On this day 100 years ago

In the first round of what would be his annual Christmas clemencies, President Calvin Coolidge commuted the prison sentences of all remaining persons incarcerated during the First World War for criticizing the government and/or the war. 

Happy Birthday

Calvin Coolidge born July 4, 1872 in Plymouth Notch Vermont.

Quote of the day...

Honorable Senators,
My sincere thanks I offer you. Conserve the firm foundations of our institutions. Do your work with the spirit of a soldier in the public service. Be loyal to the Commonwealth and yourselves. And be brief. Above all else, be brief.

- February 1914: The Opening Address of the Massachusetts State Senate by its President, Calvin Coolidge.

Yes. That's the whole speech.

Happy Birthday Mr. President

Richard Norton Smith on Calvin Coolidge

A great lecture on the most underrated president of the last 100 years. Part 1 of  8; full screen will allow you to click through each installment.

Statement of President Calvin Coolidge on the Libyan Crisis

After waking up on his own (there would be strict prohibitions against waking him up over things like this), he might have seen that there was a rebellion brewing in Libya and after being hounded by the press he might have made the following statement:

I've never much cared for that Qaddafi fellow.  He was always a bit flashy and thuggish for my taste.  I don't blame the Libyans if they are tired of him.  If they decide that changing their political leadership is something they want to do, then I wish them well.  We had a civil war here and came out of it okay.  I think that every rebellion deserves the opportunity to be left alone and succeed or fail based on the merits of the rebels' grievances, as opposed to the strength of the foreign power that has decided to pick a side in the struggle.  I respect the sovereignty of other governments the same way I expect them to respect the sovereignty of ours.

Clearly there are many nasty and brutish dictators in humanity's history, and they often treated their people downright poorly.  However, I am not nearly wise enough to be able to select which rebellions are: (i) morally correct in their grievances, (ii) weak enough to require the assistance of the U.S. in order to be successful, and (iii) strong enough to be able to stand on their own without further assistance from the U.S. once the tyrant has been toppled.  Since I do not possess this level of knowledge concerning the nature of the countless rebellions that are always unfolding somewhere in the world, and since I do not believe the American people elected me to try out my fortune telling abilities in matters of foreign policy, I am content to leave foreign countries to take care of their own internal affairs and I will busy myself with the internal affairs of the U.S., assuming they do not interfere with my nap times.

We tried to improve upon human nature through government interference and global war under Mr. Wilson's administration, and I do not believe that we saw any improvement at all in human nature as a result of his lavish expenditure of treasure and the the blood of our sons.  I hope you will understand when I say that the business of the U.S. is business, and exorcising the demons in human nature as they manifest themselves in the guise of dictators and thugs in foreign locales is not part of the oath of office I took as President and appears nowhere in my job description under the Constitution.

Good day. [President Coolidge yawns as he leaves the podium]

Shamelessly stolen from here.

Happy Birthday Calvin Coolidge

Happy 140th birthday to my favorite President. Some facts about President Coolidge...

• He was the last President to balance the budget every year while in office.
• During his administration the top income tax rate fell to its lowest level in the history of the country to the present day at about 25%.
• He paid down the national debt every year he was in office.
• He cut spending in every department of the government during his administration.
• Coolidge supported sound money and made sure the United States remained on a rigid gold standard. During his administration he encouraged, with only limited success, the European nations to return to a gold backed currency which they had abandoned during the Great War.
• President Coolidge believed war was a monstrous and barbaric waste to which end he supported disarmament and the rather idealistic Kellog Briand Treaty that supposedly outlawed war.
• He was the last president who never learned how to drive a car. However he was sufficiently impressed with the Pierce Arrow touring car at the disposal of the President that when he left office he paid the US Government $900 for it. A new one would have cost at least $1200 but Coolidge pointed out that the car was "used" and refused to pay a dime more.
• He was the last president who wrote all of his own speeches without an aid.
• He intensely disliked telephones and refused to allow one in the oval office and refrained from using them as much as possible. He believed it was undignified for the President to communicate in such an impersonal manner and also he complained that you never knew who might be listening in.
• Although he was in office during prohibition, he was personally opposed to coercion in personal habits. Nonetheless he felt duty bound to enforce the law of the land.
• Coolidge was legendary for his economy not only with money, but also with his words. He was known as "Silent Cal" and was the butt of scores of jokes and amusing stories related to his tight wallet and lips not all of which were apocryphal.

