ArticleTitle stringclasses 109 values | Question stringlengths 4 586 ⌀ | Answer stringlengths 1 926 ⌀ | ArticleFile stringclasses 57 values | EvidencesAvailable stringclasses 120 values |
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beetle | Is the study of beetles called coleopterology , and its practitioners are coleopterists ? | Yes. | data/set1/a8 | beetle
Beetles are a group of insects which have the largest number of species. They are placed in the order Coleoptera,which means "sheathed wing" and contains more described species than in any other order in the animal kingdom, constituting about twenty-five percent of all known life-forms. James K. Liebherr and Joseph V. McHugh in Resh, V. H. & R. T. Cardé (Editors) 2003. Encyclopedia of Insects. Academic Press. Forty percent of all described insect species are beetles (about 350,000 species ), and new species are frequently discovered. Estimates put the total number of species, described and undescribed, at between 5 and 8 million.
Beetles can be found in almost all habitats, but are not known to occur in the sea or in the polar regions. They interact with their ecosystems in several ways. They often feed on plants and fungi, break down animal and plant debris, and eat other invertebrates. Some species are prey of various animals including birds and mammals. Certain species are agricultural pests, such as the Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata, the boll weevil Anthonomus grandis, the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, and the mungbean or cowpea beetle Callosobruchus maculatus, while other species of beetles are important controls of agricultural pests. For example, coccinellidae ("ladybirds" or "ladybugs") consume aphids, scale insects, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects that damage crops.
The name "Coleoptera" was given by Aristotle for the hardened shield like forewings (coleo = shield + ptera = wing).
A cockchafer with its elytra raised, exposing the membranous flight wings, where the veins are visible
Trogodendron fasciculatum, a clerid beetle with bright yellow antennae
Other characters of this group which are believed to be monophyletic include a holometabolous life cycle; having a prothorax that is distinct from and freely articulating with the mesothorax; the meso- and meta-thoracic segments fusing to form a pterothorax; a depressed body shape with the legs on the ventral surface; the coxae of legs recessed into cavities formed by heavily sclerotized thoracic sclerites; the abdominal sternites more sclerotized than the tergites; antennae with 11 or fewer segments; and terminal genitalic appendages retracted into the abdomen and invisible at rest.
The general anatomy of beetles is quite uniform, although specific organs and appendages may vary greatly in appearance and function between the many families in the order. Like all insects, beetles' bodies are divided into three sections: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen. When viewed from below, the thorax is that part from which all three pairs of legs and both pairs of wings arise. The abdomen is everything posterior to the thorax. When viewed from above, most beetles appear to have three clear sections, but this is deceptive: on the beetle's upper surface, the middle "section" is a hard plate called the pronotum, which is only the front part of the thorax; the back part of the thorax is concealed by the beetle's wings. Like all arthropods, beetles are segmented organisms, and all three of the major sections of the body are themselves composed of several further segments, although these are not always readily discernible. This further segmentation is usually best seen on the abdomen.
Beetles are generally characterised by a particularly hard exoskeleton and hard forewings (elytra). The beetle's exoskeleton is made up of numerous plates called sclerites, separated by thin sutures. This design creates the armoured defences of the beetle while maintaining flexibility. The elytra are not used for flight, but tend to cover the hind part of the body and protect the second pair of wings (alae). The elytra must be raised in order to move the hind flight wings. A beetle's flight wings are crossed with veins and are folded after landing, often along these veins, and are stored below the elytra.
In some beetles, the ability to fly has been lost. These include the ground beetles (family Carabidae) and some "true weevils" (family Curculionidae), but also some desert and cave-dwelling species of other families. Many of these species have the two elytra fused together, forming a solid shield over the abdomen. In a few families, both the ability to fly and the elytra have been lost, with the best known example being the glow-worms of the family Phengodidae, in which the females are larviform throughout their lives.
Beetles have mouthparts similar to those of grasshoppers. Of these parts, the most commonly known are probably the mandibles, which appear as large pincers on the front of some beetles. The mandibles are a pair of hard, often tooth-like structures that move horizontally to grasp, crush, or cut food or enemies (see defence, below). Two pairs of finger-like appendages are found around the mouth in most beetles, serving to move food into the mouth. These are the maxillary and labial palpi.
