"Keep Cool and Keep Coolidge:" The Roaring Twenties

After the death in office of Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge had taken over the presidency. During the remainder of his brief first term, Coolidge was mostly having to deal with the scandals that had plagued Harding, such as Teapot Dome. But entering the summer of 1924, the economy was doing well, and even amidst the scandals, it seemed Coolidge could win the office in his own right. Opposing Coolidge was Democrat John W. Davis, a New York lawyer, and a conservative Democrat. Davis was not nationally known and had never held any high political office. Charles Bryan was chosen as the vice presidential nominee, William J. Bryan's brother. As for the Republicans, Coolidge was highly favored and nominated easily, running with Charles Dawes. The campaign was fairly mild, with Coolidge's popularity and the famous slogan "Keep Cool and Keep Coolidge" turned the voters out in favor of Coolidge. The Democrats had divided, and Robert LaFollete ran as a third party. On election day, Coolidge won big, carrying almost 55% of the popular vote, defeating Davis by more than 7 million votes, and winning in the electoral college 382-126, with LaFollete winning one state. The roaring twenties helped Coolidge win re-election. As for his second and full term, continued prosperity lead to Coolidge remaining popular. Tragedy struck though early in his term as his son died from an infection, deeply saddening Coolidge. Coolidge lowered taxes, signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact, gave American Indians citizenship, and largely lead a hands-off approach to government. Even though he was popular, Coolidge declined to run for re-election in 1928, and retired home to Vermont. As for campaign items, many Coolidge word pins and single picture buttons are very affordable. Any button with both Coolidge and Dawes on them are rare. Some items like sheet music or posters can be reasonably priced and not too scarce. John W. Davis items are a different story. Any Davis item is expensive and rare, especially jugate buttons. Like the Cox-Roosevelt items from 1920, Davis items rival in price any other buttons in the hobby. Democrats did not pay to have thousands of Davis buttons produced for the election, so finding one is hard to do. I personally do not own any Davis items. For Coolidge, I have pictured some items I own, including buttons, sheet music, posters, and a bell that promotes Coolidge.