Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-03
BY MARK SULLIVAN.

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mates and summaries many are being
printed. They vary in value. With
thought and care. worthwhile judg-
ments of any closing administration
are possible enough. Nearness to the
time and the subject are handicaps,
out not insurmountable.
The best estimates. however. can
come only with the perspective of the
years Today a better estimate could
be made of Theodore Roosevelt. or of
William Mckinley. than of Calvin Cool
idge. The god of timeliness demands.
however, that the estimate be made of
Mr.. Coolidge Obedience to that god
is being generally made-and in the
results history, 20 years or so from
now, will find material for ironic
amusement.
Bearing that in mind. the present
article refrains from calling itself an
estimate" It aims only to allude TO
few conspicuous aspects of Mr.. Cool
idge and his administration, as seen by
one observer.
Lauds Time Account.
One of the best of the current sum-
maries was printed last week in the
periodical Time. The Time account
Of Mr.. Coolidge was good, largely be-
cause it RETAINED, for the most part.
from estimate. from Judgment and from
the pretentiousness which in literary
circles goes by the name OF "interpre-
tation." The article In Time was large
ly summary of the events of the
Coolidge administration. Toward the
conclusion it expanded toward handing
down Judgment, and partly expressed
its verdict in an epigram:
I'm great day Of yes-men. Calvin
Coolidge was a great norman"
That is less subject to impeachment
than the great majority of epigrams.
OF all forms of conveying truth on any
subject, the epigram Is one of the most
tallible Truth and non-truth do not
in nature ordinarily so distribute them
selves that all the truth can be forced
into the rigid form of an epigram and
all the untruth left outside. Truth does
sometimes lend itself to this form or
expression. OF epigrams Of the better
sort Mr.. Coolidge himself has uttered
many. AS rule, however, the writer
of an epigram Is more intent on
"snappy" form Of words than on COM
prehensive statement OF truth. accom-
panied by all the qualifications OF the
truth.
Called "Great No-Man."
This great norman" epigram about
Mr.. Coolidge is, as such "WiSe-cracks
go, fairly close to the mark. Yet there
are many qualifications to 1t.
AS respects words, Mr.. Coolidge has
universally the reputation of a silent
man. AS respects actions, he has the
corresponding reputation-to put It
roughiy-of a man who took no step
that he could avoid taking.
The judgment Of many who know Mr..
Coolidge best IS that he IS not by ma
ture silent man. There are scores
of men who will testify that Mr.. Cool
idge, when the conditions are right, Is
genial. humorous, even loquacious. The
silence that he presents to many has
been a protective armor, pa1nStak1ngly
constructed and rather painfully worn,
as a defense against a condition that
bedevils every President.
That condition, and the experiences
that made Mr.. Coolidge a silent Presi-
dent, will shortly confront Mr.. Hoover.
Almost the rarest thing in human
nature is a man who can talk with a
President and can thereafter resist the
temptation Of beginning countless con-
versations with 'as the President said
to me-" To find himself quoted--and
often incorrectly quoted-is one OF the
IUO0L 1ICQuCIt dlIO AiOoV CAAAbnA AssoSAAAo
experiences of every President. To
guard himself against being quoted Is
one of the principal and most difficult
tasks In every Presidents routine.
To quote a President incorrectly. or
to quote him in such context that
his meaning is misunderstood, or, In
deed, to quote President at all, except
when he has given thought to his words
and intends that he shall be quoted
to do any of these things is to give
rise to infinite embarrassment-embar-
rassment. that is, to the President, not
to the quoter.
It may hurt the feelings Of third
persons. 1t may give rise to false rumors
about policy it may cause resentment
in the always jealous legislative branch
of the Government, it may work dis
aster to pending legislation, it may
ALLEVIATE friends. 1t may wreck party
programs, 1t may give rise to party
cleavage.
Mr.. Coolidge, one feels. learned all
this long ago-and adopted an intense
reticence as the nearest he could find
to a practical defense. And even Mr..
Coolidges reticence has not been a
complete defense-as several unfortu-
nate episodes testify.
Coolidge Silence Myth.
The myth of Mr.. Coolidge's silence
is denied by the fact of his utteranceS.
They have not been markedly less nu-
merous, and they have been, on the
whole, rather more meaningful. than
those of most of his predecessors. De-
cidedly-most decidedly-Mr. Coolidge
can talk when he chooses to.
The writer of this article has had
occasion, during the last few years, to
read most of the speeches of all the
Presidents since Benjamin Harrison.
Such a review leads to two judgments
First, that Mr.. Coolidge'S public utter
anceS as a whole have been more meaty
than those of any other President since
Grover Cleveland. Second. that Mr..
Coolidge's speeches have been much like
those of Cleveland.
To his Judgment there will be vio-
lent objection from partisans of Theo-
dore Roosevelt and especially from par
tisans of Woodrow Wilson.
It is true that Wilson had exalted
events to deal with. 1t is also true that
some of Wilson's addresses had high
quality. and that his correspondence
with Germany. preceding the armistice.
probably will always have high place
in the records of that kind of diplo-
matte exchange.
But Wilson's speeches, compared with
the best of Mr.. CoolidgeS. had the lit
erary defects that accompany idealism.
Idealism is necessarily vague, rather
formless. In consequence. many of Will
sons speeches have what seems today
an elusive and battling abstractness.
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