The eyes are compound and may display remarkable adaptability, as in the case of whirligig beetles (family Gyrinidae), in which the eyes are split to allow a view both above and below the waterline. Other species also have divided eyes â some longhorn beetles (family Cerambycidae) and weevils â while many beetles have eyes that are notched to some degree. A few beetle genera also possess ocelli, which are small, simple eyes usually situated farther back on the head (on the vertex).
Beetles' antennae are primarily organs of smell, but may also be used to feel out a beetle's environment physically. They may also be used in some families during mating, or among a few beetles for defence. Antennae vary greatly in form within the Coleoptera, but are often similar within any given family. In some cases, males and females of the same species will have different antennal forms. Antennae may be clavate (flabellate and lamellate are sub-forms of clavate, or clubbed antennae), filiform, geniculate, moniliform, pectinate, or serrate. For images of these antennal forms see antenna (biology).
Acilius sulcatus, a diving beetle showing hind legs adapted for life in water
The legs, which are multi-segmented, end in two to five small segments called tarsi. Like many other insect orders beetles bear claws, usually one pair, on the end of the last tarsal segment of each leg. While most beetles use their legs for walking, legs may be variously modified and adapted for other uses. Among aquatic families â Dytiscidae, Haliplidae, many species of Hydrophilidae and others â the legs, most notably the last pair, are modified for swimming and often bear rows of long hairs to aid this purpose. Other beetles have fossorial legs that are widened and often spined for digging. Species with such adaptations are found among the scarabs, ground beetles, and clown beetles (family Histeridae). The hind legs of some beetles, such as flea beetles (within Chrysomelidae) and flea weevils (within Curculionidae), are enlarged and designed for jumping.
Oxygen is obtained via a tracheal system. Air enters a series of tubes along the body through openings called spiracles, and is then taken into increasingly finer fibres. Pumping movements of the body force the air through the system.
Beetles have haemolymph instead of blood, and the open circulatory system of the beetle is powered by a tube-like heart attached to the top inside of the thorax.
Scarabaeiform larva of the cockchafer, Melolontha melolontha
Beetles are endopterygotes with complete metamorphosis.
A single female may lay from several dozen to several thousand eggs during her lifetime. Eggs are usually laid according to the substrate the larva will feed on upon hatching. Among others, they can be laid loose in the substrate (e.g. flour beetle), laid in clumps on leaves (e.g. Colorado potato beetle), or individually attached (e.g. mungbean beetle and other seed borers) or buried in the medium (e.g. carrot weevil).
The larva is usually the principal feeding stage of the beetle life cycle. Larvae tend to feed voraciously once they emerge from their eggs. Some feed externally on plants, such as those of certain leaf beetles, while others feed within their food sources. Examples of internal feeders are most Buprestidae and longhorn beetles. The larvae of many beetle families are predatory like the adults (ground beetles, ladybirds, rove beetles). The larval period varies between species but can be as long as several years.
Beetle larvae can be differentiated from other insect larvae by their hardened, often darkened head, the presence of chewing mouthparts, and spiracles along the sides of the body. Like adult beetles, the larvae are varied in appearance, particularly between beetle families. Beetles whose larvae are somewhat flattened and are highly mobile are the ground beetles, some rove beetles, and others; their larvae are described as campodeiform. Some beetle larvae resemble hardened worms with dark head capsules and minute legs. These are elateriform larvae, and are found in the click beetle (Elateridae) and darkling beetle (Tenebrionidae) families. Some elateriform larvae of click beetles are known as wireworms. Beetles in the families of the Scarabaeoidea have short, thick larvae described as scarabaeiform, but more commonly known as grubs.
All beetle larvae go through several instars, which are the developmental stages between each moult. In many species the larvae simply increase in size with each successive instar as more food is consumed. In some cases, however, more dramatic changes occur. Among certain beetle families or genera, particularly those that exhibit parasitic lifestyles, the first instar (the planidium) is highly mobile in order to search out a host, while the following instars are more sedentary and remain on or within their host. This is known as hypermetamorphosis; examples include the blister beetles (family Meloidae) and some rove beetles, particularly those of the genus Aleochara.
As with all endopterygotes, beetle larvae pupate, and from this pupa emerges a fully formed, sexually mature adult beetle, or imago. Adults have an extremely variable lifespan, from weeks to years, depending on the species.
Beetles mating in San Francisco
Flamboyant flower beetle, Eudicella gralli, from the forests of Central Africa. The iridescent elytra are used in marriage ceremonies.
