Calvin Coolidge's Inaugural Address: Wealth Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph.Line)

Quote #4

This country believes in prosperity. It is absurd to suppose that it is envious of those who are already prosperous. The wise and correct course to follow in taxation and all other economic legislation is not to destroy those who have already secured success but to create conditions under which everyone will have a better chance to be successful.

The wealth distribution gap actually widened over the course of the 1920s, but you wouldn't know it here. Coolidge calls up the visions of the American Dream, where everyone has the opportunity to make it and live a life of comfort and wealth. He doesn't want to punish the rich, he wants to make more of them.

Quote #5

Under the helpful influences of restrictive immigration and a protective tariff, employment is plentiful, the rate of pay is high, and wage earners are in a state of contentment seldom before seen (19.2.).

It never hurts to mention how your own policies have helped make the economy better. The tariff was a particularly thorny issue throughout the decade, but Coolidge believed that more people buying American products equals more prosperity.