Coolidge Papers. Revenue Bill of 1924.

Letters, newspaper articles and editorials sent to the White House applauding President Coolidge's decision to sign the 1924 tax act despite his announced reservations about its shortcomings. The president signed the 1924 Revenue Act on June 2, but made it retroactive to January 1924. The case file correspondence praises the president for putting more money in consumers' hands by lowering the tax rate for working people, but criticizes the bill for not providing for increased capital investment for business. Specifically mentioned in the correspondence, and figuring in the president's reservations about the legislation, are the bill's failure to lower surtaxes on industry, its increase of estate taxes, and its addition of a tax on gifts. The so-called Mellon Plan for tax reduction, which would have favored tax measures to release capital for investment in industry, did not prevail in 1924 when President Coolidge signed what he regarded as a necessary compromise. Encouraged by Andrew Mellon, his treasury secretary, as well as his favorite among the cabinet officers, President Coolidge signed additional Revenue Acts in 1926 and 1928. Because they helped promote the goals of decreasing the federal deficit, paying off the national debt, and reducing the tax burden, the president saw these tax measures as a cornerstone of his administration's economic success.

Entire folder reproduced as facsimile page images: 33 pages.


Selected Document List | Page Images

June 3, 1924Telegram from C. Denison Talcott to C. Bascom Slemp
June 3, 1924Letter from C. Bascom Slemp to C. Denison Talcott
June 4, 1924Letter from Charlotte M. Holloway to Mr Clark
June 6, 1924Article
June 6, 1924Letter from C. Bascom Slemp to A.G. Moss
June 7, 1924Letter from C. Bascom Slemp to C.F. Albee
June 7, 1924Letter from C. Bascom Slemp to Charles S. Lewis
June 4, 1924Notes from Charles S. Lewis to Calvin Coolidge
June 9, 1924Letter from C. Bascom Slemp to Charlotte M. Holloway
June 7, 1924Letter from C. Bascom Slemp to H.M. Van Auken
June 7, 1924Letter from C. Bascom Slemp to Walter Van Benthuysen
June 3, 1924Telegram from James J. Phelan to Calvin Coolidge
June 9, 1924Letter from C. Bascom Slemp to Moses Greenwood
June 7, 1924Letter from C. Bascom Slemp to C.L. Barnwell
June 3, 1924Letter from A.G. Moss to Calvin Coolidge
June 6, 1924Letter from Walter Van Benthuysen to Calvin Coolidge
June 6, 1924Letter from C. Bascom Slemp to Karl Kiefer
June 5, 1924Letter from H.M. Van Auken to Calvin Coolidge
June 5, 1924Letter from H.M. Van Auken to Calvin Coolidge
June 4, 1924Article
June 5, 1924Letter from O.L. Barnwell to C. Bascom Slemp
June 3, 1924Letter from E. Higby to C.F. Albee
June 4, 1924Article
June 4, 1924Letter from Karl Kiefer to Calvin Coolidge
June 5, 1924Letter from C.F. Albee to Calvin Coolidge