Beetles may display extremely intricate behaviour when mating. Smell is thought to be important in the location of a mate.
Conflict can play a part in the mating rituals of species such as burying beetles (genus Nicrophorus) where conflicts between males and females rage until only one of each is left, thus ensuring reproduction by the strongest and fittest. Many beetles are territorial and will fiercely defend their small patch of territory from intruding males.
Pairing is generally short but in some cases will last for several hours. During pairing sperm cells are transferred to the female to fertilise the egg.
Parental care varies between species, ranging from the simple laying of eggs under a leaf to certain scarab beetles, which construct underground structures complete with a supply of dung to house and feed their young. Other beetles are leaf rollers, biting sections of leaves to cause them to curl inwards, then laying their eggs, thus protected, inside.
Brachinus sp., a bombardier beetle
Beetles and their larvae have a variety of strategies to avoid being attacked by predators or parasitoids. These include camouflage, mimicry, toxicity, and active defence.
Camouflage involves the use of colouration or shape to blend into the surrounding environment. Among those that exhibit this defensive strategy are some of the leaf beetles (family Chysomelidae), having green colouring very similar to their habitat on plant leaves. More complex camouflage also occurs, as with some weevils, where various coloured scales or hairs cause the beetle to resemble bird dung.
Another defence that often uses colour or shape to deceive potential enemies is mimicry. A number of longhorn beetles (family Cerambycidae) bear a striking resemblance to wasps, which fools predators into keeping their distance even though the beetles are in fact harmless. This defence can be found to a lesser extent in other beetle families, such as the scarab beetles. Beetles may combine their colour mimicry with behavioural mimicry, acting like the wasps they already closely resemble.
Many beetle species, including ladybirds and blister beetles, can secrete distasteful or toxic substances to make them unpalatable or even poisonous. These same species often exhibit aposematism, where bright or contrasting colour patterns warn away potential predators.
Large ground beetles and longhorn beetles may go on the attack, using their strong mandibles to forcibly persuade a predator to seek out easier prey. Others, such as bombardier beetles (within Carabidae) spray acidic gas from their abdomen to repel predators.
Besides being abundant and varied, the Coleoptera are able to exploit the wide diversity of food sources available in their many habitats. Some are generalists, eating both plants and animals. Other beetles are highly specialised in their diet. Many species of leaf beetles, longhorn beetles, and weevils are very host specific, feeding on only a single species of plant. Ground beetles and rove beetles (family Staphylinidae), among others, are primarily carnivorous and will catch and consume many other arthropods and small prey such as earthworms and snails. While most predatory beetles are generalists, a few species have more specific prey requirements or preferences.
Decaying organic matter is a primary diet for many species. This can range from dung, which is consumed by coprophagous species such as certain scarab beetles (family Scarabaeidae), to dead animals, which are eaten by necrophagous species such as the carrion beetles (family Silphidae). Some of the beetles found within dung and carrion are in fact predatory, such as the clown beetles, preying on the larvae of coprophagous and necrophagous insects.
Aquatic beetles use several techniques for retaining air beneath the water's surface. Beetles of the family Dytiscidae hold air between the abdomen and the elytra when diving. Hydrophilidae have hairs on their under surface that retain a layer of air against their bodies. Adult crawling water beetles use both their elytra and their hind coxae (the basal segment of the back legs) in air retention while whirligig beetles simply carry an air bubble down with them whenever they dive.
Sphaerius acaroides, a member of the small suborder Myxophaga
While some authorities believe modern beetles began about 140 million years ago, research announced in 2007 showed that beetles may have entered the fossil record during the Lower Permian, about 265 to 300 million years ago. Modern Beetles Predate Dinosaurs, Dave Mosher, LiveScience.com, 26 December 2007.
The four extant suborders of beetle are these:
* Polyphaga is the largest suborder, containing more than 300,000 described species in more than 170 families, including rove beetles (Staphylinidae), scarab beetles (Scarabaeidae), blister beetles (Meloidae), stag beetles (Lucanidae) and true weevils (Curculionidae). These beetles can be identified by the cervical sclerites (hardened parts of the head used as points of attachment for muscles) absent in the other suborders.
* Adephaga contains about 10 families of largely predatory beetles, includes ground beetles (Carabidae), Dytiscidae and whirligig beetles (Gyrinidae). In these beetles the testes are tubular and the first abdominal sternum (a plate of the exoskeleton) is divided by the hind coxae (the basal joints of the beetle's legs).
