"25 MILLION LISTEN ON RADIO"

COOLIDGE TAKES OATH BEFORE THOUSANDS ON EAST FRONT OF CAPITOL

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On March 4, 1925, Calvin Coolidge became POTUS "in his own right" repeating the oath of office as he had done two years earlier "in the plain little room of his father's New England farm house" following the death of President Warren G. Harding.

The oath was administered by Chief Justice William Howard Taft at 1 p.m. marking the first time a former POTUS ever swore in a new administration.

The Evening Star reports that thousands of people "stood before the east front of the Capitol...and 25 million more listened on radio."

In his Inaugural Address, Mr. Coolidge made an appeal for economy in the government at home and peace abroad.

The President said he wants a government of economy "not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people."

The President and First Lady along with the Vice-President and Second Lady were driven to the Capitol from the White House in "shining new touring cars just out of the factory...bearing the presidential coat of arms."

SOURCE

"Coolidge Takes Oath, Pledging Prosperity," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., March 4, 1925, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

 

 

President & Mrs. Coolidge with Senator Curtis

March 4, 1925

www.getarchives.com

 

"WILL REVEAL THE MAN MORE VIVIDLY THAN EVER BEFORE"

NEW YORK HERALD TO PUBLISH PAPERS OF TR'S MILITARY AIDE

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On January 17, 1924, a full-page advertisement appeared on page 35 of The Evening Star calling readers attention to the coming publication of the letters of Archie Butt*, personal aide to President Theodore Roosevelt.

The ad says that beginning on Sunday, January 20 and continuing daily for eight weeks, the "intimate" papers of the former military aide to Presidents Roosevelt and Taft will be published in The New York Herald.

The papers will reveal, according to the advertisement, the man (Theodore Roosevelt) "more vividly than he has ever been seen before."

*Archibald W.D.C. Butt (1865-1912) was born in Augusta, Georgia & educated at the University of The South (Sewanee, Tennessee).  AB served in the US Army in the Spanish-American War & as military aide to TR & Taft. 

Archie Butt became one of TR's closest companions.  He wrote daily letters to his sister Clara while serving in The White House.  The letters, published in 1921 & 1930, are a key source of the two presidencies.  Archie Butt died in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.  

SOURCE

"Major 'Archie' Butt, President Roosevelt's Intimate Friend and Military Aide, Who Went Down on the Ill-Fated Titanic, Left a Graphic and Intimate Story of the Roosevelts in the White House," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., January 17, 1924, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

 

 

Archie Butt

(far left in uniform)

on steps of North Portico

The White House

President Taft (center)

Harris & Ewing Photo

Library of Congress