Customer Reviews

Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President

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Believe it or not I frequently as I read this book laughed aloud--sometimes with Coolidge, sometimes at him. While three presidents (Jefferson, John Adams, and Monroe) have died on the 4th of July, Coolidge is the only president to have been born on the 4th of July. His rise to the presidency is actually a story of amazing luck, and McCoy tells the story very well. While in hindsight it is easy to see that Coolidge was not a great president, at the time he did everything seemingly right, and was very successful in making people think he was a good president. I found this book held my interest throughout and was a very satisfying read. I will admit that there were a few chapters on his presidency which were on topics not of interest (can one be intrigued today by, e.g., the Kellogg-Briand pact?) but since one wants to cover the entire life they have to be there. For those of you reading a biography of every president, this does very adequately for Coolidge. (Actually, I read William Allen White's A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge, but that was back on May 5, 1947, and my memory of that was not too fresh, so I thought I should read this more recent bio, and am glad I did.)

On my journey to read at least one biography on each president, I was not impressed by this effort. It could be that the Coolidge wasn't that dynamic, but the writing style required more concentration that I've found with other presidential biographies. Was our country better off from having Coolidge in the White House? I don't think so because he was so averse to controversy that he was inaffective. Was my study of the presidents enhanced by reading this book? I guess so, but does it have to be so painful?