General Leonard Wood and Governor Frank O.
Lowden. Senator Hiram Johnson had considerable support, and in a more
modest way Senator Warren G. Harding was in the field. In addition to
these, several of the states had favorite sons. It soon began to be
reported that very large sums of money were being used in the primaries.
When I came to give the matter serious attention, and comprehended more
fully what would be involved in a contest of this kind, I realized that
I was not in a position to become engaged in it. I was Governor of
Massachusetts, and my first duty was to that office. It would not be
possible for me, with the legislature in session, to be going about the
country actively participating in an effort to secure delegates, and I
was totally unwilling to have a large sum of money raised and spent in
my behalf.
I soon became convinced also that I was in danger of creating a
situation in which some people in Massachusetts could permit it to be
reported in the press that they were for me when they were not at heart
for me and would give me little support in the convention. It would,
however, prevent their having to make a public choice as between other
candidates and would help them in getting elected as delegates. There
was nothing unusual in this situation. It was simply a condition that
always has to be met in politics. Of course the strategy of the other
candidates was to prevent me from having a solid Massachusetts
delegation. Moreover, I did not wish to use the office of Governor in an
attempt to prosecute a campaign for nomination for some other office. I
therefore made a public statement announcing that I was unwilling to
appear as a candidate and would not enter my name in any contest at the
primaries. This left me in a position where I ran no risk of
embarrassing the great office of Governor of Massachusetts. That was my
answer to the situation.
Nevertheless a considerable activity was kept up in my behalf, and some
money expended, mostly in circulating a book of my speeches. In the
Massachusetts primaries six or seven delegates were chosen who were for
General Wood, and while the rest were nominally for me several of them
were really more favorable to some other candidate, partly because they
supposed a Massachusetts man could never be nominated, and if the choice
was going outside the state, they had strong preferences as between the
other possibilities.
At a state convention in South Dakota held very early to express a
preference for national candidates I had been declared their choice for
Vice-President. Some people in Oregon desired to accord me a like honor.
As I did not wish my name to appear in any contest and did not care to
be Vice-President I declined to be considered for that office. In my
native state of Vermont it was proposed to enter my name in the primary
as candidate for President, which I could not permit. Nevertheless it
was written on the ballot by many of the voters at the polls.
When the Republican National Convention met at Chicago, Senator Lodge,
who was elected its chairman, had indicated that he did not wish to
present my name, so it was arranged that Speaker Gillett should make the
nominating speech. Massachusetts had thirty-five delegates. On the
first ballot I received twenty-eight of their votes and six others from
scattering states, making my total thirty-four. As the balloting
proceeded a considerable number of the Massachusetts delegates, feeling
I had no chance, voted for other candidates, but a majority remained
with me until the final ballot when all but one went elsewhere, and
Senator Warren G. Harding was nominated. My friends in the convention
did all they could for me, and several states were at times ready to
come to me if the entire Massachusetts delegation would lead the way,
but some of them refused to vote for me, so the support of other states
could not be secured.
While I do not think it was so intended I have always been of the
opinion that this turned out to be much the best for me. I had no
national experience. What I have ever been able to do has been the
result of first learning how to do it. I am not gifted with intuition. I
need not only hard work but experience to be ready to solve problems.
The Presidents who have gone to Washington without first having held
some national office have been at great disadvantage. It takes them a
long time to become acquainted with the Federal officeholders and the
Federal Government. Meanwhile they have had difficulty in dealing with
the situation.
The convention of 1920 was largely under the domination of a coterie of
United States Senators. They maneuvered it into adopting a platform and
nominating a President in ways that were not satisfactory to a majority
of the delegates. When the same forces undertook for a third time to
dictate the action of the convention in naming a Vice-President, the
delegates broke away from them and literally stampeded to me.
Massachusetts did not present my name, because my friends knew I did not
wish to be Vice-President, but Judge Wallace McCamant of Oregon placed
me in nomination and was quickly seconded by North Dakota and some other
states. I received about three-quarters of all the votes cast. When this
honor came to me I was pleased to accept, and it was especially
agreeable to be associated with Senator Harding, whom I knew well and
liked.
When our campaign opened, the situation was complex. Many Republicans
did not like the somewhat uncertain tone of the platform concerning the
League of Nations. Though it was generally conceded that the
bitter-enders had dictated the platform there were some who felt it was
not explicit enough in denouncing the League with all its works and
everything foreign, and a much larger body of Republicans were much
disappointed that it did not declare in favor of ratifying the treaty
with reservations.
