In our previous episode, we covered the rise of Calvin Coolidge, from Vermont to the presidency.

We covered his constant success in politics, a remarkable feat for a man who was famously shy and

reticent. We also covered his remarkable victory in the 1924 presidential election,

securing for him his own full term in the White House.

How successful Coolidge was for the next four years is the subject of this episode of this American president.

The President. I'm I'm I'm I'm

the On March 4, 1925, Calvin Coolidge stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

With his left hand on his family Bible, he repeated the words of the oath of office as administered by Chief

Justice and former President William Howard Taft. Back in 1923, Coolidge became the first president

to be sworn in by his father. On this day, he became the first president to be sworn in by a

former president. He was also the first president

whose inauguration was being broadcast over radio around the world. Millions tuned in to hear

Coolidge give his inaugural address. Although he was known for his silence, his address was one of

the longer inaugural speeches in history.

It was a Pian to conservative political philosophy.

He started off discussing the foundation of conservative thought, rejecting the progressive and humanistic notion that man could be perfected, saying, quote,

We must realize that human nature is about the most constant thing in the universe,

and that the essentials of human relationship do not change. Coolidge then affirmed a traditional

American foreign policy, one that maintained George Washington's call for non-interventionism,

saying, quote, we have never any wish to interfere in the political conditions of any other countries,

especially are we determined not to become implicated in the political controversies of the old world.

Coolidge then gave his usual spiel about government spending, saying, quote, I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the government. Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life

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