Ronald Reagan was way ahead of the curve when it came to appreciating the virtues of Calvin Coolidge. As is well known, upon assuming the presidency, he had Coolidge’s official White House portrait taken out of storage and placed in the cabinet room. And as early as 1976, the year of his first serious presidential bid, he sang the praises of the 30th president in one of his regular radio addresses. I’m posting the full script of here (taken from the book “Reagan’s Path to Victory: The Shaping of Ronald Reagan’s Vision – Selected Writings“) (note: I say “script” because in the book, Reagan’s text is presented as a working draft, with changes and re-writes clearly shown. The following is what appears as the final script):
The names of some Presidents are invoked by spokesmen of both political parties as “men for all seasons”, epitomizing the greatness of America, Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson etc. Then there are Presidents whose names are brought in party circles, hailed as great but, if acknowledged by the other party at all,with not quite the same enthusiasm.
There are also two lists of Presidential names – one for each party, usually held up to view for strictly partisan purposes. Each party lists past Presidents of the opposing party as examples of that party’s terrible record.
The Democrats for example get laughs by mentioning Silent Cal Coolidge. And truth is mayn Republicans chuckle a little and go along with the idea that he was a do nothing President. Sometimes I wonder if he really was a “do nothing” or was he a little like a Life Guard on the beach who also seems to be doing very little when there is no emergency. If you take a closer look he is quietly being watchful.
Cal Coolidge is good for laughs but not all of them are at his expense. There was the press conference where a persistent reporter asked the President if he had anything to say about prohibition? Cal said “No.” “Any comments on the world court?” – “No.” – “What about the farm situation?” Again the answer was no. The reporter said, “You don’t seem to have any comment about anything.” Coolidge said, “No comment and don’t quote me.”
Kai's Coolidge Blog 