The Massachusetts Republican State Convention in the fall of 1919 had
adopted a plank favoring immediate ratification with suitable
reservations which would safeguard American interests. While later the
treaty had been rejected by the Senate it was still necessary to make a
formal agreement of peace with the Central Powers, and for that purpose
some treaty would be necessary. Many Republicans favored our entry into
the League as a method of closing up the war period and helping
stabilize world conditions. Senator Crane had taken that position in
Massachusetts and repeated it again at Chicago.
Since that time the situation has changed. The war period has closed
and a separate treaty has been made and ratified. The more I have seen
of the conduct of our foreign relations the more I am convinced that we
are better off out of the League. Our government is not organized in a
way that would enable us adequately to deal with it. Nominally our
foreign affairs are in the hands of the President. Actually the Senate
is always attempting to interfere, too often in a partisan way and many
times in opposition to the President. Our country is not racially
homogeneous. While the several nationalities represented here are loyal
to the United States, yet when differences arise between European
countries, each group is naturally in sympathy with the nation of its
origin. Our actions in the League would constantly be embarrassed by
this situation at home. The votes of our delegates there would all the
time disturb our domestic tranquillity here. We have come to realize
this situation very completely now, but in 1920 it was not so clear.
At that time we were close to the war. Our sympathies were very much
with our allies and a great body of sentiment in our country, which may
be called the missionary spirit, was strongly in favor of helping
Europe. To them the League meant an instrument for that end. That was a
praiseworthy spirit and had to be reckoned with in dealing with the
people in a political campaign. This sentiment was very marked in the
East where it had a strong hold on a very substantial element of the
Republican party.
While I was taking a short vacation in Vermont several thousand people
came to my father’s home to greet me. I spent most of my time, however,
in preparing my speech of acceptance. The notification ceremonies were
held on a pleasant afternoon in midsummer at Northampton in Allen Field,
which was part of the college grounds, and its former President, the
venerable Dr. L. Clark Seelye, presided. The chairman of the
notification committee was Governor Morrow of Kentucky. A great throng
representing many different states was in attendance to hear my address.
I was careful to reassure those who feared we were not proposing to
continue our cooperation with Europe in attempting to solve the war
problems in a way that would provide for a permanent peace of the
world.
Not being the head of the ticket, of course, it was not my place to
raise issues or create policies, but I had the privilege of discussing
those already declared in the platform or stated in the addresses of
Senator Harding. This I undertook to do in a speech I made at Portland,
Maine, where I again pointed out the wish of our party to have our
country associated with other countries in advancing human welfare.
Later in the campaign I reiterated this position at New York.
This was not intended as a subterfuge to win votes, but as a candid
statement of party principles. It was later to be put into practical
effect by President Harding, in the important treaty dealing with our
international relations in the Pacific Ocean, in the agreement for the
limitation of naval armaments, in the proposal to enter the World Court,
and finally by me in the World Peace Treaty. All that I said and more in
justification of support of the Republican ticket by those interested in
promoting peace, without committing our country to interfere where we
had little interest, has been abundantly borne out by the events.
Shortly before election I made a tour of eight days, going from
Philadelphia by special train west to Tennessee and Kentucky and south
as far as North Carolina. We had a most encouraging reception on this
trip, speaking out-of-doors, mostly from the rear platform during the
day, with an indoor meeting at night. During the campaign I spoke in
about a dozen states.
The country was already feeling acutely the results of deflation.
Business was depressed. For months following the Armistice we had
persisted in a course of much extravagance and reckless buying. Wages
had been paid that were not earned. The whole country, from the national
government down, had been living on borrowed money. Pay day had come,
and it was found our capital had been much impaired. In an address at
Philadelphia I contended that the only sure method of relieving this
distress was for the country to follow the advice of Benjamin Franklin
and begin to work and save. Our productive capacity is sufficient to
maintain us all in a state of prosperity if we give sufficient attention
to thrift and industry. Within a year the country had adopted that
course, which has brought an era of great plenty.
When the election came it appeared that we had held practically the
entire Republican vote and had gained enormously from all those groups
who have been in this country so short a time that they still retain a
marked race consciousness. Many of them had left Europe to escape from
the prevailing conditions there. While they were loyal to the United
States they did not wish to become involved in any old world disputes,
were greatly relieved that the war was finished, and generally opposed
to the League of Nations. Such a combination gave us an overwhelming
victory.
After election it was necessary for me to attend a good many
celebrations. My home town of Northampton had a large mass meeting at
which several speeches were made. In Boston a series of dinners and
lunches were given in my honor. Shortly before Christmas Mrs. Coolidge
and I paid a brief visit to Mr. and Mrs. Harding at their home in
Marion, Ohio. They received us in the most gracious manner. It was no
secret to us why their friends had so much affection for them.
