Letter to President Coolidge

The Character of a Nation

 

January 22, 2109

President Calvin Coolidge

Dear President Coolidge:

Normally I write to our Founders, Signers and Framers but while I was doing a cryptogram I came across a quote attributed to you, so I decided to change it up a bit and write to you. Below is that quote:

“It is not the enactment, but the observance of laws, that creates the character of a nation.”

Before I begin, there are a few things that I do know about you. You became president upon the death of President Harding and served from 1923 -1929 which was also the era know as Prohibition. You were also known as “Silent Cal” which is odd since your real name was John Calvin Coolidge Jr.

What I do find most interesting is that during your term as President, Prohibition was the law of the land and it was flagrantly ignored. This led to lawlessness and disregard for the law which created a lot of characters but I am sure not the kind that speak to the positive character of the nation. However, wisdom prevailed and Prohibition was repealed. At times, the enactment of laws should be questioned and the lawful process followed to amend or correct the law accordingly. Following the process is part of the observance of the laws and helps show the true character of the nation.

President Coolidge, let me tell you that your words are still meaningful for us today. One of the big issues today is immigration and your words are very pertinent now. It should be noted that it was you who signed the Immigration Act of 1924 which set quotas on the number of immigrants allowed into our country from certain countries and provided funding for enforcement to carry out the enforcement ban on other non-white immigrants. The Act further restricted other groups such as Italians, Jews, Greek and Slavs as well as Asians.

When this law was no longer pertinent, it was changed in 1952 when the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 went into effect which essentially codified the laws of immigration and citizenship which were not well organized into one body of text.

Finally, we had the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 which was signed by President Lyndon Johnson at the Statue of Liberty and effectively abolished all quotas regarding immigration which forever helped change the demographics of our country.

Today, laws seem to be ignored in all areas and one example is the continuing problems we are having with immigration. Currently, our politicians have a problem understanding the word illegal which is frightening especially since they are our law makers. They have created “Sanctuary Cities and States” which basically go against and ignore our present laws and help allow for the lawlessness, which is not as bad as during Prohibition but lawlessness non-the less. If the laws are not working, our elected officials should do their job which is to “Provide for the common defense and promote the general welfare,” and in doing so help to restore the character of our nation.

I think what you originally intended is that each citizen must abide by the laws which their elected officials have established, improving the character of our nation. I also think that you never expected that it would be our elected officials who would choose to ignore laws enacted by other officials which supersede their ill- advised intentions. I believe that is what you were referring to when you made that comment years ago.

Once our officials really get to work and establish immigration reform with laws that really work then and only then can we judge if the observance of the new law truly shows the character of our nation. Right now, what is showing is a lack of character by all.

Thank you for your time President Coolidge.

Yours truly,

Andrew DeMarco