- LABOR Day, while technically a union-centered holiday, is more broadly observed as a day to celebrate American workers and the economic dynamism of the United States. Past presidents understood that.Calvin Coolidge presided over one of this country's greatest economic expansions, a time of rapidly rising prosperity that benefited Americans from all economic strata.In a 1924 speech, Coolidge said, I cannot think of anything characteristically American that was not produced by toil. I cannot think of any American man or woman pre-eminent in the history of our nation who did not reach their place through toil. I cannot think of anything that represents the American people as a whole so adequately as honest work. We perform