Amity Shlaes

It was a form of discipline on the part of Coolidge, and frankly, a willingness to suppress vanity. It's not about me. It's about what we promised the voters in 1920. And that's unusual nowadays when presidents are all about personality, isn't it? That someone would say, this is about a document in 1920, not how I feel, how my wife feels. We're going and we'll do what was promised for the people.

It comes from Warren Harding, and I don't know about you, but when I was in secondary school, I thought normalcy meant be like a cog, be normal, which did not sound very attractive to me. That is not at all what Harding and Coolidge meant. They meant establish a relatively stable environment so that we can do quirky, creative things, including business. That's a wonderful proposition.

It comes from Warren Harding, and I don't know about you, but when I was in secondary school, I thought normalcy meant be like a cog, be normal, which did not sound very attractive to me. That is not at all what Harding and Coolidge meant. They meant establish a relatively stable environment so that we can do quirky, creative things, including business. That's a wonderful proposition.

It comes from Warren Harding, and I don't know about you, but when I was in secondary school, I thought normalcy meant be like a cog, be normal, which did not sound very attractive to me. That is not at all what Harding and Coolidge meant. They meant establish a relatively stable environment so that we can do quirky, creative things, including business. That's a wonderful proposition.

And that's what they sought. And if you look at their policy, it's all about that. So taxes were very high, well over 50% following World War I. The federal debt, the country kind of staggered under the federal debt. There were strikes. There was unrest. There was bombing. There was terror. How do you deal with all that?

And that's what they sought. And if you look at their policy, it's all about that. So taxes were very high, well over 50% following World War I. The federal debt, the country kind of staggered under the federal debt. There were strikes. There was unrest. There was bombing. There was terror. How do you deal with all that?

And that's what they sought. And if you look at their policy, it's all about that. So taxes were very high, well over 50% following World War I. The federal debt, the country kind of staggered under the federal debt. There were strikes. There was unrest. There was bombing. There was terror. How do you deal with all that?

What Harding and Coolidge said is we'll make the economy, we'll make it a relatively friendly environment for enterprise in the economy, which is not quite the same as pandering to business. We'll make a friendly environment for all players and then business will take the lead and get us past the war. And that was their wager. That was what they were trying to do at the beginning. Right.

What Harding and Coolidge said is we'll make the economy, we'll make it a relatively friendly environment for enterprise in the economy, which is not quite the same as pandering to business. We'll make a friendly environment for all players and then business will take the lead and get us past the war. And that was their wager. That was what they were trying to do at the beginning. Right.

What Harding and Coolidge said is we'll make the economy, we'll make it a relatively friendly environment for enterprise in the economy, which is not quite the same as pandering to business. We'll make a friendly environment for all players and then business will take the lead and get us past the war. And that was their wager. That was what they were trying to do at the beginning. Right.

So you get tax rates lower. They had all sorts of promises about basically staying out of the way and replacing an era of crisis with an era of common opportunity.

So you get tax rates lower. They had all sorts of promises about basically staying out of the way and replacing an era of crisis with an era of common opportunity.

So you get tax rates lower. They had all sorts of promises about basically staying out of the way and replacing an era of crisis with an era of common opportunity.

Yes, I'd say so, which is interesting because he would pretend otherwise. But Plymouth, Vermont is the middle of nowhere even today. It's beautiful nowhere, but it's hard to get to. But these people were not, so to speak, entirely provincial. They came from pilgrims, people who came over the ocean to make a new world.

Yes, I'd say so, which is interesting because he would pretend otherwise. But Plymouth, Vermont is the middle of nowhere even today. It's beautiful nowhere, but it's hard to get to. But these people were not, so to speak, entirely provincial. They came from pilgrims, people who came over the ocean to make a new world.

Yes, I'd say so, which is interesting because he would pretend otherwise. But Plymouth, Vermont is the middle of nowhere even today. It's beautiful nowhere, but it's hard to get to. But these people were not, so to speak, entirely provincial. They came from pilgrims, people who came over the ocean to make a new world.

And then they themselves were also pilgrims, pioneers, in the sense that they came from Boston to Plymouth following the Revolutionary War. And they saw themselves a bit as missionaries and pilgrims. That is, if young Calvin goes to boarding school a whole 10 miles away in Ludlow, Vermont, well, he's pilgrim over there to learn.

And then they themselves were also pilgrims, pioneers, in the sense that they came from Boston to Plymouth following the Revolutionary War. And they saw themselves a bit as missionaries and pilgrims. That is, if young Calvin goes to boarding school a whole 10 miles away in Ludlow, Vermont, well, he's pilgrim over there to learn.

And then they themselves were also pilgrims, pioneers, in the sense that they came from Boston to Plymouth following the Revolutionary War. And they saw themselves a bit as missionaries and pilgrims. That is, if young Calvin goes to boarding school a whole 10 miles away in Ludlow, Vermont, well, he's pilgrim over there to learn.

And then when he goes down to college at Amherst, Massachusetts, well, he's going to learn about the big world, but also do some work on all our behalf. And one thing, if you ever read Coolidge's letters to his father, which I entirely recommend, the book is called Your Son, Calvin Coolidge. They're preserved in that book.