* Archostemata contains four families of mainly wood-eating beetles, including reticulated beetles (Cupedidae) and the telephone-pole beetle.
* Myxophaga contains about 100 described species in four families, mostly very small, including Hydroscaphidae and the genus Sphaerius.
These suborders diverged in the Permian and Triassic. Their phylogenetic relationship is uncertain, with the most popular hypothesis being that Polyphaga and Myxophaga are most closely related, with Adephaga as the sister group to those two, and Archostemata as sister to the other three collectively.
There are about 350,000 species of beetles. Such a large number of species poses special problems for classification, with some families consisting of thousands of species and needing further division into subfamilies and tribes.
Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) larvae
Many agricultural, forestry, and household insect pests are beetles. These include the following:
* The Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, is a notorious pest of potato plants. Crops are destroyed and the beetle can only be treated by employing expensive pesticides, many of which it has begun to develop resistance to. As well as potatoes, suitable hosts can be a number of plants from the potato family (Solanaceae), such as nightshade, tomato, aubergine and capsicum.
* The boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis, has cost cotton producers in the United States billions of dollars since it first entered that country.
* The bark beetles Hylurgopinus rufipes and Scolytus multistriatus, the elm leaf beetle, Pyrrhalta luteola, and other beetles attack elm trees. The bark beetles are important elm pests because they carry Dutch elm disease as they move from infected breeding sites to feed on healthy elm trees. The spread of the fungus by the beetle has led to the devastation of elm trees in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere, notably in Europe and North America.
* The death watch beetle, Xestobium rufovillosum, (family Anobiidae) is of considerable importance as a pest of older wooden buildings in Great Britain. It attacks hardwoods such as oak and chestnut, always where some fungal decay has taken or is taking place. It is thought that the actual introduction of the pest into buildings takes place at the time of construction.
* Asian long-horned beetle
* Citrus long-horned beetle
* Western corn rootworm
* Coconut hispine beetle or Brontispa longissima gestro feeds on young leaves and damages seedlings and mature coconut palms. On September 27, 2007, Philippines' Metro Manila and 26 provinces were quarantined due to having been infested with this pest (to save the $800-million Philippine coconut industry). Inquirer.net, Beetles infest coconuts in Manila, 26 provinces
Coccinella septempunctata, a beneficial beetle
* Both the larvae and adults of some ladybirds (family Coccinellidae) are found in aphid colonies. Other lady beetles feed on scale insects and mealybugs. If normal food sources are scarce they may feed on other things, such as small caterpillars, young plant bugs, honeydew and nectar.
* Ground beetles (family Carabidae) are common predators of many different insects and other arthropods, including fly eggs, caterpillars, wireworms and others.
* Plant-feeding beetles are often important beneficial insects, controlling problem weeds. Some flea beetles of the genus Aphthona feed on leafy spurge, a considerable weed of rangeland in western North America.
Some farmers develop beetle banks to foster and provide cover for beneficial beetles.
Beetles of the Dermestidae family are often used in taxidermy to clean bones of remaining flesh.
Ancient Egyptian scene depicting a scarab beetle
Several species of dung beetle, most notably Scarabaeus sacer (often referred to as "scarab"), enjoyed a sacred status among the ancient Egyptians, as the creatures were likened to the major god Khepri. Some scholars suggest that the Egyptians' practice of making mummies was inspired by the brooding process of the beetle. Many thousands of amulets and stamp seals have been excavated that depict the scarab. In many artifacts, the scarab is depicted pushing the sun along its course in the sky, much as scarabs push or roll balls of dung to their brood sites. During and following the New Kingdom, scarab amulets were often placed over the heart of the mummified deceased.
Some tribal groups, particularly in tropical parts of the world, use the colourful, iridescent elytra of certain beetles, especially certain Scarabaeidae, in ceremonies and as adornment.
Beetle collection at the Melbourne Museum, Australia
The study of beetles is called coleopterology, and its practitioners are coleopterists. Coleopterists have formed organisations to facilitate the study of beetles. Among these is The Coleopterists Society, an international organisation based in the United States. Such organisations may have both professionals and amateurs interested in beetles as members.