Coolidge related the story about when he was a boy during the summer of 1880 he once asked his father for a penny after finishing his farm chores. His father asked him what he wanted the penny for and Coolidge responded that he wanted to buy a candy stick. His father shook his head sadly and explained that it was an election year and that it looked like the Democrats were going to win. If that happened it would mean hard times for the country and therefor he must learn to economize. Several months later the telegraph reported that Garfield and the Republicans had won the election. Cal then went to his father reminding him of their earlier conversation and "in view of such favorable intelligence I was able to secure the advance of the sum requested."

His wife Grace Coolidge told the story about how not long after they married a traveling salesman came to the door hawking a home medical guide. Impressed by the book Mrs. Coolidge bought it for the rather steep sum of $5.00 (about $100 in today's money). After a little bit Mrs. Coolidge became concerned about how her husband would react so she decided to just put the book on the shelf and see what came of it. And there it sat unremarked upon for years until one day she pulled it off the shelf to thumb through it and noticed a note penned in the flyleaf. There her husband had written "I find in this work no cure for a sucker."

One Sunday morning Cal went to church to hear a famous preacher. After he returned home he sat in his favorite chair and began to read the paper. His wife asked him if the preacher had been at church. Without moving his eyes from the paper he replied "yep." After a couple of minutes she asked him what was the subject of the sermon. Again not stirring from his paper Coolidge responded "sin." After a few more minutes Mrs. Coolidge asked "what did he have to say about it?" The President finally looked up from his paper in some evident exasperation and replied "he's against it."


Newsreel footage from President Coolidge's 1925 inauguration and a number of other public events.


An actual voice recording of President Coolidge outlining his political philosophy.

Quote of the day...

"Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of my administration has been minding my own business."

-Calvin Coolidge 30th President of the United States

The high tide of (true) political conservatism

My favorite president is finally getting some respect.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

President Coolidge speaking on taxes and government expenses. This is believed to be the first film footage of an American President with sound.



Some great (and rare) film footage of President Coolidge.

A Great American on Taxes & Government

Happy Birthday

No… I am not talking about that 231 yr old republic. I am referring to the only President of the United States born on the 4th of July; a man often graded poorly among Presidents when ranked by historians. He also happens to be my favorite president.

John Calvin Coolidge (he would drop the John early in life) was born on July 4th 1872 in Plymouth Vermont. Although he would go on to a memorable political career in neighboring Massachusetts, Vermont would always hold a special place in his heart. This dour and taciturn New England Yankee would become the most conservative president of the last century and perhaps the only true Jeffersonian to occupy the White House. He had a lifelong suspicion of government and believed that people were best left alone. At his core Coolidge believed the answer to most problems was hard work, thrift and minding your own business. He was also deeply old fashioned in many other respects.

Coolidge was the last president who wrote his own speeches (all of them) and the last who never learned how to drive a car. He refused to allow a telephone to be put in the oval office and generally refused to speak on one. He claimed they demeaned the dignity of the office and you could never tell who was listening. On which point I think he was ahead of his time. Coolidge was the butt of countless jokes and he laughed all the way to the political bank. He was an extremely reserved and reticent man though he had a very dry wit of his own. It was said that he rarely smiled in public. (Oddly his wife Grace Coolidge was the complete opposite of her husband, a beautiful and socially graceful woman who was the life of the party and a ray of light in the darkest room.) One wag said that seeing Calvin Coolidge smile was like watching the ice break up on a New England river. Alice Roosevelt, the daughter of the former president, once quipped that Coolidge looked as though he had been weaned on a pickle. Newspaper columnist Dorothy Parker when told of his death in 1933 exclaimed “How can you tell?”

Calvin Coolidge presided over a period of great national prosperity and cut taxes twice. He balanced the budget every year he was in office (1923-1929) and reduced the public debt. He wielded the veto frequently cutting government spending at every opportunity. He briefly ordered government employees to type on both sides of each piece of paper in order to reduce paper expenditures. He threatened to fire the White House Chef once for cooking a whole ham for a state dinner with over 200 guests. It was popularly said that when Coolidge held a nickel he could squeeze it so hard you could hear the buffalo roar.

Nor was it only in his public life that Coolidge was parsimonious. Once while taking a walk late in his term as President, Coolidge stopped in front of an ice cream parlor and stunned his companion Col. Edmund Starling (Coolidge’s long time secret service guard) by offering to buy him an ice cream float. Starling explained that when Coolidge pulled out his change purse it appeared to be one passed down from his grandfather and that dust flew from it when the President opened it and extracted the requisite nickel for the treat.

