Calvin Coolidge
by David Greenberg
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Book Summary Information
Author: David GreenbergEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-12-26
ISBN: 0805069577
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Times Books
Book Reviews of Calvin Coolidge
Book Review: A President between Two Worlds
Summary: 4 Stars
Near the end of his short biography of Calvin Coolidge (1872 - 1933), David Greenberg quotes novelist Willa Cather's statement that "The world broke in two in 1922 or thereabouts". (Greenberg, p.158) Cather was referring to what she believed was the watershed of the jazz age, with its increase in individualism, the pursuit of wealth or pleasure, and sexual activity. Cather disliked the claimed new jazz age world as did Calvin Coolidge, the president during much of it. Greenberg's study shows how Coolidge was caught between two worlds - the world of the late 19th Century with its emphasis on the work ethic, frugality, religion, and reserve and the world of the 1920s that Coolidge helped create. Greenberg's biography of Coolidge is part of the American Presidents series which has the goal of introducing Americans to our nation's leaders in brief, succinct volumes. Greenberg is a professor of history and media studies at Rutgers University.
Calvin Coolidge was born to modest circumstances in Plymouth Notch, Vermont and learned the 19th Century values of rural New England. Coolidge also soon learned the nature of grief. His mother died when he was in his early teens and his younger sister died five years later. In 1924, during his presidency, Coolidge's 16 year old son died from an infection he caught on the White House lawn.
Following his graduation from Amherst College in 1895 and admission to the Massachusetts Bar, Coolidge held a variety of elected positions in Massachusetts, culminating in the governorship in 1918. Coolidge came to national attention 1n 1919 for his handling of a strike by Boston policemen. He thus ran as the vice-presidential candidate on the ticket headed by Harding. With Harding's death in 1923, Coolidge became the 30th president. He was elected to a term in his own right in 1924 and famously declined to be a candidate for a second term in 1928.
Coolidge was popular during his lifetime, but his reputation plummeted with the Depression and New Deal. President Ronald Reagan was a great admirer of Coolidge. With the passage of time, Coolidge's presidency has been examined afresh.
There sometimes is a tendency to think about the presidents based upon their claimed place on some system of historical rankings. It is also possible to consider each president in his own terms, regardless of rating, to learn what that individual has to teach about the United States and about leadership. This seems to me the better way to approach Coolidge, and Greenberg's book does so effectively.
Greenberg finds Coolidge's accomplishments as president "neither substantial nor enduring. Too many problems left unaddressed, mounted; too many causes languished unpursued. His constricted vision of his office crippled him." (page 14) Greenberg's conclusion remains supported on several counts. Coolidge's basically hands-off approach to the economy and his failure to respond to warning signals helped lead to, although they did not cause, the coming economic woes of the United States. Coolidge pursued an essentially short-term foreign policy whose limited achievements were brushed away by WW II. During Coolidge's presidency, a restrictive immigration bill was enacted. And Coolidge did not speak out aggressively against the Ku Klux Klan which enjoyed a resurgence during the 1920s.
Greenberg also points out that "a president's achievement does not lie merely in the laws and policies he implements." (p. 14) Coolidge had many admirable traits. He brought unquestioned honesty to the White House following the scandals of Harding. Coolidge knew his own limitations, and those of his office. He would have been distressed by the "imperial presidency" of some of his successors. Coolidge inspired trust in the citizenry. He did not engage in scandalous accusations against his political opponents. Coolidge tried to work towards the public good, as he understood it, rather than towards the good of narrow interest groups. In his patriotism, personal religious conviction, and devotion to duty, he tried to bring the values of his youth to bear on an emerging community which saw these values in a different way. Thus, while Coolidge's presidency was not substantively a success, has character and his approach to the office deserve understanding and respect.
Reading the biographies in the American President's series has helped me look for value in the achievements of the widely different people who have held this high office. Many of the assumptions on which Coolidge proceeded, such as his faith in laissez-faire economics, may well be questioned. But his probity, modesty, and commitment to public service remain inspiring. Thinking about Coolidge suggests to me that we need not accept Willa Cather's dictum that "The world broke in two in 1922 or thereabouts." We can try to find and realize the best of both worlds. And then proceed with our current world of the Twenty-First century.
Robin Friedman
Summary of Calvin Coolidge
The austere president who presided over the Roaring Twenties and whose conservatism masked an innovative approach to national leadership
?
He was known as "Silent Cal." Buttoned up and tight-lipped, Calvin Coolidge seemed out of place as the leader of a nation plunging headlong into the modern era. His six years in office were a time of flappers, speakeasies, and a stock market boom, but his focus was on cutting taxes, balancing the federal budget, and promoting corporate productivity. "The chief business of the American people is business," he famously said.
But there is more to Coolidge than the stern capitalist scold. He was the progenitor of a conservatism that would flourish later in the century and a true innovator in the use of public relations and media. Coolidge worked with the top PR men of his day and seized on the rising technologies of newsreels and radio to bring the presidency into the lives of ordinary Americans-a path that led directly to FDR's "fireside chats" and the expert use of television by Kennedy and Reagan. At a time of great upheaval, Coolidge embodied the ambivalence that many of his countrymen felt. America kept "cool with Coolidge," and he returned the favor.
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