DAVIS DENOUNCES KLAN, CALLS ON COOLIDGE TO DO SAME
Chicago, Illinois (JFK+50) On October 17, 1924, Democratic candidate for POTUS, John W. Davis, called upon his opponent, Republican President Calvin Coolidge, to publicly denounce the Ku Klux Klan.
Governor Davis, speaking here in the Windy City, personally denounced the "hooded organization" by name and insisted the President "issue a similar denunciation."
William K. Hutchinson of the International News Service reports the Davis campaign believes their candidate's strong stand against "the evil empire" will help win New York, New Jersey, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois in this year's presidential election*.
*Coolidge defeated Davis in Nov 1924 382-136 winning every one of these 5 states. Davis won the "Solid South" while Coolidge carried the rest of the country except for Wisconsin which was won by Progressive candidate Bob La Follette.
JFK+50 NOTE
According to the Coolidge Foundation, the KKK preached a message of keeping "America for Americans," that is for "white, native born Protestants."
Klansmen of the 1920s opposed Catholics, Jews, "certain foreigners," and blacks. The Klan reached its membership peak in the mid 1920s. The foundation asserts that both Presidents Harding and Coolidge "rejected the Klan and all it stood for"...."contributing to its decline."
SOURCES
"Davis Demands Coolidge Rap Ku Klux," by William K. Hutchinson, The Washington Times, October 17, 1924, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
"The Ku Klux Klan in Calvin Coolidge's America," by Jerry L. Wallace, Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation, www.coolidgefoundation.org/