Research in this field is often published in peer-reviewed journals specific to the field of coleopterology, though journals dealing with general entomology also publish many papers on various aspects of beetle biology. Some of the journals specific to beetle research are:
*The Coleopterist (United Kingdom beetle fauna)
*The Coleopterists Bulletin (published by The Coleopterists Society)
There is a thriving industry in the collection of beetle specimens for amateur and professional collectors. Many coleopterists prefer to collect beetle specimens for themselves, recording detailed information about each specimen and its habitat. Such collections add to the body of knowledge about the Coleoptera. Some countries have established laws governing or prohibiting the collection of certain rare (and often much sought after) species. One such beetle whose collection is illegal or restricted is the American burying beetle, Nicrophorus americanus.
* Poul Beckmann, Living Jewels: The Natural Design of Beetles ISBN 3-7913-2528-0
* Arthur V. Evans, Charles Bellamy, and Lisa Charles Watson, An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles ISBN 0-520-22323-3
* Entomological Society of America, Beetle Larvae of the World ISBN 0-643-05506-1
* David Grimaldi, Michael S. Engel, Evolution of the Insects ISBN 0-521-82149-5
* Ross H. Arnett, Jr. and Michael C. Thomas, American Beetles (CRC Press, 2001-2). ISBN 0-8493-1925-0
* K. W. Harde, A Field Guide in Colour to Beetles ISBN 0-7064-1937-5 Pages 7-24
* White, R.E. 1983. Beetles. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, NY. ISBN 0-395-91089-7
*Heteroptera - insect suborder that is superficially similar to beetles
* - Coleoptera All what do you need to know about coleoptera, collecting and preparation
* The Beetle Ring - A group of websites about beetles (Coleoptera).
* List of major Beetle collections - worldwide
* Entomology - online insect museum, entomology, tips and tricks, how to spread and pin insects, etc.
* - Gallery of Central European beetles
* Coleoptera from the Tree of Life
* Australian borers species
* Beetles and coleopterologists Russian site with English version, with information about biology, systematics and paleontology of beetles
* North American Beetles from BugGuide
* Bibliography on fossil insects
* Coleoptera Families of the World
* A digital collection of Southeast Asian beetles
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beetle | May a single female lay from several dozen to several thousand eggs during her lifetime ? | Yes. | data/set1/a8 | beetle
Beetles are a group of insects which have the largest number of species. They are placed in the order Coleoptera,which means "sheathed wing" and contains more described species than in any other order in the animal kingdom, constituting about twenty-five percent of all known life-forms. James K. Liebherr and Joseph V. McHugh in Resh, V. H. & R. T. Cardé (Editors) 2003. Encyclopedia of Insects. Academic Press. Forty percent of all described insect species are beetles (about 350,000 species ), and new species are frequently discovered. Estimates put the total number of species, described and undescribed, at between 5 and 8 million.
Beetles can be found in almost all habitats, but are not known to occur in the sea or in the polar regions. They interact with their ecosystems in several ways. They often feed on plants and fungi, break down animal and plant debris, and eat other invertebrates. Some species are prey of various animals including birds and mammals. Certain species are agricultural pests, such as the Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata, the boll weevil Anthonomus grandis, the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, and the mungbean or cowpea beetle Callosobruchus maculatus, while other species of beetles are important controls of agricultural pests. For example, coccinellidae ("ladybirds" or "ladybugs") consume aphids, scale insects, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects that damage crops.
The name "Coleoptera" was given by Aristotle for the hardened shield like forewings (coleo = shield + ptera = wing).
A cockchafer with its elytra raised, exposing the membranous flight wings, where the veins are visible
Trogodendron fasciculatum, a clerid beetle with bright yellow antennae
Other characters of this group which are believed to be monophyletic include a holometabolous life cycle; having a prothorax that is distinct from and freely articulating with the mesothorax; the meso- and meta-thoracic segments fusing to form a pterothorax; a depressed body shape with the legs on the ventral surface; the coxae of legs recessed into cavities formed by heavily sclerotized thoracic sclerites; the abdominal sternites more sclerotized than the tergites; antennae with 11 or fewer segments; and terminal genitalic appendages retracted into the abdomen and invisible at rest.
