Amity Shlaes has
written a nuanced and compassionate account of the life of our 30th
President called, simply, Coolidge
(HarperCollins, 2013, 595 pages, available new and used, Kindle
edition $8.99), touting what are often seen as his liabilities as
strengths which brought dignity and acclaim to Coolidge in a
difficult time of major changes in America and the world, as we
recovered from World War I and adjusted to a country fraught with
social, economic, political re-adjustment. Coolidge, while far from
perfect, emerges as a model of probity, humility, and service which,
given serious attention in today’s overheated political,
technological, and media environment, provide a model for behavior
and restraint. Often seen today as a “do-nothing” minor holder of
our top office, belittled by the nickname Silent Cal, he is shown as
intelligent, thoughtful, reserved, and, during his administration,
both admired and liked.
Born into an
influential but far from wealthy, family of Vermont farmers, small
business proprietors, and political functionaries, his family history
showed a strain of community
mindedness, as his father, grandfather, and uncles had served as
school board members, and in the local and state legislatures.
Political action was viewed as a responsibility, not an ambition.
Calvin Coolidge (born July 4, 1872, the only president born on
Juy 4th) was physically slight, reserved, and, as he grew through
school and began college at Amherst, unpromising. His lack of what
today would be called charisma seems to have been a part of his
effectiveness, though, and related to his always upward life path. He
became noted as a listener and a quiet doer. People who befriended
him found themselves drawn to him, despite (or maybe because of) his
quiet, gentle demeanor.
Coolidge, having
read the law in a local law office rather than attending a law
school, was drawn to politics, but, in his quiet and unprepossessing
fashion, sought lower level offices on boards and committees, which
helped him to learn local issues as well as grow in his skills of
negotiation and finding compromises which would leave multiple
parties happy. Shlaes consistently
makes reference to large economic, political, and social changes
occurring nationally as the turn of the century rolls around. She
points to the Spanish American war, the emergence of industrialism,
immigration, and technology as Coolidge warns his father that he will
be a man of the 20th
century, not the 19th
which will require new skills and perspectives. With each physical
and intellectual move Coolidge makes, Shlaes always places it in a
larger context, laying groundwork for
the president
he will become. Coolidge’s
posture towards the battles that were continuing to rage between
progressives and conservatives became that legislators should not be
ideologues, but choose the path that serves the greater good in each
setting. He sought a balance between labor and capital that would
help corporations thrive while working people received ever higher
living wages, leading to the advancement of both.
On
the other hand, by refusing to compromise during the 1919 Boston
police strike, to find middle ground between the police strikers and
their duty as police officers, Coolidge established a line that broke
the already crumbling strike. Unlike his usual strategy of bringing
factions together to find acceptable middle ground, his position of
firing the police and making no compromises with behavior that led to
the riots, Coolidge established himself as a man who could be counted
on to make a hard decision in a time great difficulty. His choice was
met with local and national acclaim. Where President Wilson had
hesitated, more interested in his national tour pushing the doomed
League of Nations, to speak out, Coolidge, as governor of
Massachusetts, had taken an uncompromising stand toward the strike
which garnered national attention and the first inklings among
political watchers that he might be presidential timber.
Selected
by the Republicans to become
Warren G. Harding’s running mate in the 1920 election, he was able
to keep enough independence not to get caught up in the scandals
(Teapot Dome and others) associated with Harding, thus succeeding to
the presidency when Harding died in the second year of his term
without being associated with Harding’s problems, while able to
continue to pursue (at least in name) the policies of his
predecessor. For the next six
years, Coolidge managed to cut spending, reduce taxes, create a
balanced budget, and reduce the national debt. By
the time he reached the decision not to run again (“I do not choose
to run!”) he was widely admired and even liked as a conservative
and public spirited man working for the benefit of all. He maintained
his posture that the government had no business in local issues in
the face of national disasters growing out of disastrous flooding in
the South and New England, always the consistent
and even-handed administrator and leader.
Amity Shlaes
Amity
Ruth Shlaes is an American author and newspaper and magazine
columnist. Shlaes writes about politics and economics from a US
libertarian perspective. Shlaes has authored a number of books,
including three New York Times Bestsellers
(Wikipedia profile)
As
Coolidge ages too quickly in retirement, the value of his care with
words, his holding back to allow the processes to work themselves
through, emerges in public consciousness. In his columns, as in his
speeches and interviews as President, Coolidge makes each precious
word count for more by husbanding the total. The contrast between his
approach to his role and celebrity presidents goes almost without
saying. Playing his cardsc honestly, close to the vest, even with
changes in communications and technology, clearly gives the
president’s words more impact and influence. Amity Shlaes has
presented a powerful picture of a man who in public and private life
lived within the restraints of humility and service while
accomplishing much. Coolidge
offers a portrait more students of our history should seek to learn
from and emulate. I bought the book and read it on my Kindle.
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