Calvin Coolidge (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As America's 30th president, Calvin Coolidge, popularly known as "Silent Cal," had a record that "was neither substantial nor enduring"; still, Ronald Reagan considered him "one of our most underrated presidents," and historian and author Greenberg (Nixon's Shadow) sets to find out why in a precise and objective record of Coolidge's long political career. If Coolidge's commitment to minimalist government in turn minimized his contributions to the nation, he was regarded well during his two terms, probably because of "robust economic productivity" and his prescient use of growing public relations infrastructure, utilizing radio, film and photography to run a front-porch campaign "long before the term 'photo op' was coined." Coolidge's personal commitment to austerity allowed him to"pare spending in almost every government department" and cut taxes four times; by the "end of his second term, most Americans paid no federal income tax at all." Though Black Thursday devastated the stock market on his watch in 1929, at the end of his presidency "standard accounts affix some blame to his policies," but "even Coolidge's harshest critics agree that the roots of the Depression lie deeper than any policies of one man." Greenberg's history takes readers ably but unsurprisingly from rustic, post-Civil War Vermont to, in Coolidge's words, "a new era to which I do not belong," showing along the way how his personality and politics helped him regain relevancy in political struggles yet to come.
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From The Washington Post

Reviewed by H.W. Brands

Calvin Coolidge didn't get a lot of respect while he was in the White House, and his reputation only suffered after he left office. To be sure, Coolidge's 1924 election -- following his ascent to the presidency upon the death the previous year of Warren G. Harding -- was impressive, but the victory said less about the Republican incumbent than about the ebullient condition of the economy and the disarray of the Democrats. Pundits made regular sport of Coolidge. "His ideal day," H.L. Mencken wrote, "is one on which nothing whatever happens." Walter Lippmann was being kind when he characterized Coolidge's philosophy as "Puritanism de luxe, in which it is possible to praise all the classic virtues while continuing to enjoy all the modern conveniences."

Coolidge's terseness became legendary. He could be "silent in five languages," a contemporary asserted. A favorite joke had a pretty young woman approaching the president to explain that she had bet a friend she could make him say more than two words. "You lose," Coolidge replied. Alice Roosevelt Longworth said he looked as though he'd been "weaned on a pickle." When Dorothy Parker heard in 1933 that Coolidge had just died, she archly inquired, "How could they tell?"

Historians weren't any kinder. The stock market crashed just months after Coolidge left office, triggering the Great Depression, and historians blamed him for ignoring structural weaknesses in the economy. Most judged his signature silence woefully inappropriate as a response to rising intolerance, which included the reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan, culminating in a march by some 40,000 of the white-robed bigots past the White House in August 1925.

Yet Ronald Reagan admired Coolidge and hung his portrait in the Cabinet Room. As well he might have, in the view of David Greenberg, who argues that Coolidge was a kind of proto-Reagan. Coolidge cut taxes repeatedly, slashed federal programs and adopted an uncompromising stance against striking government workers. More surprisingly, Greenberg adds, Coolidge was, if not a Great Communicator, at least a pretty darn good one, mastering radio in much the same way Reagan mastered television.

Greenberg's brisk, engaging volume is the latest in a series of short biographies of the presidents edited by Arthur Schlesinger Jr. The series aims to be comprehensively egalitarian; William Henry Harrison, who served one uneventful month, will receive his 50,000 words, the same as Franklin D. Roosevelt, who lasted 12 tumultuous years. Coolidge lands somewhere mid-spectrum in both time in office and significance. His accomplishments as president were as modest as his ambitions, consisting chiefly of downsizing the federal government and avoiding entanglement with the World Court and the League of Nations. His leadership style was passive to the point of willful paralysis. "If you keep dead still," he counseled Herbert Hoover, his successor, regarding visitors to the White House, "they will run down in three or four minutes. If you even cough or smile they will start up all over again."

Coolidge liked to think of himself as a practitioner of laissez faire. In fact, he might better have called himself an advocate of laissez le bon temps roulez (if French had not been one of the languages in which he was silent). The Roaring Twenties were the decade of Prohibition, which didn't prevent most of those who wanted their booze from getting it. Coolidge, a son of Plymouth Notch, Vt., didn't indulge in alcohol, but he did indulge the business culture of the decade in its acquisitive ways. He supported an increase in the tariff to protect the domestic market and fatten corporate profits, and he famously declared that "the chief business of the American people is business." Under Coolidge, the stock market swelled into an enormous bubble, inflated by borrowed money and a belief that the self-proclaimed "New Era" really was new. Coolidge managed to get out of office before the bursting, but that didn't prevent hard feelings. "Nero fiddled," Mencken said, "but Coolidge !

only snored."

Greenberg, who teaches history and media studies at Rutgers, has written previously on perceptions of Richard M. Nixon. His comparison of Coolidge with Reagan is apt as far as it goes (even if Greenberg overrates Coolidge's communication skills). But another parallel springs as readily to mind. Coolidge made a habit of bestowing nicknames on those around him; his tax cuts particularly benefited the rich; the hottest issue of his presidency was immigration (Coolidge in 1924 signed the most sweeping immigration reform in American history, drastically curtailing legal entry into the United States); flooding in Louisiana and elsewhere along the Mississippi required a major relief effort and prompted angry criticism of Washington's half-hearted response. But unlike George W. Bush, Coolidge left office after a single full term. "I do not choose to run," he said simply, and walked away. Considering how things have been going recently, Bush may wish he had followed Silent Cal's lead!

on this point, too.

