Calvin Coolidge: Bad President!

August 2, 1923 – March 4, 1929 a term and a half.

“Silent Cal” – Coolidge was known as a man of few words, an image he took pains to cultivate and perpetuate. In his own words, few and far between though they were: "The words of a President have an enormous weight, and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Oddly though, he gave over 500 press conferences during his Presidency, so apparently he had a few words to string together, if not actually anything of substance to say.

When a guest (possibly Dorothy Parker) at a dinner said: "You must talk to me, Mr President. I made a bet that I could get more than two words out of you." He replied simply: "You lose." A few years later, when Parker was told Coolidge was dead, she actually did say: "How could they tell?" Perhaps in a way it was better that he didn’t speak very often: "When a great many people are unable to find work, unemployment results." Eat your heart out Yogi Berra!

Isolationist, champion of tax cuts, crusader against economic aid to farmers, supporter of Big Business, Calvin Coolidge pretty much believed that if the stuff of the Harding Administration wasn’t broke, why fix it? He was all about keeping the status quo – and why not? The stock market was careening along, and everyone thought The “Coolidge Prosperity” would go on forever, and in fact Coolidge Did Nothing (those are exactly the two words that sum up his Presidency) to dissuade people from believing it was all him. (Psssst! Don’t look now, but HooBoy! There’s a big cliff up ahead!) Of course, he also Did Nothing to counter the ugly reality that KKK membership was over 4 million during his administration. He made little squeaky noises about how awful lynchings were, and that Indians should have citizenship, and how maybe the U.S. oughta join the League of Nations, but never brought to bear the full weight of the Presidency to back it up. Did nothing. Also, Coolidge kept on most of Harding’s cabinet, a good many of whom were up to their nuts in corruption and scandal.

Although Coolidge was generally pretty popular with the Average Joe while he was President, historians began (like, minutes after he left office) to criticize his extreme “laissez-faire” approach to governing. The backing and forthing between Coolidge and Congress over aid to farmers is a good example – Coolidge wanted the market (which, for farmers at the time, was almost completely flat and sinking) to control itself, ("Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." And then went back to sleep. Atta boy!) Congress wanted to give the farmers an economic hand. In the end, what with the not passing of bills and the Presidential vetoing, Coolidge Did Nothing.

Meanwhile, those who believe that government should be hands off - providing only the most stripped-down minimal services for guys like, um, Average Joe - (like for example Ronald Reagan’s vast fan base) tried to re-cast Coolidge as a visionary leader in the crusade against “Big Government”. In the end, whether Coolidge was a good President or a Bad President may depend on what you believe the role of government, and especially the President, as the moral, emotional and political touchstone of the country he leads, should be.

Fun Facts: Vice President Coolidge became President when Warren G. Harding died while on a western goodwill tour. Coolidge, who was staying at his father’s farm in Vermont at the time, was awakened with the news, sworn into office at 2:47 AM, stood there for a minute to let the tragedy and grandeur of it all sink in, then went back to bed.

Coolidge slept for 11 hours a day - Groucho Marx once noticed Coolidge in the audience for a Marx Brothers show and shouted out: "Isn't it past your bedtime, Calvin?" Coolidge: "Four-fifths of all our troubles in this life would disappear if we would only sit down and keep still." H L Mencken: "Nero fiddled while Rome burned, but Coolidge only snores."

He had a pet raccoon called Rebecca, which was a gift from Peru. It was meant to be a culinary treat. (Contrary to popular belief, however, he did not have an Halibut named Eric.)