Harding, Warren Gamaliel, Twenty-ninth President

A fine collection of 3 typed letters signed to Calvin Coolidge, draft notes in the hand of Coolidge for his victory speech, and circa 92 related letters and memorabilia as below, tipped into a black buckram scrapbook with a relief portrait of Harding on the upper cover.



Harding, Warren G. TLS, 1 page (10 ½ x 8 in.; 268 x 203 mm),  Washington, D.C., 2 January 1920, to Calvin Coolidge, expressing his esteem for Coolidge, on stationery headed "United States Senate, Committee on the Philippines."



Harding, Warren G. TLS, 1 page (8 1/8 x 6 1/8 in.; 207 x 155 mm), Marion, Ohio, 27 December 1920, to Calvin Coolidge, advising him to ignore "the adverse comments relating to the sitting in and advising in the Cabinet meetings of the incoming administration."



Harding, Warren G. TLS, 1 page (8 1/8 x 6 1/8 in.; 207 x 155 mm), Marion, Ohio, 2 January 1921, to Calvin Coolidge, acknowledging receipt of his letter regarding Mr. Galliver and will comply with his request.



Coolidge, Calvin. [Draft of his victory speech upon election as vice-president]. [Boston, 2 November 1920]. 6 pages (6 ¾ x 5 3/8 in.; 172 x 136 mm), written in pencil on stationery headed "Hotel Touraine, Boston." Coolidge sees the meaning of his election as "...the end of a period which has seemed to substitute words for things, and the beginning of a period of real patriotism and true national honor. It means a return to the Constitution, an end of extravagance, and a government by the people at home, abroad it means the end of all ambiguous and visionary schemes and the beginning of a reorganization of the real and true world relationship, whether based on the proposed League or some new agreement is immaterial."

A fine collection of 3 typed letters signed to Calvin Coolidge, draft notes in the hand of Coolidge for his victory speech, and circa 92 related letters and memorabilia as below, tipped into a black buckram scrapbook with a relief portrait of Harding on the upper cover.
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The "Return to Normalcy" envisioned.

Warren Gamaliel Harding's campaign during the late summer and fall of 1920 captured the imagination of the country. Not only was it the first campaign to be heavily covered by the press and to receive widespread newsreel coverage, but it was also the first modern campaign to use the power of Hollywood and Broadway stars, who traveled to Marion for photo opportunities with Harding and his wife. Harding ran on a promise to "Return to Normalcy," a slogan  he popularized, calling for an end to the abnormal era of the Great War, along with a call to reflect three trends of his time: a renewed isolationism in reaction to the War, a resurgence of nativism, and a turning away from the government activism of the reform era.

The Vancouver Sun commissioned a painting of President Harding speaking in Stanley Park, Vancouver, on the occasion of the first visit of a United States President to Canadian soil, 26 July 1923. The painting was presented to the people of the United States at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., and the present collection includes 92 letters written in February-March 1924, signed by state governors, university presidents, newspaper publishers and other titans of industry, expressing warm affection for American-Canadian relations on the occasion of the presentation of the Harding portrait. Among these is a typed letter signed by Herbert Hoover, then Secretary of Commerce, dated 14 March 1924 ("Needless to state, the memory of the first visit of a President of the United States to our friends and neighbors of the Dominion will have a lasting impression on the minds and lives of the present generation. The plan to make a permanent record of the late President Harding's action of goodwill by the presentation of a portrait of him in Canada cannot but further help to cement the bonds of international kinship between the two countries—a matter which was close to his heart and which engaged much of that warm sympathy which was so marked in his activities as our Chief Executive.") Also included is sheet music of the campaign song "America First" by Philander Johnson and Vittorio Gianinni, the cover of which is is adorned with portraits of the Harding and Coolidge.