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Introduction to Prosperity and Thrift

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Calvin Coolidge, 30th president of the United States, in his office in the White House, Washington, D.C..

To many Americans, Calvin Coolidge embodied the frugality they sought in their lives. The image he presented in numerous photographs and films was that of a simple man who endorsed plain living. Pictures of him as a rural Vermonter working in the fields of his family's Plymouth Notch farm emphasized traditional values and thriftiness and allayed popular anxieties about excess and indulgence. It was an image that served him well and that he actively promoted in his electoral and public-relations campaigns.

In keeping with his image, Coolidge's great policy concern was economy in government. He assumed office in August 1923 upon the death of Warren G. Harding and served as president for six years. During that time he concerned himself with such measures as paying off the national debt, eliminating waste, and cutting taxes to stimulate capital investment. He also endorsed a business climate in which advertising played a major role. He generally spoke and acted in ways that supported business regardless of his private opinions, and viewed the federal government itself as a cost-conscious business organization.

Prosperity and Thrift offers extensive information about Calvin Coolidge's presidential concerns and those of his correspondents through the Coolidge Papers in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress. The papers of the president's secretary, Everett Sanders, preserve eight previously unpublished speeches about the federal budget given by President Coolidge at meetings of the Business Organization of the Government. In addition, scores of published speeches given by Coolidge between 1921 and 1929 are preserved in the Sanders Papers and those of another presidential secretary, Edward T. Clark.

The collection also contains material on Coolidge's public and private images. There are numerous photographs of Coolidge from the National Photo Company Collection in the Prints and Photographs Division. The short campaign film Visitin' Around Coolidge Corners capitalizes on Coolidge's Vermont background and image of plain living. The papers of the Coolidge family physician, Joel T. Boone, provide a personal view of the president. Additional information about Coolidge's schedule can be gathered from the president's appointment books in the Manuscript Division.