Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge served as the 30th president of the United States from 1923 - 1929. Prior to the presidency, Coolidge was a lawyer and politician. He took over as president following the death of Warren Harding in 1923.
Coolidge died in Northampton, MA in 1933.
Resources
- Calvin Coolidge: Miller CenterA quiet and somber man whose sour expression masked a dry wit, Calvin Coolidge was known as "Silent Cal." After learning of his ascendancy to the presidency following the death of Warren Harding in 1923, Coolidge was sworn in by his father, a justice of the peace, in the middle of the night and, displaying his famous "cool," promptly went back to bed.
- Calvin Coolidge: White HouseAs America’s 30th President (1923-1929), Calvin Coolidge demonstrated his determination to preserve the old moral and economic precepts of frugality amid the material prosperity which many Americans were enjoying during the 1920s era.
Archives, Research & Reference
- Calvin Coolidge: Credo ReferenceA Credo Reference landing page on Calvin Coolidge. This page includes links to reference works, journal articles, and a mind map.
- Calvin Coolidge Papers: Library of CongressThe papers of John Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), thirtieth president of the United States, consist of approximately 179,000 documents (218,513 images), which have been digitized from 190 reels of previously reproduced microfilm. Held in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, these papers constitute the largest collection of original Coolidge documents in the world. The collection contains incoming correspondence with attachments, notes, carbon copies of outgoing letters from Coolidge or one of his secretaries, telegraph messages, appointment books, and names and addresses of White House guests.
Inauguration Of President Calvin Coolidge
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The first inauguration of Calvin Coolidge as the 30th President of the United States was held on Friday, August 3, 1923, at the Coolidge Homestead in Plymouth Notch, Vermont, following the death of President Warren G. Harding the previous evening. The inauguration – the sixth non-scheduled, extraordinary inauguration to ever take place – marked the commencement of the first term (a partial term of 1 year, 213 days) of Calvin Coolidge as President. The presidential oath of office was administered to the new president by his father, John Calvin Coolidge Sr., who was a Vermont notary public and justice of the peace.
Source: Films on Demand
Perspectives
The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge
Perhaps no American president has seemed less suited to his office or his times than Calvin Coolidge. The taciturn New Englander became a vice presidential candidate by chance, then with the death of Warren G. Harding was thrust into the White House to preside dourly over the Roaring Twenties. Robert Ferrell, one of America's most distinguished historians, offers the first book-length account of the Coolidge presidency in thirty years, drawing on the recently opened papers of White House physician Joel T. Boone to provide a more personal appraisal of the thirtieth president than has previously been possible. Ferrell shows Coolidge to have been a hard-working, sensitive individual who was a canny politician and a clever judge of people. He reveals how after being dubbed the "odd little man from Vermont" by the press, Coolidge cultivated that image in order to win the 1924 election. Alas, Coolidge's long-suffering wife often had to serve as a safety valve for his temper. Ferrell's analysis of the Coolidge years shows how the President represented the essence of 1920s Republicanism. A believer in laissez-faire economics and the separation of powers, he was committed to small government, and he and his predecessors reduced the national debt by a third. More a manager than a leader, he coped successfully with the Teapot Dome scandal and crises in Mexico, Nicaragua, and China, but ignored an overheating economy. Ferrell makes a persuasive case for not blaming Coolidge for the failures of his party's foreign policy; he does maintain that the President should have warned Wall Street about the dangers of overspeculating but lacked sufficient knowledge of economics to do so. Drawing on the most recent literature on the Coolidge era, Ferrell has constructed a meticulous and highly readable account of the President's domestic and foreign policy. His book illuminates this pre-Depression administration for historians and reveals to general readers a President who was stern in temperament and dedicated to public service.
Coolidge: An American Enigma
A portrait of Calvin Coolidge sheds new light on a much misunderstood American president, detailing his honest, and economical approach to government and American political thought.
Calvin Coolidge 1924-1929
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President Coolidge delivers a speech about taxes, liberty and the philosophy of government on August 11, 1924.
Source: Films on Demand