Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)

Some call him the "Preacher of Prosperity", but he lucked out when he decided not to seek another term in 1928. He pretty much sat and slept during the Roaring 20's and left his successors to clean up his mess. Too bad that he can't be considered a great leader since his anti-government, pro-business policies set the tone for the Great Depression.

Partly responsible for causing the Great Depression.

It's hard for me to objective about "Silent Cal," as I love the dry wit, style, and optimism he brought to the presidency. No doubt his inattention to the wild economy of the roaring 20's brought on the 1929 crash, but ooh what a ride! He brought integrity back to government after the corrupt Harding years. I wish I could give him four stars.

"The business of America is business." That hands-off attitude sounds like a hrabinger for what followed soon after he left office: The Great Depression.

Like James Monroe who came before him, Coolidge was the perfect peace time president who over saw the continued growth of the country economically.

Hey, Cal was o.k. We had a great period of expansion and growth. America had a golden era.

For the roaring twenties Coolidge was the perfect man to be President- 'Silent Cal' once said the 'Business of America is Business'- and nothing more true could be said of the period. In early 1928 he told his wife Grace Coolidge. ' Mama, I think a depression is coming soon '..... He was never so right- and did not 'Choose to run' in 1928.

Required 10-11 hours sleep and a long afternoon nap every day.

It's hard to seperate Harding and Coolidge because Coolidge was an extension of Harding. A former Reagan economics advisor said this about the Harding/Coolidge administration: In another 50 years, Harding will look much better than he does today. His most sensational move was to name Andrew Mellon, the Pittsburgh banker, Treasury Secretary, which is why the Twenties roared. Mellon was the best Treasury Secretary after Alexander Hamilton. Harding's second great move (which preceded his Mellon pick) was to name Calvin Coolidge his running mate. Coolidge is derided because he didn't advocate Big Government, but he was Reagan's hero. RR was in high school in the Coolidge years, when Coolidge best expressed the ideas of low tax rates producing greater tax revenues than high tax rates. It was Mellon who inspired the JFK tax cuts of 1964 and the Reagan Revolution that followed. The only reason Harding is reviled by today's historians is that he MUST be entombed along with Hoover (and Coolidge... Read more

Inspired the couch potato before Homer Simpson. Can't say I've met anyone that admired this president. Maybe George W. Bush learnt a few tips from Cal about how to justify extended vacations during incumbency.

I always think its funny when Clinton supporters defend Clinton by saying the economy was roaring excuse all his ethical problems and really can't come up with any legislation that he proposed, politically supported, and passed through congress; and then pan Calvin Coolidge. Coolidge was very inactive as president- he didn't have to do much sith the economy was soaring. Like Coolidge, Clinton rode an economic innovation wave: Clinton the internet; Coolidge electronic appliances for the home and automobiles. Unemployment was low for both presidents, upperward mobility was strong and tax revenues increased immensely due to the broadening of the tax base. But unlike Clinton Coolidge had no ethical problems, didn't really want to be president and felt the less government did the better. Clinton was consumed by his yearning for a legacy but failed to do much of anything. Both contributed slightly to the economic downturns at the tail end of their administrations but can't really be fa... Read more

I hate Calven Coolidge, he truly is the worst Presedent we ever have had.

economy was goood. so he just let it be.

Definitely among our least useful presidents.

The business of America is business. If his laize-faire policies were still in place in 1929, the Great Depression would have been a mere deep recession dip in the business cycle and over in a year, like the much larger economic collapse of 1920 from which America recovered quickly.

He Knew the bubble would pop but refused to use his power to curtail it. Voila: the Great Depression. The right dosen't believe in using monetary policy either and say the depression wasn't so bad. What are they thingking?

Let's see, what did Coolidge do? Nothing. He simply watched as the Roaring Twenties headed towards the Great Depression.

Horrible. Set-up the Great Depression.

If he wasn't good enough for Gran'Pa Simpson, he ain't sqwat to me!

Coolidge provides a model for how a modest man can keep his right size even when presented with greatness. Prosperity occurred during his watch and he was the right man for the right time.

We kept Cool With Coolidge. 2nd-best president of 20th century. And it was Wilson's policies that started The Great Depression

Silent Cal was an idiot who sat idle and lame while the stage was set for the great Stock Market Crash. A real do-nothing, rubber stamp, lockstep Republican who looked the other way while the cutthroats, thieves and pirates in Corporate America manipulated the economy to their benefit and laughed all the way to the bank when the Little Guys got crushed in the Autumn of 1929. The only thing of merit this guy ever said was "I do not wish to run." He probably came to this conclusion when he sensed the center couldn't hold anymore and the entire crapshoot was soon going to spiral down the toilet. Furthermore, he had one of the worst records of any U.S. President in the area of law and order as the 1920s proved to be one of the Golden Eras of Organized Crime. It was a great idea, in 1926, to name J. Edgar Hoover as Director of the FBI: makes perfect sense to have one crook keeping the other crooks in line.

POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES: Calvin Coolidge was the perfect President at a time when citizens were intent on leading their own lives and uninterested in large governmental enterprises. His primary goal was reducing the national debt and balancing the budget. He successfully did both of those things with his responsible fiscal policies. The economy boomed during the Coolidge years, leading to the greatest wave of prosperity the United States had ever experienced. NEGATIVE ATTRIBUTES: Coolidge, unlike his predacessor, was no friend to African Americans and refused to put forth any Civil Rights laws. He proved to be an ineffective President towards the end of his term. An economic crisis was looming, and Coolidge refused to run for another term, leaving the economic crisis for his successor to handle. FINAL ANALYSIS: Calvin Coolidge was a man of few words who had a strict interpretation of the Constitution. He presided over a booming economy, but right after he left office, the economy went dow... Read more

Coolige had a mixed record as president. Good points - he respected the constitution and the limits on presidential power, he never invaded or massacred anyone, he didn't raise taxes or expand government massively, he kept business fairly lightly regulated, and was a fairly honest and decent man - in other words, the qualities you would expect from a US president. Bad points - he didn't fight prohibition; he was a protectionist, thus stifling foreign trade and preventing cheap goods for consumers; and finally his worst mistake was not to do anything about the speculative economic bubble created by the Federal Reserve under Benjamin Strong, which led to the crash of 1929 and inflated away the relative value of the savings of the poor and elderly. To be fair to him though, few people at the time understood this (most don't even now). Also, the idea that the Depression (as opposed to the 29 crash) was caused by Coolige is simply economically illiterate - read Murray Rothbard's "Americas G... Read more

Ever wonder where FDR got all the government money for his New Deal Programs? Could it have been from all the money Coolidge saved through his conservative policies? Liberals need to get a clue.

Coolidge presided over the bubble that burst on Hoover during his first term in office. But it's important to remember that Coolidge's "expansion" in the 20's most definitely did not bring everyone along with it. The 1920s was the time of great drought in Oklahoma, Kansas, and the other states that formed the Dust Bowl. This was an economic and ecological disaster that the government should have taken steps to alleviate. Coolidge's non-action had consequences for the severity of the crises in the Dust Bowl, the impact on the rest of the nation, and the shape of the Great Depression. I find Coolidge as underwhelming as some of the pro-business disasters of 1870s and 80s.

Bad, but better than the man he replaced- Harding

Perhaps the most underrated President of all time, and certainly (along with Reagan) one of the 2 greatest Presidents of the 20th century. He was the last U.S. President to make government smaller, as he simultaneously cut taxes and paid down the national debt significantly (due to his cutting of government spending and the massive amount of economic growth that the U.S. experienced on his watch). A true principled conservative, perhaps the most principled of the 20th century (one of the 4 true conservative Presidents of the 20th century, along with McKinley - albeit most of his term was in the 19th century, Harding, and Reagan). Its too bad that Hoover and FDR both amplified the depression initially caused by bad monetary policy via raising taxes, that's something that Coolidge never would have done and the depression wouldn't have been as bad had he stayed President. He was also a man of great integrity. Coolidge's only 2 flaws: He supported Prohibition and was too much of a pr... Read more

So Calvin Coolidge did nothing but sleep the Presidency away, well hold on just one little second and lets analyze the record. Under Coolidge measures were taken that included orderly growth of civil and military aviation, expansion of the services of the departments of Agriculture and Commerce, regulation of radio broadcasting, development of waterways, flood control, and encouragement of cooperative solutions to farm problems. Twice, he blocked enactment of the McNary-Haugen bill, which proposed to dump farm surpluses abroad in the hope of raising domestic market prices, because he objected to its price-fixing features and its cost. As an administrator, Coolidge was most successful. He demanded and got efficient and economical performance in government operations. He was instrumental in releasing the remaining political prisoners convicted under the Sedition Act during the Wilson administration. He also helped by his appointments to raise the level of competence among diplomats and f... Read more

Any one who bothers to really analyze the Coolidge record will find more positive accomplishments than any GOP President of the 20th Century. (With exception of Ford)

hot2trot

Lets be blunt, he never got the recognition he deserved. He was one of the best GOP Presidents of the 20th Century.

Very modest, very moral, and knew how to keep his mouth shut. He also knew how to respect the Presidency for what it was meant to be (not a monarchy). He didn't believe in wasting money, wasting time, or wasting words. He seemed like an anachronism during a decade known as the "Roaring Twenties," but even at the time, this country knew he was the kind of man they needed in the White House.

Excellent president. Respected the bounds of government.

quiet, honest conservative.

He was one of the best presidents of the 20th century. He knew what to leave alone and kept his nose out of the business of others. Whenever he did speak he was well worth listening to.

Stay cool with Coolidge. He was a terrible president that ignored as stated several times by Neil that the wealthy were proliferating their affluence while the middle class slipped below the poverty line in the '20s.

A very passive president. He vetoed farm relif legislation, and his policies destabilized both the domestic and international economy, which later brought the great depression. But he get two stars for his personal integrity.

Along with Phish and Ben n' Jerry's Coolidge is one of Vermont's finest exports. He's famous for his philosophy "The business of America is business"- this is so true and the reason America is the greatest nation on earth. His pro-business attitude lifted America into one of its greatest eras of prosperity. Great idealistic man and solid prez.

I agree with giese.

It was his economic policies that started the great depression, but Hoover got the blame.

If he really was cool, he would have ended Prohibition.

Coolidge was a good president. He was known as "Silent Cal". This is what made him a good president; he believed in a small government. This aspect of his presidency contributed to the boom in the 1920's. If he had remained president after 1928, I could probably tell you that there would have been a recession, but not a depression. Hoover gave in to the progressives and their vision of a massive government which turned a recession into a depression. Coolidge never would have.

With the possible exceptions of Reagan, Tyler, and McKinley, Calvin Coolidge is our most underestimated president. He presided over one of the longest and strongest periods of economic expansion in the nation's history. He cut taxes twices, kept the government budget small, and (with Harding) ceased the "progressive" drive towards eroding the Constitutional limitations of the goverment. While he was a bit too protectionist and didn't properly keep an eye on the folly committed by the federal reserve (which ended up causing the depression), he did defend the liberty promised by this country. Additionally, Coolidge never would have conceded these values like Hoover did in times crisis. This man was flanked by two failed presidencies and followed a rather immoral and corrupt man with a morally far more superior administration. He was certainly one of the best to hold his office.