The 2020s and the 1920s are already rhyming. They already display patterns and movements that have this weird sync with one another. Not exact. Not mirrored. But zigging and zigging, zagging and zagging, the stuff of times and rhymes, these are all around us. The waves of pandemic are only the start, powerful yes, but merely the first of many.
I’ve written about the rhyming of two candidates for President in the first presidential election of the ’20s. As it happens, they also are the two winners in their respective elections and thus the first POTUS elected in the ’20s of their times. I’m referring to Warren Harding and Joe Biden or as I prefer to explore and explain it—Warren Biden. Go here for my first look at Warren Biden some weeks ago. https://historicalsolutions.com/blog/if-history-rhymes-the-poem-of-warren-biden/
Now I’d like to introduce you to the other freaky point of similarity between the opening presidential administrations of the ’20s.
Say hello to Vice President Kamala Coolidge.
The Vice President nominee and winner in the 1920 election was someone who:
>>had a childhood and young adulthood in a region known for a unique identity (Plymouth Notch VT for Coolidge and San Francisco Bay CA for Harris);
>>loved both mother and father, both of whom had a deep and profound effect, establishing a foundation for many later events and experiences;
>>forged a political career largely on and within a state level rooted in a coastal stronghold for their political party (MA for Coolidge and CA for Harris);
>>embraced the term “justice” as a key concept and category for action in public service;
>>gained an important part of the state-based experience in personal actions and personal outlooks revealed during major urban unrest and disorder in the period of a pandemic—this personal record attracted national attention as well as interest from national leaders of their political party;
>>the POTUS candidate/winner can point to this set of actions and outlooks as vital to potential service in the presidential administration and its emphasis on “normalcy” as well as “change”–in particular, POTUS prized VPOTUS as a resource for dealing with ongoing urban unrest;
>>a progressive-leaning national leader, in this case Theodore Roosevelt, talked about Coolidge in 1918: “A man who has the forward look and who is anxious to secure genuine social and industrial justice in the only way it can effectively be secured, that is, by basing a jealous insistence upon the rights of all, on the foundation of legislation that will guarantee the welfare of all.”
(Note: insert “woman” for “man” in the first line, change “Coolidge” to “Harris”, replace “1918” with “2020” and you might as well be sitting on your couch watching Netflix during the pandemic. It’s that fresh.)
>>though it’s not true according to raw ages (48 years old for Coolidge to Harding’s 55 years old in 1920, and 56 years old for Harris to Biden’s 77 years old in 2020), a general appearance of a new and younger generation marks a distinction between VPOTUS and POTUS;
>>the new VPOTUS will go on to succeed POTUS and in so doing will lead a very different presidential administration defined by more deeply-held philosophical principles and ideological policies, elements seen as fundamental in a new, post-pandemic period of American life.
A word of caution and a dash of prudence—I’m not predicting anything dire or life-ending for POTUS 46. I am saying that most reasonable people likely understand the position of POTUS 47 will be a competition before than after a second term, say, for example, at the end of a single-term presidency? As a result, it’s in keeping with rhyming and it’s valuable for you to consider.
There you have it. My thoughts about Kamala Coolidge. It’s a good idea for you to get to know her and him. Both affect their ’20s.
More River to come. Thanks for your time. All the best, Dan