Copyright 2007, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Times Books (December 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805069577
• ISBN-13: 978-0805069570
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #112,505 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Coolidge truly deserved a better biographer, September 26, 2007

By	C. A. Temm (Salem, AL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As many small "r" republicans and libertarians have noted, Coolidge is truly underrated. Unfortunately this biography will not do overly much to boost his image or reputation.

Mr. Greenberg's political beliefs get in the way of a non-partisan review of Calvin Coolidge. He does not much like his hands off philosophy nor very obviously, his small government/non intereference beliefs. This gets in the way of real examination of the man and his accomplishments. Though he admits to admiring aspects of the man's personal life, he cannot extend that admiration to Coolidge's lack of ambition or vision as president.

From the begining of his national notice as governor of Taxachusetts, Coolidge is portrayed as a man who dithers from indecision rather than a man who refuses to overstep his potical boundaries (police strike of 1919). Greenberg labels Coolidege's propensity to delegate rather than do things himself as weakness rather than sound executive ability.

He does note Coolidge's accomplishments in the use of radio (the new media then)to actually contact the people in lareg numbers. His ability to use the medium let him avoid the Congress and go direct to the people, something few presidents have forgotten since. With this use of radio and regularly scheduled presss conferences, he was the first 'modern' president.

Greenberg's personal political philosophy gets in the way too many times of the process of looking into Coolidge. From the falsehood of tax cuts "costing the Treasury money better spent on infrastructure" (how about what taxpayers would have done with it?) to his deploring of Coolidge's decision to let the ICC languish rather than up its choking of the American railroads (FDR reversed that quickly enough, look at that result),Greenberg fails to keep his personal views from is often a pleasurable read. He does note very astutely that Coolidge was no true laissez faire man but rather on tariffs at least, a traditional Republican out for big protective tariffs.

He does grudgingly though note that Coolidge was a true believer in the limits of political power. It would be this belief that would cause him to declare that he would not run for reelection. As Coolidge himself said, "the office has lost its attraction for me..."

Perhaps its Coolidge's style, concern for the taxpayer, and overall simplicity that many Americans long for. For sure, many of us would love to see someone in office who did not have to pronounce on every event in the nation like our last few decades of leaders have gotten into the habit of doing...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another of those brief biographies in the American Presidents series, September 1, 2008

By	Steven A. Peterson (Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL)) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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The author of this brief bio of Calvin Coolidge, David Greenberg, begins with an interesting quotation (Page 1): ". . .one of the first things [Ronald Reagan] made on entering the White House in January was to take down the portraits of Thomas Jefferson and Harry Truman in the Cabinet Room and put up those of Dwight Eisenhower and Calvin Coolidge." This volume examines Coolidge's life and times and his work as President.

"Silent Cal" was a competent but not very energetic or innovative president, according to this book. He often was rather passive in advancing his initiatives, in many cases not pressing hard when Congress pushed back against him. The term "hands off" as a presidential style seems to fit rather well.

The book begins with his background, as he came from Vermont (born on the 4th of July in 1872). He learned the values of hard work and thrift and came to understand that one did not exalt oneself over others. Characteristics emerging while he was younger (Page 17): "For the rest of his life, Calvin would remain deliberate in his decisions, conservative in his temperament and ideology, and restrained in his personal style."

His rise in the political world as a city council member, with his political taking off in Massachusetts. Over time, he rose to president of the state senate, lieutenant governor, and, finally, to governor. In the 1920 Republican convention, after Warren Harding's nomination, Coolidge ended up as Harding's VEEP candidate. And, with Harding's death, this rather unlikely person was sworn in as President (oddly enough, by his father, whom Calvin was visiting, given the oath by his father, because of his role as a notary public!).

Then, the slim volume begins to examine Coolidge's presidency. At the outset, he had to deal with the emerging scandals from the Harding Administration (such as Teapot Dome). His presidency, according to Greenberg, featured a characteristic style (Page 60): ". . .there was a shortsightedness to Coolidge's preference for letting problems pass--not least because they sometimes didn't. The wait-and-see approach prevented Coolidge from pursuing the kinds of goals that can make presidents great."

Some key features of his presidency. . . . For one, he was the first president to begin to exploit media (whether print or radio). For another, he tended to avoid much regulation or interference from government of the economy. Given the healthy economy during his term and a half in office, voters were pretty happy with his stewardship. His proposed economic policy featured tax cuts, tariff changes, limited regulation on business, and so on. Often, he had to work with a Congress that was not overly sympathetic. Sometimes, he appeared to display apathy in trying to convince Congress to advance his policies.

The book also notes the family tragedy of his son's death. Some researchers (such as Robert Gilbert) believe that this was so devastating that it enhanced his rather passive perspective toward office even more. Greenberg does not necessarily subscribe to that view, as he sees much consistency between his truncated term and his full-term after his election in 1924.

The book finishes by exploring the extent to which Coolidge's policies may have facilitated the financial crash and the Great Depression. Greenberg's analysis makes a fair amount of sense here.

Overall, another good entry in the American Presidents series. . . .

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Silent but Steady, January 28, 2007

By	Richard Everhart "book lover" (Ohio) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

David Greenberg does a nice job of humanizing "Silent Cal". Against the backdrop of the roaring twenties, he brings a quiet but even handed Calvin Coolidge to life. The objective reader will likely find himself at least a modest fan of our only President from Vermont.