LGM Film Club: Part 2: Coolidge Speaks
By The first presidential speech with synchronous sound was this address by Calvin Coolidge in 1924.
It is astounding how boring this is. Now, if you had told me that a Calvin Coolidge speech would be boring, I would have believed you. What’s amazing how that, even given my prior belief, this is so much more boring that I expected. Now, Coolidge was an atrocious president and a terrible person. So maybe we shouldn’t expect more. But it’s worth noting how much the era of television has winnowed our political choices. Now, without charisma, of whatever kind even what Donald Trump has, it is very difficult to win election to the presidency. Even the Senate is tough, as charisma-free but excellent Ed Markey is finding out against Head of Hair Kennedy. I don’t know that the average politician is really worse than they were in 1924, Trump notwithstanding, but the average politician certainly has to have a different set of skills.