Evening star., 1924-06-07
COOLIDGE STRATEGY
ROLLS UP SUPPORT
President Expected to Garry "Cau-
tious" Policy Into Race
for Election.
CAMPAIGN IS COSTING LITTLE
Loyalty to Party and Personality
Believed Strong Assets.
pY DAVID LAWRENCE.

CLEVELAND, Ohio, June AL
most unanimous, without contest of
any Importance, the nomination of
Calvin Coolidge to the presidency by
the Republican party is being taken
for granted so much that there has
been little inclination to inquire into
the methods by which the man from
Massachusetts has achieved the prize.
On the surface it has seemed an
easy campaign. But it has not been,
i'll any sense except financially, for
it is doubtful whether any campaign
for the presidency in the present
generation has cost as little.
There were occasions when a single
h'under might have cost Calvin
Coolidge the nomination. After talk
ing with some of the men who have
leen most instrumental in bringing
about the triumph of Calvin Coolidge,
the writer is convinced that almost
the same kind of campaign with re-
Spect to fundamentals now will be
Ntaged for the election of the
president.
Coolidge Executed Hi .ding's Plans.
The strategy of the Coolidge cam
paign has been recogniation of two
fundamentals from the very outset:
Coolidge was unknown to the mass
81 the people and even to the poll
tcians, and, second, that the politicians
would fall in line if the right kind of
pole les were enunciated by the PreSi-
Gynt.
The effort to nominate Mr.. Coolidge
h san in the week that he succeeded
,l.e late Warren Harding to the pres
tsency. This does not mean that he
y ds conscious of ii or that he gave
y impulse or momentum. 1t does
Asn that the organization leaders
T.. the party say an opportunity to
1'DmInate him if he passed muster on
certain fundamentals.
Two things that Mr. Coolidge did
al the very beginning made him solid
with the regular organization. He
announced that the personnel ap-
pointed by Mr.. Harding would be re-
tanned and that the policies of his
Predecessor would be followed out so
far as was consistent with changing
circumstance. But he did something
ClSe-he sent to the Senate in De-
,amber every one of the recess ap-
pointments made by Mr.. Harding and
even carried out some of the informal
pledges made concerning appoint
ments by the late President.
Slemp Appointment Valuable.
This was evidence that Mr.. Cool
tdSe was J. faithful party man and
would not upset the Organization
AT least not before the Organization
had an opportunity to demonstrate it's
worth in every state and to earn it's
rewards. Any one who understands
practical politics cannot underesti-
mate the Importance of these moves
Then came the appointment as pri-
vate secretary of c. Rascom SIemp.
former representative from Virginia
:, was suggested by Senator Curtis
oi Kansas and Speaker Gillett and
s.~..k
" Weeks of Massachusetts,. 1t was
tha first time the son Of a Confed-
crate soldier had sat in the chair of
The private secretary in the White
II ouse
But the appointment of Mr.. Slemp
Wis valuable for reasons other than
It's sentimental effect on the leaders
OF the Republican party in the south.
MT. Slemp himself had been in the
House of Representatives and knew
its personnel and methods intimately.
Mr.. Coolidge knew the Senate, but
didn't know the House. Also, Mr..
Siemp knew more about how to get
The delegates from the south than any
man in the Republican party. AS a
member of the Republican national
personalities in the party, their strong
points and their weaknesses.
Editorial Approval Has Helped.
The business of getting delegates
should not be misconstrued as purely
case of political manipulation Mr.
roolidge's nomination is not due to
tee corraling of delegates as such
Most of them were anxious to be cor
raled. 1t was due to the psyche
logical process by which most of the
Il aders in the south became con-
Finced that the lot lay with Cool
icge and no other. Mr.. Slemp pre-
vented them from becoming the
nucleus of anybody else's organization
until they were themselves won over.
AID it did not take them long to see
that Mr.. Coolidge was ready to show
his party fidelity.
The first address to Congress deliv-
cred by Mr.. Coolidge was a critical
point in the preconvention campaign.
Up to that time Mr.. Coolidge was un-
folding his personality in interviews
with Republican leaders and in brief
statements to the press, but his pro-
Eram-indeed, his platform-was an
bounced in the communication to
Congress, tersely written and straight
10 the point. The editorial approval
which followed that speech brought
Mr. Coolidge more delegates than
anything "a his friends did. The south
had come into line quickly. New
England was, of course, loyal from