We discussed at length the plans for his administration. The members of
his Cabinet were considered and he renewed the invitation to me, already
publicly expressed, to sit with them. The policies he wished to adopt
for restoring the prosperity of the country by reducing taxes and
revising the tariff were referred to more casually. He was sincerely
devoted to the public welfare and desirous of improving the condition of
the people.
When at last another Governor was inaugurated to take my place and the
guns on Boston Common were giving him their first salute, Mrs. Coolidge
and I were leaving for home from the North Station on the afternoon
train which I had used so much before I was Governor. It had only day
coaches and no parlor car, but we were accustomed to travel that way and
only anxious to go home. For nine years I had been in public life in
Boston.
* * * * *
During the winter I made an address before the Vermont Historical
Society at Montpelier and spoke later at the Town Hall in New York for a
group of ladies who were restoring the birthplace of Theodore
Roosevelt.
After a brief stay at Northampton, Mrs. Coolidge and I went to Atlanta
where I spoke before the Southern Tariff Association. A great deal of
hospitality was lavished upon us by the state officials and the people
in the city. In a few days we went to Asheville, North Carolina, where
we remained about two weeks. The Grove Park Inn entertained us with
everything that could be wished, and the region was delightful.
When the Massachusetts electors met, Judge Henry P. Field of the firm
where I read law, who had moved my admission to the Bar, now had the
experience of nominating me for Vice-President. Twenty-four years had
intervened between these two services which he performed for me.
The time soon came for us to go to Washington. A large crowd of our
friends was at the station to bid us goodbye although the hour was very
early. We went a few days before March 4 in order to have a little time
to get settled. The Vice-President and Mrs. Marshall met us and gave us
every attention and courtesy. When Mr. and Mrs. Harding arrived, we went
to the station to meet them and they took us back with them to the New
Willard--where we too were staying--in the White House car President
Wilson sent for them.
About ten-thirty the next morning a committee of the Congress came to
escort us to the White House where the President and Mrs. Wilson joined
us and we went to the Capitol. Soon President Wilson sent for me and
said his health was such it would not be wise for him to remain for the
inauguration and bade me goodbye. I never saw him again except at a
distance, but he sent me a most sympathetic letter when I became
President. Such was the passing of a great world figure.
As I had already taken a leading part in seven inaugurations and
witnessed four others in Massachusetts, the experience was not new to
me, but I was struck by the lack of order and formality that prevailed.
A part of the ceremony takes place in the Senate Chamber and a part on
the east portico, which destroys all semblance of unity and continuity.
I was sworn in before the Senate and made a very brief address dwelling
on the great value of a deliberative body as a safeguard of our
liberties.
It was a clear but crisp spring day out-of-doors where the oath was
administered to the President by Chief Justice White. The inaugural
address was able and well received. President Harding had an impressive
delivery, which never failed to interest and hold his audience. I was to
hear him many times in the next two years, but whether on formal
occasions or in the freedom of Gridiron dinners, his charm and
effectiveness never failed.
When the inauguration was over I realized that the same thing for which
I had worked in Massachusetts had been accomplished in the nation. The
radicalism which had tinged our whole political and economic life from
soon after 1900 to the World War period was passed. There were still
echoes of it, and some of its votaries remained, but its power was gone.
The country had little interest in mere destructive criticism. It wanted
the progress that alone comes from constructive policies.
It had been our intention to take a house in Washington, but we found
none to our liking. They were too small or too large. It was necessary
for me to live within my income, which was little more than my salary
and was charged with the cost of sending my boys to school. We therefore
took two bedrooms with a dining room, and large reception room at the
New Willard where we had every convenience.
It is difficult to conceive a person finding himself in a situation
which calls on him to maintain a position he cannot pay for. Any other
course for me would have been cut short by the barnyard philosophy of my
father, who would have contemptuously referred to such action as the
senseless imitation of a fowl which was attempting to light higher than
it could roost. There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no
independence quite so important, as living within your means. In our
country a small income is usually less embarrassing than the possession
of a large one.
But my experience has convinced me that an official residence with
suitable maintenance should be provided for the Vice-President. Under
the present system he is not lacking in dignity but he has no fixed
position. The great office should have a settled and permanent
habitation and a place, irrespective of the financial ability of its
temporary occupant. While I was glad to be relieved of the
responsibility of a public establishment, nevertheless, it is a duty the
second officer of the nation should assume. It would be much more in
harmony with our theory of equality if each Vice-President held the same
position in the Capital City.
