President Calvin Coolidge: The Roaring 20s' Quiet Leader

American History Hit

History Hit

America, History

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 December 2024

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sworn in after the death of President Harding by the light of a kerosene lamp, the 30th President of the United States led the country through 6 years of the prosperous roaring 1920s.

Coolidge polled more than 54% of the popular vote in 1924, so what was so good about 'silent Cal'? To find out, Don is joined by Amity Shlaes, author of 'Coolidge' and 'The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression'.

Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Indra Vama and in the latest season of The Spy Who, we open the file on Daphne Park,
0:08.3	the spy who killed a prime minister. As the Belgian Congo gains its independence, Officer Park
0:14.7	sets out to build a spy network. Together, they're about to go to new extremes to keep Congo free of communists.
0:23.0	Follow the Spy Who now wherever you listen to podcasts.
0:31.5	The year is 1924, and it's quite the holiday season here at the newly renovated Macy's department store in New York City.
0:40.4	After completing a vast expansion of more than 1.5 million square feet,
0:45.7	Macy's is now officially the largest store in the world,
0:48.9	with some 20 wooden escalators carrying customers to 148 apartments, selling nearly everything a retailer can possibly offer.
0:58.0	To usher in the season and to celebrate the transformation, Macy staged the first of its famous Thanksgiving Day parades, complete with Santa Claus, ushering in the season.
1:08.9	From fine watches to vacuum cleaners, newfangled washing machines and refrigerators,
1:13.8	to women's apparel, beauty goods and travel needs, never mind hardware and children's toys.
1:18.7	Whatever you see plastered on the billboards, magazine pages, or advertised on the radio,
1:23.4	you can get it right here.
1:25.1	Macy's is one-stop shopping for a New York roaring through the 1920s,
1:29.4	with the freedom, prosperity, and consumer demand
1:32.0	that newly elected President Calvin Coolidge could only dream of.
1:40.4	Music It is American History Hit, and I am Don Wildman, and it's time for another in our ever-lengthening series on the American presidents.
2:06.5	We've even elected a new one since we recorded our last.
2:09.8	Today, the story behind our 30th chief executive, Silent Cal, Calvin Coolidge, born in the Green Mountains of Vermont on July 4th, 1872, talk about
2:19.7	destiny. He's the only U.S. President hatched on Independence Day, automatic annual birthday parade,
2:25.5	not bad. John Calvin Coolidge, Calvin being his middle name, served two terms in the White
2:31.9	House from 1923 to 1929.
	...

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