Calvin Coolidge

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Calvin Coolidge
Coolidge in 1919
30th President of the United States
In office
August 2, 1923 – March 4, 1929
Vice PresidentNone (1923–1925)[a]
Charles G. Dawes (1925–1929)
Preceded byWarren G. Harding
Succeeded byHerbert Hoover
29th Vice President of the United States
In office
March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923
PresidentWarren G. Harding
Preceded byThomas R. Marshall
Succeeded byCharles G. Dawes
48th Governor of Massachusetts
In office
January 2, 1919 – January 6, 1921
LieutenantChanning H. Cox
Preceded bySamuel W. McCall
Succeeded byChanning H. Cox
46th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
In office
January 6, 1916 – January 2, 1919
GovernorSamuel W. McCall
Preceded byGrafton D. Cushing
Succeeded byChanning H. Cox
President of the Massachusetts Senate
In office
1914–1915
Preceded byLevi H. Greenwood
Succeeded byHenry Gordon Wells
Member of the Massachusetts Senate
In office
1912–1915
Preceded byAllen T. Treadway
Succeeded byJohn B. Hull
ConstituencyBerkshire, Hampden, and Hampshire District
Mayor of Northampton, Massachusetts
In office
1910–1911
Preceded byJames W. O'Brien
Succeeded byWilliam Feiker
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office
1907–1908
Preceded byMoses M. Bassett
Succeeded byCharles A. Montgomery
Personal details
Born
John Calvin Coolidge Jr.

(1872-07-04)July 4, 1872
Plymouth Notch, Vermont
DiedJanuary 5, 1933(1933-01-05) (aged 60)
Northampton, Massachusetts
Cause of deathHeart attack[1]
Resting placePlymouth Notch Cemetery
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Grace Goodhue (m. 1905)
Children
Parents
Alma materAmherst College
ProfessionPolitician, lawyer
SignatureCursive signature in ink

Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; July 4, 1872 – January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States between 1923 and 1929. He was a conservative who supported business and lower taxes.[2]

Family life[change | change source]

He was the only president of the United States to be born on July 4.[2] He was married to Grace Coolidge and had 2 children: John Calvin Coolidge III (born September 6, 1906 - died May 31, 2000) and John Calvin Jr. (born April 13, 1908 - died July 7, 1924). His younger son John Calvin Coolidge IV died at 16 while playing tennis at the White House. His son was wearing tennis shoes without socks and died from a toe infection. He was buried at the foot of Hill Cemetery. After this, President Coolidge may have been depressed.[3]

Political career[change | change source]

Coolidge served as the Mayor of Northampton, Massachusetts. He later served as the Governor of Massachusetts. As governor, he became famous because of his response during the Boston Police Strike. Coolidge fired the police who went on strike and gave the jobs to unemployed World War 1 veterans (he gave the same bonuses that the striking policemen asked for to the veterans).

In 1920, he was nominated Vice President under Warren G. Harding. The Harding-Coolidge team won easily. Harding died in 1923 and Coolidge became the next president. He was inaugurated at his family farm in Vermont by his father John Calvin Coolidge Sr.

Coolidge finished Harding's term and was elected in 1924 to continue to be the country's president.

Coolidge was president during a prosperous economy and the country did not face many challenges. He believed that the federal government should be as small as possible. He supported tax cuts and wanted the federal government to not intervene in the economy.

Coolidge was criticized for refusing to give subsidies to farmers and when a giant flood happened in Mississippi during 1927, he did not want the federal government to be involved. This was part of his belief of federalism, that the country's problems should be solved mainly by state governments and local governments rather than the federal government.

He did not run for re-election in 1928 and published his autobiography the following year. he died of a heart attack in Massachusetts at age 60

The legacy of Calvin Coolidge is mixed. People who support more federal government involvement in the economy do not like him. People who support less federal government involvement in the economy like him.

Silent Cal[change | change source]

Calvin Coolidge was nicknamed "Silent Cal" because he did not talk much. There is a story that at a dinner party, a woman once told Coolidge that she could get more than two words out of him, to which he replied "You lose."[4]

Notes[change | change source]

  1. Coolidge was Vice President under Warren G. Harding and became President upon Harding's death on August 2, 1923. As this was prior to the adoption of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment in 1967, a vacancy in the office of Vice President was not filled until the next ensuing election and inauguration.

References[change | change source]

  1. Greenberg 2006, pp. 154–55.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Interesting Facts About Calvin Coolidge". History Rocket.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  3. Beatty, Jack (December 31, 2003). "President Coolidge's Burden". The Atlantic. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  4. Inc, Boy Scouts of America (January 1997). "Boys' Life". Boy Scouts of America, Inc. – via Google Books. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)

Other websites[change | change source]