Mrs. Coolidge once related how not long after they had married, she had been smooth talked by a door to door salesman and had bought a large volume of supposed home medical advice for the sum of $10.00 (a not inconsiderable amount in those days). Later she came to regret the purchase and worried what her husband would think. So she stuck the book on the shelf and waited for any reaction. None however seemed to come and she soon forgot about it. Several years later while preparing to move she found the book and sat down with it. When she opened it she found in her husbands crisp handwriting a short note inscribed on the inside of the cover. “I find in this work no cure for a sucker.”

This respect for the value of the penny appears to have been instilled in the future president at an early age. Coolidge himself related the story of how when he was a young boy in the summer of 1880 he asked his father for a penny so that he could buy a candy stick. His father soberly explained that it was an election year and it appeared that the Democrats were going to win. This would mean hard times and he would therefore need to learn economy. However in November Coolidge went back to his father and “I pointed out that the election returns indicated we were to continue a Republican administration. With that view presented I was able to secure the advance of the sum requested.”

But it was his legendary reticence for which Coolidge is best remembered. His nickname was “Silent Cal.” One probably apocryphal story has Coolidge seated next to two women at a dinner when one leans toward him and says “Mr. President, I have made a wager that I can get you to say more than two words.” Coolidge is supposed to have replied “You loose.” It was reported that a state dinner for the Queen of Romania the only words that passed his lips were “Salt please.” Mrs. Coolidge once told the story of how her husband had been invited to hear a famous preacher who was visiting Washington. Later that day while reading the paper together in silence she asked him what he thought of the sermon. “Good” he responded. After a few minutes of silence she decided to press on for more details. What was the subject she asked? “Sin” replied the President of the United States. Somewhat exasperated his wife soldiered on… “What did he have to say about it?” Coolidge now clearly annoyed at the distraction from his newspaper looked up and replied “He’s against it.”

All of this aside the 30th President had a very human side. He was a devoted family man who doted on his wife and deeply loved his two sons. He tried very hard to instill in them the same values he had been raised with, respect for hard work and thrift. While serving as president his younger son Calvin Jr. worked as a field hand at a tobacco plantation in Virginia. When one of the boy’s friends noted that if his father was President of the United States he would not be cutting tobacco in a field, young Cal replied “if your father was my father you would.”

In the summer of 1924 tragedy struck. Calvin Jr. took a short break and while visiting the White House with some friends went out to play lawn tennis. While doing this the boy got a blister which became infected. In this day and age such an infection would be cured quickly with antibiotics. But this was not available in the 1920’s. For days the President sat at his son’s side while he lingered in great agony. It was a presidential election year and in an age when partisan politics were not nearly as nasty as they have become in recent times, the Democrats interrupted the proceedings of their convention twice daily to read medical bulletins on the boys condition and offer prayer. When Calvin Jr. finally died his father was crushed.

Coolidge later wrote that when his son died, the power and glory of the presidency died with him. Not long after the boy’s death Col Starling reported that a boy was seen standing outside the White House fence. When asked what he was doing by a Secret Service man, the boy said he had come to tell the president how sorry he was about his son’s death. The guard then brought the boy in and took him to the oval office where he was introduced to President Coolidge. Coolidge was deeply affected and according to the guard nearly lost his composure. After the meeting the President instructed the Secret Service that if any other children came to the White House and asked to see the President they were to be admitted. Those orders were scrupulously observed for the rest of Coolidge’s tenure in office.

Calvin Coolidge quoted:

“Industry, thrift and self-control are not sought because they create wealth, but because they create character.”

“It is only when men begin to worship that they begin to grow.”

“Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. It may not be difficult to store up in the mind a vast quantity of face within a comparatively short time, but the ability to form judgments requires the severe discipline of hard work and the tempering heat of experience and maturity.”

“Little progress can be made by merely attempting to repress what is evil. Our great hope lies in developing what is good.”

“Men speak of natural rights, but I challenge any one to show where in nature any rights existed or were recognized until there was established for their declaration and protection a duly promulgated body of corresponding laws.”

“No man ever listened himself out of a job.”

“No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.”

“Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

“Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration has been minding my own business.”

“Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshipped.”

“The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.”

“There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no independence quite so important, as living within your means.”

“We do not need more intellectual power, we need more spiritual power. We do not need more of the things that are seen, we need more of the things that are unseen.”

“We need more of the Office Desk and less of the Show Window in politics. Let men in office substitute the midnight oil for the limelight.”

“Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.”

“Don't expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong.”

“I have never been hurt by what I have not said.” – on the virtue of silence

“Any man who does not like dogs and want them about does not deserve to be in the White House.”