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Coolidge delivering his first State of the Union address on December 6, 1923. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Today marks the 87 anniversary of Calvin Coolidge’s first State of the Union address. The speech also marked another “first” — the dawn of the radio era in presidential rhetoric. According to the Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, Coolidge’s address was the first to be broadcast by radio — a move that reflected the soaring popularity of radio receivers. In 1923, there were 2.5 million receivers in private homes across the nation. Three years earlier, there had been fewer than 5,000.
The speech itself is remembered for its indication that Coolidge would continue the policies of his predecessor, Warren Harding. Reflecting my abiding interest in 1920s-era taxation, let me offer this quick selection:
For seven years the people have borne with uncomplaining courage the tremendous burden of national and local taxation. These must both be reduced. The taxes of the Nation must be reduced now as much as prudence will permit, and expenditures must be reduced accordingly. High taxes reach everywhere and burden everybody. They bear most heavily upon the poor. They diminish industry and commerce. They make agriculture unprofitable. They increase the rates on transportation. They are a charge on every necessary of life. Of all services which the Congress can render to the country, I have no hesitation in declaring to neglect it, to postpone it, to obstruct it by unsound proposals, is to become unworthy of public confidence and untrue to public trust. The country wants this measure to have the right of way over any others.
Forgive me for pointing out (again), that Coolidge was willing to walk the walk when it came to fiscal conservatism. He never suggested tax cuts that weren’t “paid for” with spending cuts. As he put it (and I test your patience by repeating it, yet again), “the taxes of the Nation must be reduced now as much as prudence will permit, and expenditures must be reduced accordingly.”
Contemporary deficit hawks should emulate that kind of honest, candid budgeting.
The full transcript of Coolidge’s speech is available from the Miller Center.
- Published by Joe Thorndike in: Uncategorized
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6 Responses to “Coolidge and the Dawn of Radio Rhetoric”
I, too, would like Calvin Coolidge to have the distinction of being the first President to have his Annual Address (called the State of the Union Address since 1935) broadcast on radio—but, alas, that is not the case. That distinction goes instead to Warren Gamaliel Harding, whose Annual Message of December 8, 1922, was broadcast. There is a photograph of the event in Willis Fletcher Johnson’s “The Life of Warren G. Harding” (1923), p. 149. The description reads: “President Harding delivering his annual message to both Houses of Congress. In front on the tables are the radio microphones, for the first time used to broadcast a Presidential Message.” The Clerk of the House’s website also includes a reference to Hariding’s historic address: “This was the first Annual Message broadcast live on radio” (see: http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/Joint_Meetings/60to79.html#foot18). I am uncertain as to what radio station(s) carried the broadcast but it was most likely one or both of the US Navy stations, NOF and NAA, both of which had powerful transmitters. While on the subject of radio and Harding, let me point out that Mr. Harding made the first presidential radio broadcast on May 30, 1922, at dedication of the Lincoln Memorial. This again is something that you will rarely find cited…You have to be careful in citing historical facts about early radio. They are often wrong, even in what are usually reliable sources, as I have learned.
Jerry –
Thanks for setting the record straight. What you say about radio history is true of every kind of history: you have to be careful about your authorities. In this case, I thought I was on pretty safe ground; the Miller Center is usually solid. But I guess everyone makes mistakes, including the Miller center (and me)!
Joe- Making a mistake about this Coolidge broadcast being the first of its kind is certainly understandable. You find it cited as the first in reliable histories and on Internet radio history websites, and the media repeats it annually on the anniversary of the broadcast and again in connection with the State of Union address. The fact that Harding’s address was the first is simply overlooked. Strangely, even his major biographers ignored the fact. On the Clerk’s website, refer to the Harding broadcast is buried away in a footnote. In doing my book on Coolidge’s use of radio, I found that the subject of early radio is riddled with errors and you find them in what you might think are the best and most reliable sources.
Please examine the ground you stand on. I find the Miller Center’s view of Calvin Coolidge based on considerable speculation and unfounded opinion. If the Millerites were to read his Autobiography it might address some of these issues.
Take, for example, the first paragraph which reduces a very dramatic story into a ho-hum account. There was considerable drama to the turn of events in the early morning hours of August 3, 1923.
Coolidge’s father was a Justice of the Peace – however, it was in his capacity as a Notary Public that he administered the Presidential Oath to his son.
I don’t think you’re being fair to the Miller Center. They may not be inclined to paint history in the most dramatic colors (as you aptly suggest regarding Coolidge’s inauguration); that’s an affliction common among academic historians. But they are a vital institution, having done more to revitalize the study of politics and political history than any other institution that comes to mind. So if you’re asking where I stand, then I stand with people who think past politics is worth studying. Even if (sometimes) I don’t agree with their take on every event or president.
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