The Business of America

President Calvin Coolidge once said “The business of America is business”. He really meant it. Everything else is window dressing.

There’s an elite class of business people who control things (and have forever). Their interests dominate all others. They can’t be voted out. (Most of them work behind the scenes and hold no office at all). Money is speech. All we can do is roll with the punches.

What Vermonter “Silent Cal” actually said is “the chief business of the American people is business.” which isn’t much different. He was addressing the Society of American Newspaper Editors on January 17, 1925 in Washington, D.C.

Coolidge was born on July 4, 1872 in Plymouth Notch, near Killington, the only US president to be born on Independence Day.

Comments | 2

  • Succession

    Then-Vice President Coolidge became the 30th President of the United States when Warren Harding died from a heart attack in July of 1923. He won the presidential election the following year, with his popularity buoyed by a strong economy in the “Roaring Twenties” His campaign slogan was “Keep Cool with Coolidge.”

  • Vermont Virtue in the Famous Flood of 1927

    Pres. Coolidge toured his home state of Vermont in the immediate aftermath of the historic 1927 Flood. At his Bennington stop from the back of the the last train car he is said to have concluded,..”Vermonters have virtue and determination! If all the noble character (virtue) were to vanish from America I do believe that it could be replenished from this Green Mountain Land!” Now virtue is the ability to face perplexing situations and inspire people to attain to that state of unity, of togetherness, that fosters community. It is certainly time for that prediction to be realized. Thank you for reminding me of President Coolidge. Melevav

Leave a Reply