Americans should learn from their mistakes, according to Cal Thomas, one of America's most widely syndicated op-ed columnist, who rang in 2024 with a piece examining the events of 1924.
"The past is a better teacher if we will pay attention to successes and mistakes so that we might avoid one and embrace the other," Thomas wrote for the New York Post.
"A hundred years ago, the ’20s were roaring and President Calvin Coolidge did things the current president and Congress would do well to emulate. Coolidge won a landslide victory running on a platform of limited government, reduced taxes and less regulation. He followed through on all three, creating an economic boom. (Where have you gone, Silent Cal, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you)," he continued. "Coolidge also signed an immigration law that regulated the number of foreigners who could come to America."
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Thomas noted that "Asian people were especially targeted, but one must understand the challenges of the time, which involved civil war in China and growing unrest in Japan," and that "according to Densho Encyclopedia, the announced motivation of the legislation was the ‘widespread fear of radicalism that contributed to anti-foreign sentiment and exclusionist demands. Supporters of immigration legislation stressed recurring themes: Anglo-Saxon superiority and foreigners as threats to jobs and wages.’"
"Sound familiar? A lot happened in 1924," Thomas wrote, noting that Vladimir Lenin died at 53 from a stroke in 1924 and "seems to have been reincarnated as Vladimir Putin."
Thomas also wrote that Adolf Hitler was released from prison, where he used his time behind bars to write "Mein Kampf," a "poison still infects us" 100 years later.
That same year, J. Edgar Hoover was named head of the FBI, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Marlon Brando, Tom Landry and Truman Capote were born, Woodrow Wilson died, and the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was held in New York City, all of which were noted by the famed columnist.
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The ice cream cone rolling machine was invented in 1924, while Judy Garland made her acting debut and "Tarzan" actor Johnny Weissmuller set the 100-meter world freestyle record.
"As with any other year, 1924 contained the good, the bad and the ugly, but it also contained lessons we should learn, because we sometimes repeat too many of the bad ones," Thomas wrote. "May those good lessons lead us to a happier, peaceful and prosperous 2024."