The general anatomy of beetles is quite uniform, although specific organs and appendages may vary greatly in appearance and function between the many families in the order. Like all insects, beetles' bodies are divided into three sections: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen. When viewed from below, the thorax is that part from which all three pairs of legs and both pairs of wings arise. The abdomen is everything posterior to the thorax. When viewed from above, most beetles appear to have three clear sections, but this is deceptive: on the beetle's upper surface, the middle "section" is a hard plate called the pronotum, which is only the front part of the thorax; the back part of the thorax is concealed by the beetle's wings. Like all arthropods, beetles are segmented organisms, and all three of the major sections of the body are themselves composed of several further segments, although these are not always readily discernible. This further segmentation is usually best seen on the abdomen.
Beetles are generally characterised by a particularly hard exoskeleton and hard forewings (elytra). The beetle's exoskeleton is made up of numerous plates called sclerites, separated by thin sutures. This design creates the armoured defences of the beetle while maintaining flexibility. The elytra are not used for flight, but tend to cover the hind part of the body and protect the second pair of wings (alae). The elytra must be raised in order to move the hind flight wings. A beetle's flight wings are crossed with veins and are folded after landing, often along these veins, and are stored below the elytra.
In some beetles, the ability to fly has been lost. These include the ground beetles (family Carabidae) and some "true weevils" (family Curculionidae), but also some desert and cave-dwelling species of other families. Many of these species have the two elytra fused together, forming a solid shield over the abdomen. In a few families, both the ability to fly and the elytra have been lost, with the best known example being the glow-worms of the family Phengodidae, in which the females are larviform throughout their lives.
Beetles have mouthparts similar to those of grasshoppers. Of these parts, the most commonly known are probably the mandibles, which appear as large pincers on the front of some beetles. The mandibles are a pair of hard, often tooth-like structures that move horizontally to grasp, crush, or cut food or enemies (see defence, below). Two pairs of finger-like appendages are found around the mouth in most beetles, serving to move food into the mouth. These are the maxillary and labial palpi.
The eyes are compound and may display remarkable adaptability, as in the case of whirligig beetles (family Gyrinidae), in which the eyes are split to allow a view both above and below the waterline. Other species also have divided eyes â some longhorn beetles (family Cerambycidae) and weevils â while many beetles have eyes that are notched to some degree. A few beetle genera also possess ocelli, which are small, simple eyes usually situated farther back on the head (on the vertex).
Beetles' antennae are primarily organs of smell, but may also be used to feel out a beetle's environment physically. They may also be used in some families during mating, or among a few beetles for defence. Antennae vary greatly in form within the Coleoptera, but are often similar within any given family. In some cases, males and females of the same species will have different antennal forms. Antennae may be clavate (flabellate and lamellate are sub-forms of clavate, or clubbed antennae), filiform, geniculate, moniliform, pectinate, or serrate. For images of these antennal forms see antenna (biology).
Acilius sulcatus, a diving beetle showing hind legs adapted for life in water
The legs, which are multi-segmented, end in two to five small segments called tarsi. Like many other insect orders beetles bear claws, usually one pair, on the end of the last tarsal segment of each leg. While most beetles use their legs for walking, legs may be variously modified and adapted for other uses. Among aquatic families â Dytiscidae, Haliplidae, many species of Hydrophilidae and others â the legs, most notably the last pair, are modified for swimming and often bear rows of long hairs to aid this purpose. Other beetles have fossorial legs that are widened and often spined for digging. Species with such adaptations are found among the scarabs, ground beetles, and clown beetles (family Histeridae). The hind legs of some beetles, such as flea beetles (within Chrysomelidae) and flea weevils (within Curculionidae), are enlarged and designed for jumping.
Oxygen is obtained via a tracheal system. Air enters a series of tubes along the body through openings called spiracles, and is then taken into increasingly finer fibres. Pumping movements of the body force the air through the system.
Beetles have haemolymph instead of blood, and the open circulatory system of the beetle is powered by a tube-like heart attached to the top inside of the thorax.
Scarabaeiform larva of the cockchafer, Melolontha melolontha
Beetles are endopterygotes with complete metamorphosis.
A single female may lay from several dozen to several thousand eggs during her lifetime. Eggs are usually laid according to the substrate the larva will feed on upon hatching. Among others, they can be laid loose in the substrate (e.g. flour beetle), laid in clumps on leaves (e.g. Colorado potato beetle), or individually attached (e.g. mungbean beetle and other seed borers) or buried in the medium (e.g. carrot weevil).
