Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1924-09-24
Exploding the Coolidge
Myth

famous Boston police strike.
This myth was first exploded by
Congressman Charles r. Crisp
in his address a few days ago to
the delegates of the Third Con
gressional District, when he said,
in speaking of the Courage of
Coolidge:"
ut was not the then Cover
nor Coolidge who broke the Bos-
ton police strike, but Andrew
Peters, a Democrat, who as Nav
or of Boston, called out members
OF the State Guard after Cover
nor Coolidge refused to act. Pet
ers took things in his own hands
and acted. Coolidge waited for
48 hours before he could sum-
mons the courage to call out the
militia. The newspapers of the
land haYe given Coolidge the
credit for this, and in fact, it was
that myth that has made him
Vlce-President. However, he
doesn't deserve the credit. nor
has he ever had the courage to
give Peters the credit. Not so
far as l have ever seen"
Congressman Crisp IS the first,
so far as we have seen, to ex-
plode this Coolidge myth" 1t
Is a story that has been told and
retold in the press. Since his
speech, while discussing the in
cident with Judge Crisp, he gave
this as his authority:
Last spring Andrew Peters
visited the House, in Washington,
and | asked him about the Boston
police strike. He then told
number of Democrats what / said
to the delegates. Peters served
for several years in Congress
with me, having been leected as a
Democrat from Massachusetts. .
Since Judge Crisp's speech.
the new Democratic Hand Book
has been received and it con-
hrms what Judge Crisp said.
Under t h heading, The
Coolidge Myth Exploded" the
Hand Book says:
There is persistent propagan-
Ga to induce the American people
to accept the mythical Coolidge
that came into national potice fol-
lowing the Boston police strike.
A fair analysis of his official re.
cord in the vice-presidency and
the presidency dispels the delu-
slons that may originally have
been fostered in the minds Of
some.
Edward G. Lowry, distingui
shed Washington correspondent.
who has known Presidents and
other public men of the United
States during the last tweng
years, has written an estimate of
Mr. Coolidge. This apparel in
the Independent for April. 1924.
"A President of the United
States is supposed to be the leader
of all the people, truly a national
leader, and secondly the leader
of his political party" wrote Mr..
Lowry. 'To this juncture Mr..
Coolidge has not been able to
function in the secondary capa-
city. His offers to lead have not
been accepted by his party. The
oil scandal revelations offered him
his great opportunity to function
in his primary capacity as a lead
er of the whole people. Does any
except his small group of init.
mates make any pretense that
he has functioned? The leading
Republicans at Washington do not
-. If it comes to a point where
the public understanding and the
public information is as complete
as that of the leading Republicans
at Washington, and all who have
closely studied recent events.
there will be another story ito tell.
The myth that may survive in the
country no longer exists about
the Capitol.
origin OF the Myth
Mr.. Coolidge's rise to national
prominence and eventually to the
Presidency of the Unitde STAGES
began with his part in the Bos-
ton police strike of 1919, when
he was Governor of Massachu5-
etts. He was credited with hav-
ing acted in that emergency with
a courage and decision which re-
stored order and security to a
community that was trembling in
the presence of lawlessness and
crime. Within a few hours this
version of Mr.. Coolidge's mastery
of a grave crisis was broadcast
to all parts of the country. 1t
has been repeated almost innu-
merable times.
The truth is that Mr.. Coolidge
did not break the strike, did
not act but refused to act, in spite
of formal requests to use his au-
thority and the force at his COM