Very much is said and written concerning the amount of dining out that
the Vice-President does. As the President is not available for social
dinners of course the next officer in rank is much sought after for such
occasions. But like everything else that is sent out of Washington for
public consumption the reports are exaggerated. Probably the average of
these dinners during the season does not exceed three a week, and as the
Senate is in session after twelve o’clock each week day, there is no
opportunity for lunches or teas.
When we first went to Washington Mrs. Coolidge and I quite enjoyed the
social dinners. As we were always the ranking guests we had the
privilege of arriving last and leaving first, so that we were usually
home by ten o’clock. It will be seen that this was far from burdensome.
We found it a most enjoyable opportunity for getting acquainted and
could scarcely comprehend how anyone who had the privilege of sitting at
a table surrounded by representatives of the Cabinet, the Congress, the
Diplomatic Corps and the Army and Navy would not find it interesting.
Presiding over the Senate was fascinating to me. That branch of the
Congress has its own methods and traditions which may strike the
outsider as peculiar, but more familiarity with them would disclose that
they are only what long experience has demonstrated to be the best
methods of conducting its business. It may seem that debate is endless,
but there is scarcely a time when it is not informing, and, after all,
the power to compel due consideration is the distinguishing mark of a
deliberative body. If the Senate is anything it is a great deliberative
body and if it is to remain a safeguard of liberty it must remain a
deliberative body. I was entertained and instructed by the debates.
However it may appear in the country, no one can become familiar with
the inside workings of the Senate without gaining a great respect for
it. The country is safe in its hands.
At first I intended to become a student of the Senate rules and I did
learn much about them, but I soon found that the Senate had but one
fixed rule, subject to exceptions of course, which was to the effect
that the Senate would do anything it wanted to do whenever it wanted to
do it. When I had learned that, I did not waste much time on the other
rules, because they were so seldom applied. The assistant to the
Secretary of the Senate could be relied on to keep me informed on other
parliamentary questions. But the President of the Senate can and does
exercise a good deal of influence over its deliberations. The
Constitution gives him the power to preside, which is the power to
recognize whom he will. That often means that he decides what business
is to be taken up and who is to have the floor for debate at any
specific time.
Nor is the impression that it is a dilatory body never arriving at
decisions correct. In addition to acting on the thousands of
nominations, and the numerous treaties, it passes much more legislation
than the House. But it is true that unanimous consent is often required
to close debate, and because of the great power each Senator is
therefore permitted to exercise--which is often a veto power, making one
Senator a majority of the ninety-six Senators--great care should be
exercised by the states in their choice of Senators. Nothing is more
dangerous to good government than great power in improper hands. If the
Senate has any weakness it is because the people have sent to that body
men lacking the necessary ability and character to perform the proper
functions. But this is not the fault of the Senate. It cannot choose its
own members but has to work with what is sent to it. The fault lies back
in the citizenship of the states. If the Senate does not function
properly the blame is chiefly on them.
If the Vice-President is a man of discretion and character, so that he
can be relied upon to act as a subordinate in such position, he should
be invited to sit with the Cabinet, although some of the Senators,
wishing to be the only advisers of the President, do not look on that
proposal with favor. He may not help much in its deliberations, and only
on rare occasions would he be a useful contact with the Congress,
although his advice on the sentiment of the Senate is of much value,
but he should be in the Cabinet because he might become President and
ought to be informed on the policies of the administration. He will not
learn of all of them. Much went on in the departments under President
Harding, as it did under me, of which the Cabinet had no knowledge. But
he will hear much and learn how to find out more if it ever becomes
necessary. My experience in the Cabinet was of supreme value to me when
I became President.
It was my intention when I became Vice-President to remain in
Washington, avoid speaking and attend to the work of my office. But the
pressure to speak is constant and intolerable. However, I resisted most
of it. I was honored by the President by his request to make the
dedicatory address at the unveiling of a bust of him in the McKinley
Memorial at Niles, Ohio. I also delivered the address at the dedication
of the Grant statue in Washington.
During these two years I spoke some and lectured some. This took me
about the country in travels that reached from Maine to California, from
the Twin Cities to Charleston. I was getting acquainted. Aside from
speeches I did little writing, but I read a great deal and listened
much. While I little realized it at the time it was for me a period of
most important preparation. It enabled me to be ready in August, 1923.
An extra session of the Congress began in April of 1921, which was
almost continuous until March 4, 1923. While an enormous amount of work
was done it soon became apparent that the country expected too much from
the change in administration. The government could and did stop the
waste of the people’s savings, but it could not restore them. That had
to be done by the hard work and thrift of the people themselves. This
would take time.