A Puritan in Babylon, The Story of Calvin Coolidge [Paperback]

William Allen White (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2001

"Honest, shrewd, sentimental, resolute, American primitive," this is how the author characterizes President Coolidge. The storry of the Coolidge period, a stirring drama, hangs on the undramatis and slight figure of the man who dominated the era, and by his qualities rather than by his words or deeds gave it substance and direction.

Product Details

• Paperback: 484 pages
• Publisher: Simon Publications (December 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931541523
• ISBN-13: 978-1931541527
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,213,675 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The biography of one of our greatest Presidents., June 16, 2004

By 

Kevin M Quigg (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Puritan in Babylon, The Story of Calvin Coolidge (Paperback)

Ok, so Silent Cal was not one of our greatest Presidents. He was a very honest President, who had a very shy personality. White wrote this biography in the thirties, and knew Calvin. Even though White knew Coolidge, criticism is still present in this biography. The most damning was Coolidge not taking action to prevent the build up of credit and speculation in the stock market. All indications are there that he should have limited money at some point, but Coolidge let the market make its own correction. This was one of the reasons why the market went down so fast.
White does a good job of showing how someone like Coolidge (and Harding) rose to the top of the heap. Throughout this book, Coolidge is shown as an honest politician who lived off his salary. He even stayed in boarding houses when he was Governor and Vice President. He was very shy and limited his talking. He asked people to vote for him and they did. He only lost one election, so this shows people trusted him. He worked the political system for his constituents and his beliefs. Although conservative, he backed some very liberal ideas at the time including the vote for women and opposed anti immigration efforts against the Japanese. When he told people what he was going to do, people could trust he would do it. He even made fun of himself and his personality. His personal characteristics were very admirable.
White's biography is a bit dry at times, but the subject comes across in very human terms. The book is divided into four sections, so one can read bits and pieces of that history which may interest the reader. The first one hundred pages was slow going, but it gets better after that. For those interested in a President who governed for six years, this is a good read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic Biography of Calvin Coolidge, May 10, 2008

By 

Books-n-Collies (Midwest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (Paperback)

This is considered a classic biography of Coolidge. Add it to the must have list. Very in-depth and very complete. interesting and easy to read. This book will give you a great insight as to who Coolidge was as a person and as President!