Date: October 29, 1930
Location: Northampton, MA
(Original document available here)
It is often said that the world belongs to youth. They may not hold lega1 title to it at the moment, but what the world will be in the future depends on what they do today. They are the heirs apparent with power.
The influence they wield is because they are naturally idealists. The disappointments and failures of life have not come into their experience. They are moved more by faith than by caution. It is for that reason that they hold the keys to future progress.
Next Tuesday about a million of our youth will have the opportunity to cast their first vote. There are enough of them to decide the election in nearly every political unit. It is necessary for our political and social progress that they should run true to form and vote their ideals.
If we are to have any improvement, if public office is to be any more mindful of public welfare, if our national life is to be any purer, if our standards are to be any higher, it will be because the youth of the country make them so. The progress we can make has no limit if our youth will vote their faith.
Citation: Calvin Coolidge Says: Dispatches Written by Former-President Coolidge and Syndicated to Newspapers in 1930-1931 (Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation)
The Coolidge Foundation gratefully acknowledges the volunteer efforts of Craig Eyermann who prepared this document for digital publication.