Calvin Coolidge
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]
Calvin Coolidge | |||||||||
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.png) Coolidge in 1919 | |||||||||
| 30th President of the United States | |||||||||
| In office August 2, 1923 – March 4, 1929 | |||||||||
| Vice President | None (1923–1925)[a] Charles G. Dawes (1925–1929) | ||||||||
| Preceded by | Warren G. Harding | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Herbert Hoover | ||||||||
| 29th Vice President of the United States | |||||||||
| In office March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923 | |||||||||
| President | Warren G. Harding | ||||||||
| Preceded by | Thomas R. Marshall | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Charles G. Dawes | ||||||||
| 48th Governor of Massachusetts | |||||||||
| In office January 2, 1919 – January 6, 1921 | |||||||||
| Lieutenant | Channing H. Cox | ||||||||
| Preceded by | Samuel W. McCall | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Channing H. Cox | ||||||||
| 46th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts | |||||||||
| In office January 6, 1916 – January 2, 1919 | |||||||||
| Governor | Samuel W. McCall | ||||||||
| Preceded by | Grafton D. Cushing | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Channing H. Cox | ||||||||
| President of the Massachusetts Senate | |||||||||
| In office 1914–1915 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | Levi H. Greenwood | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Henry Gordon Wells | ||||||||
| Member of the Massachusetts Senate | |||||||||
| In office 1912–1915 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | Allen T. Treadway | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | John B. Hull | ||||||||
| Constituency | Berkshire, Hampden, and Hampshire District | ||||||||
| Mayor of Northampton, Massachusetts | |||||||||
| In office 1910–1911 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | James W. O'Brien | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | William Feiker | ||||||||
| Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives | |||||||||
| In office 1907–1908 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | Moses M. Bassett | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Charles A. Montgomery | ||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||
| Born | John Calvin Coolidge Jr. July 4, 1872 Plymouth Notch, Vermont | ||||||||
| Died | January 5, 1933 (aged 60) Northampton, Massachusetts | ||||||||
| Cause of death | Heart attack[1] | ||||||||
| Resting place | Plymouth Notch Cemetery | ||||||||
| Political party | Republican | ||||||||
| Spouse(s) | Grace Goodhue (m. 1905) | ||||||||
| Children |
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| Alma mater | Amherst College | ||||||||
| Profession | Politician, lawyer | ||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||
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Family life
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
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
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]
Calvin Coolidge Media
Coolidge with his family, c. 1915
Coolidge as a state representative in 1908
Coolidge inspects militia in Boston police strike
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge with their wives
President Coolidge signing appropriation bills for the Veterans Bureau, June 1924
1924 electoral vote results
Coolidge with his vice president, Charles G. Dawes
Osage men with Coolidge after he signed the bill granting Native Americans U.S. citizenship
At the Smithsonian Institution; left to right: Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon; Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg; President Calvin Coolidge; former President and Chief Justice William Howard Taft, Secretary of the Smithsonian, Charles D. Walcott among others.
President Calvin Coolidge's cabinet*Coolidge's cabinet in 1924, outside the White House*Front row, left to right:Harry Stewart New, John W. Weeks, Charles Evans Hughes, Coolidge, Andrew Mellon, Harry M. Daugherty, Curtis D. Wilbur Back row, left to right, James J. Davis, Henry C. Wallace, Herbert Hoover, Hubert Work
Collection of video clips of President Coolidge
Notes
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Greenberg 2006, pp. 154–55.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Interesting Facts About Calvin Coolidge". History Rocket.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
- ↑ Beatty, Jack (December 31, 2003). "President Coolidge's Burden". The Atlantic. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
- ↑ Inc, Boy Scouts of America (January 1997). "Boys' Life". Boy Scouts of America, Inc. – via Google Books.
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Other websites
- Coolidge's White House biography Archived 2005-06-18 at the Wayback Machine