Evening star., 1926-03-23
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
I. C.. NJ.
CALVIN COOLIDGE: The Man Who
Is President. William Allen White
The Macmillan Co.

The competent study Of any notable
personality is an achievement OF wide
usefulness. And certainly the broader
the influence Of the one so presented,
the greater in exact correspondence Is
the general benefit Of the projection.
| In q country like ours this applies
| especially to political leaders. A fully
enfranchised commonwealth like the
United States makes demands upon its
citizenry that are both heavy and i'm.
perative. Under our political system
it Is Of prime Importance that there
be a widespread and intelligent infor.
nation upon many points vital to the
well-being Of the people as q whole
Important. too, that there be n clear
common understanding Of the human
agencies by way of which these points
are seized and directed into channels
| of fair and impartial benefaction. On
the part Of tho citizen body there
| should be in active operation the
power Of sound judgment applied not
| only to great political measures, but to
the leaders as well. who are respon-
sible for the highest fruition of these
| measures.
A study Of personality during the
lifetime of its possessor offers special
| advantages. Such close-range i'm
mediate consideration lacks. to be
sure. those truer proportions that the
perspective of time yields. This lack
is balanced. however, by the posi-
bility Of tallyinS active leadership
with the problems and promises and
| opportunities upon which such
leadership rests. There is hardly
better lesson in the political school
ing Of the Democratic electorate than
a vivid concrete projection Of politi-
cal leaders in action. Measures are
in themselves abstract and elusive,
obscure In origin. infinite in applica-
tfOn. When, however. these measures
become embodied in the character
and personality and performance of
an outstanding man, both measures
and the man draw near in a siZable
and appreciable capacity.
| X 4 = !;
The competent expositor Of char
acter and personality is an explorer.
an adventurer of rare powers and
gifts. Within him passion and dis
passion come to equal terms with
each other. One is devoted to the
pursuit of truth: the other to true
appraisal and fair judgments. With
out such teamwork. without dispas-
sion to check the zeal of a passionate
interest. the projection of a person
ality would become. on the one hand,
empty eulOgy. or on the other. worth
less condemnation.
For the competent study of char
acter this adventurer in the life of
another must be the patient and
plodding man. laboriously collecting
and ordering the obvious facts con-
Cerning the one into whom he has
for the time being moved by a self
enacted law of pre-emption. Trained
and intuitive also must this explorer
be to apprehend those hidden and
subtler facts of ancestry-old strains
of blood persistinS out OF their own
remote and alien settings to press
irresistible claims upon this distant
son of theirs who Is acting himself
out in an infinitely more complex and
puZzling present.
Hardly more than begun yet is this
competent study in personality. For
now the adventurer In souls must
give up the personal tenancy of his
subject to move out into the field
to be occupied. And this field the
expositor must know like the pain,
OF his hand. All of it's vital aspects
must be familiar to hinl-each in its
origin, it's direction. it's probable con-
clusion. And now only is he ready
to set the drama of one mans life in
Iacts whose climbing interest and
stress reveal the quality OF this life
in its reactions upon its surroundings.
For the making of this drama there
must be, besides, a flooding and sym.
pathetic imagination, which, leaping
lout in chosen word and phrase, en-
bodies and projects the personality
under consideration in the very
warmth and color and movement OF
life itself.
William Allen White here presents
a study in personality, that of Presi
dent Coolidge. "The Man Who Is
President" Surely no theme could
claim greater interest and appeal at
the present time. And. as for the
author himself. 1t would be the old
foolery of carrying Goals to Newcastle
over again to restate the generally
recognized competency of William
Allen White in the field of political
and personal letters. A vigorous man
Of whose meaning there is no doubt in
the world. A waywise man. practiced
in the behaviors of other men and
in the attitude of the political world
thoroughgoing man who harrows
his themes as the farmer plows his
fields. A fine hand at pictures, max
ing them out Of words. A fair man
seeing two sides of the same object
at one and the same time. Consider
ing the rate at which he travels, 8
deliberate man. as well.
Let us, for the moment, forget the
steps OF this adventure for the sake
of emphasizing its ultimate effect
Here, for one time in thousand OF
| q hot &c
lall of a piece. It's essentials Of char
Iacter - even Of attitude barring
changes in outer circumStanceS-are
Identical with those operating through
the same blood five generations ago
A steadfastness here that is amazing
and assuring 1t is these traits that
have produced the truly progressive
life. rather than one that advances
by way of sudden flights and enforced
rests. 1t seemed to me, reading here
} that this story Of boy--a youth. q
man-moving out Of one job into tn,
, next one higher up, just because he
had exhausted and finished the one
was q story calculated to do much by
example just now at the time wher
| if youth needs anything he needs
; steadying. Certainly this is not {
boys story. Rather is it the study
: Of a grown man who deliberately
chose the road Of politics as the one
: that he intended to travel. This
choice accounts entirely for the leg
!; end of the Coolidge luck" No more
luck here than there is in the sue
J cess of any other business or career
} properly pursued.
The other Coolidge legends also dis
| appear in this association with th'
! whole man. Indeed, Mr.. White.
study presents a hard-working New
: Englander, prudent because New
England implies thrift and prudence
A quietly sagacious man. alway.
granting more than his promise indi