Evening star., 1926-09-23
Calvin Coolidge.

His philosophy of life, his personal
iikes and dislikes his attitude toward
the socalIed little things. the com
monplace, are frankly revealed with
out frills by President Coolidge in an
interview given just before he left
the Adirondacks. and now presented
to the public The President has had
many biographers, but none has
proved so interesting as the President
himself.
AS the simply told story is read, the
feeling grows that there is In reality
little difference between the President
as he sees himself and the President
as the people see him. His own story
merely puts in concrets style opinions
that have been formed of the Chief
Executive by the people after OBJ
serving his official acts and reading
and listening to his addresses. An
effort has been made by political enc
mics Of the President to make the peo-
pie believe in Coolidge myth to
make them believe that the President
does not exist as they see him. The
simple truth Of the matter is that
there is no Coolidge myth, there never
has been. and there never will be.
The conception which the people
hold of the President is, first, that he is
honest; second, that he is frankly In
terested in the affairs of the average
III lye5 %hok Io &c a Cnfn Fly.
ecutive, not thrown out of his stride
by events or criticism, and fourth,
that he is thoroughly American in his
outlook upon life. Not all the myth
erectors have been able to shake by
one jot the confidence Of the people
or their belief in the President as they
see him. The simplicity of the man
is the chief obstacle to the efforts of
his opponents to destroy him.
In his interview the President COW
ers a wide range of subjects. His
tribute to the women Of the Nation in
general, and IN particular to Mrs.
Coolidge; the dry humor with which
he repels the suggestion that his
father might ever have suggested the
idea that Calvin Coolidge. the boy,
would one day be President; his crit
.cdsm of the man who seeks to- make
q livelihood merely from politics, are
equally interesting.
"I doubt If 1t is possible for a young
man to choose politics as a career"
M oddnd tfnE
the young man to expect to gain a
livelihood by holding political office
would seem to me to be very undesir-
able. I should say that he ought to
have some business on which he could
depend for a living, and. as he has an
aptitude for 1t, take such part in pol
itics as he finds he can do without
losing his means Of livelihood. Other
wise, he loses his independence"
No better advice could be advanced
for the improvement of politics in
this or any other country. The pro-
fessional political off1ceholder, to
whom Office is merely bread and but
ter, has been responsible for cor1-up
ton and favoritism In government to
q distressing extent. He is curse,
O. parasite. on the body polite.
The President, self-revealed, is no
pessinist. He sees the country and
the world constantly growing better
He has no fear of success and wealth
for Americans, and wisely remarks
that he would hate to think that for
one generation to be a success meant
that the next would be q failure. His
faith in American principles, Ameri-
can institutions and the American
people is unbounded.
The people like President Coolidge
because he likes them. because he is
their kind Of a human being. 1t is
ss simple as the liking that existed
between Mary and her lamb.