Inaugural Addresses, and Justice Denied

Our Graphical History Tour arrives in March of 1925 today, just in time for the inauguration of John Calvin Coolidge for his very own full term as President of the United States.

"The Inaugural Address..." by William Ceperley in Davenport Democrat, March 4, 1925

Coolidge's address focused on lauding the peacetime economic boom the country was enjoying. His themes of personal liberties and free markets are bound to show up again and again in Jeff Bezos-approved Washington Post editorials.

American editorial cartoonists paid more attention to Vice President Dawes, who used his inaugural speech to lambaste the Senate rules for "unlimited debate," more commonly known as the filibuster.

"Say, Listen" by Clifford Berryman in Washington Evening Star, March 5, 1925

Senate rules at the time allowed any one senator or group of senators to prevent any measure from coming to a vote, which the Coolidge administration blamed for failure to get some of its priorities passed into law. A two-thirds vote of the Senate was required to end a filibuster; and invoking cloture against any one Senator's wishes dated back only to 1917. 

Even after 1917, invoking cloture needed bipartisan support; although Republicans held a solid majority in the chamber most of that time, their majority fell short of the two-thirds threshold.

"It's Going to Be a Terrible Strain" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in Des Moines Register, March 6, 1925

The two-thirds rule survived Vice President Dawes's objections, and wasn't reduced to three-fifths until 1975. That threshold remains in effect today, except for approving judicial and cabinet nominations (lowered to 50% in 2010).

"Something Tells Us This Will Be Worth Watching" by Bill Hanny in Philadelphia Inquirer, March 6, 1925

When the Senate convened in March of 1925 to establish its rules for the upcoming session, however, Vice President Dawes was not present to swear the members in. (Remember how Kamala Harris was responsible for swearing in our current Senators in January?) No matter, decided the world's most deliberative body. The Senators decided to consider themselves all sworn into office regardless.

"But Sheridan Was Forty Miles Away" by Harold Talburt for Newspaper Enterprise Assn., ca. March 13, 1925

Meanwhile, most of Coolidge's new cabinet easily passed congressional approval, with one prominent exception.

His Attorney General nominee, Charles B. Warren, could have been easily confirmed for any other post in Coolidge's cabinet. But he was suspected of not supporting the Sherman Anti-Trust Act dating because of his role as counsel in 1902 for Michigan sugar interests. When the Senate rejected Warren's nomination by a tie vote, Vice President Dawes was again absent — reportedly taking a nap — and did not cast his tie-breaking vote.

"Bet I Know One Vote That'll Be on Hand" by Clifford Berryman in Washington Evening Star, March 13, 1925

President Coolidge simply resubmitted Warren's nomination, but the confirmation vote in the Senate fell short a second time — even with the Vice President awake and presiding. 

"Maybe Charlie Gave Old Dobbin an Overdose" by Carey Orr in Chicago Tribune, March 18, 1925

Just one day after that stinging defeat, the Senate consented to Coolidge's nomination of John G. Sargent, a childhood friend of Coolidge's and a former Vermont Attorney General, to head the U.S. Justice Department.

"Never Stab an Elephant in the Back" by Ed Gale in Los Angeles Times, March 11, 1925

Progressive Republicans had employed their gains in the 1922 elections to take some congressional committee chairmanships. Those deals were now off; Senate leaders punished Wisconsin Senator Robert LaFollette and other "insurgents" who had supported his third-party presidential bid, deposing them from those chair positions and transferring them to less influential committees.

"Al, and William, Come Out" by William C. Morris for George Matthew Adams Service, ca. March 6, 1925

As for the Democrats, Coolidge's landslide victory left them a party in the wilderness. Nominal leaders of the Democratic Party Al Smith and William MacAdoo were still licking their wounds from their bruising convention battle. And as far as cartoonists were concerned, The Democrats' last two presidential candidates, Cox and John Davis, had already returned to the obscurity whence they had come.

"Wouldn't It Be Easier to Catch a New One" by Wm. Hanny in Philadelphia Inquirer, March 10, 1925

The GOP-aligned Philadelphia Inquirer editors and their cartoonist, William Hanny, appear to have spotted an up-and-comer in the opposition. (Even if Hanny didn't quite have a convincing caricature of FDR just yet.)