Coolidge got an extra year as president when his predecessor Warren Harding died in office in 1923. Which meant that former Vice President Coolidge gave the Annual Message (AKA State of the Union address) as President that year instead of Harding.

It starts off, of course, with a word about the dearly departed Harding. Not too much, though: "But this is not the occasion for extended reference to the man or his work […] He is gone. We remain. It is our duty […] to take up the burdens which he was permitted to lay down" (source).

Coolidge wasn't really known for being sentimental. Plus, by this point Harding's scandals in office had seriously tarnished the late president's image, so maybe the less said the better.

Moving on, Coolidge reviews all the major issues of the day: foreign affairs, domestic affairs (including finances, infrastructure, and racial issues), labor and regulation, welfare and education, and immigration. You know, the usual state-of-everything-in-the-union.

His views on foreign policy are pretty similar to what you see in his other public talks. He and Congress were definitely against the U.S. joining the League of Nations, although he agrees it's probably a good idea for other less awesome countries. As he puts it, "The League exists as a foreign agency. We hope it will be helpful. But the United States sees no reason to limit its own freedom and independence of action by joining it" (source).

Like in his Inaugural Address, Coolidge mentions his support for the Permanent Court of International Justice. He sees the court as a way to create peaceful settlements among nations without limiting U.S. freedoms.

This speech was given before the Dawes Plan, which set up a system of lending to help European countries repay their war debts, was finalized. So when Coolidge talks about the European debts here, those countries haven't totally figured out how to pay them back yet. Still, Coolidge's perspective is very similar to the one in the Inaugural Address. He says,

[…] we have a direct interest in the economic recovery of Europe. They are enlarged by our desire for the stability of civilization and the welfare of humanity. That we are making sacrifices to that end none can deny […] We have reiterated our desire to see France paid and Germany revived. We have proposed disarmament. We have earnestly sought to compose differences and restore peace. We shall persevere in well-doing, not by force, but by reason (source).

Coolidge likes to frame the American economic involvement in World War I as a humanitarian effort. In both this speech and the inaugural address, he emphasizes its charitable aspects, probably to help justify it to people who might not see why it was at all necessary to get involved in Europe's problems.

Another familiar topic you'll recognize from the Inaugural Address is keeping taxes as low as possible. Even in 1923, he was saying things like: "Being opposed to war taxes in time of peace, I am not in favor of excess-profits taxes […]. To reduce war taxes is to give every home a better chance" (source). By the time he gave his 1925 Inaugural Address, reforms like these were a done deal.

The rest of this Annual Message deals with some topics that Coolidge doesn't really mention in his Inaugural Address. For instance, he addresses the racial violence of the era when he reminds the audience that Blacks have rights (because they needed reminders back then): "It is both a public and a private duty to protect those rights. The Congress ought to exercise all its powers of prevention and punishment against the hideous crime of lynching […] for which they furnish a majority of the victims" (source).

Yeah, we'd say at least a majority.

And in case you doubted national sentiment on immigration in the 1920s, check out what Coolidge says to Congress in 1923: "New arrivals should be limited to our capacity to absorb them into the ranks of good citizenship. America must be kept American. For this purpose, it is necessary to continue a policy of restricted immigration" (source). And no, he doesn't really define "American" here either.