The larva is usually the principal feeding stage of the beetle life cycle. Larvae tend to feed voraciously once they emerge from their eggs. Some feed externally on plants, such as those of certain leaf beetles, while others feed within their food sources. Examples of internal feeders are most Buprestidae and longhorn beetles. The larvae of many beetle families are predatory like the adults (ground beetles, ladybirds, rove beetles). The larval period varies between species but can be as long as several years.
Beetle larvae can be differentiated from other insect larvae by their hardened, often darkened head, the presence of chewing mouthparts, and spiracles along the sides of the body. Like adult beetles, the larvae are varied in appearance, particularly between beetle families. Beetles whose larvae are somewhat flattened and are highly mobile are the ground beetles, some rove beetles, and others; their larvae are described as campodeiform. Some beetle larvae resemble hardened worms with dark head capsules and minute legs. These are elateriform larvae, and are found in the click beetle (Elateridae) and darkling beetle (Tenebrionidae) families. Some elateriform larvae of click beetles are known as wireworms. Beetles in the families of the Scarabaeoidea have short, thick larvae described as scarabaeiform, but more commonly known as grubs.
All beetle larvae go through several instars, which are the developmental stages between each moult. In many species the larvae simply increase in size with each successive instar as more food is consumed. In some cases, however, more dramatic changes occur. Among certain beetle families or genera, particularly those that exhibit parasitic lifestyles, the first instar (the planidium) is highly mobile in order to search out a host, while the following instars are more sedentary and remain on or within their host. This is known as hypermetamorphosis; examples include the blister beetles (family Meloidae) and some rove beetles, particularly those of the genus Aleochara.
As with all endopterygotes, beetle larvae pupate, and from this pupa emerges a fully formed, sexually mature adult beetle, or imago. Adults have an extremely variable lifespan, from weeks to years, depending on the species.
Beetles mating in San Francisco
Flamboyant flower beetle, Eudicella gralli, from the forests of Central Africa. The iridescent elytra are used in marriage ceremonies.
Beetles may display extremely intricate behaviour when mating. Smell is thought to be important in the location of a mate.
Conflict can play a part in the mating rituals of species such as burying beetles (genus Nicrophorus) where conflicts between males and females rage until only one of each is left, thus ensuring reproduction by the strongest and fittest. Many beetles are territorial and will fiercely defend their small patch of territory from intruding males.
Pairing is generally short but in some cases will last for several hours. During pairing sperm cells are transferred to the female to fertilise the egg.
Parental care varies between species, ranging from the simple laying of eggs under a leaf to certain scarab beetles, which construct underground structures complete with a supply of dung to house and feed their young. Other beetles are leaf rollers, biting sections of leaves to cause them to curl inwards, then laying their eggs, thus protected, inside.
Brachinus sp., a bombardier beetle
Beetles and their larvae have a variety of strategies to avoid being attacked by predators or parasitoids. These include camouflage, mimicry, toxicity, and active defence.
Camouflage involves the use of colouration or shape to blend into the surrounding environment. Among those that exhibit this defensive strategy are some of the leaf beetles (family Chysomelidae), having green colouring very similar to their habitat on plant leaves. More complex camouflage also occurs, as with some weevils, where various coloured scales or hairs cause the beetle to resemble bird dung.
Another defence that often uses colour or shape to deceive potential enemies is mimicry. A number of longhorn beetles (family Cerambycidae) bear a striking resemblance to wasps, which fools predators into keeping their distance even though the beetles are in fact harmless. This defence can be found to a lesser extent in other beetle families, such as the scarab beetles. Beetles may combine their colour mimicry with behavioural mimicry, acting like the wasps they already closely resemble.
Many beetle species, including ladybirds and blister beetles, can secrete distasteful or toxic substances to make them unpalatable or even poisonous. These same species often exhibit aposematism, where bright or contrasting colour patterns warn away potential predators.
Large ground beetles and longhorn beetles may go on the attack, using their strong mandibles to forcibly persuade a predator to seek out easier prey. Others, such as bombardier beetles (within Carabidae) spray acidic gas from their abdomen to repel predators.
Besides being abundant and varied, the Coleoptera are able to exploit the wide diversity of food sources available in their many habitats. Some are generalists, eating both plants and animals. Other beetles are highly specialised in their diet. Many species of leaf beetles, longhorn beetles, and weevils are very host specific, feeding on only a single species of plant. Ground beetles and rove beetles (family Staphylinidae), among others, are primarily carnivorous and will catch and consume many other arthropods and small prey such as earthworms and snails. While most predatory beetles are generalists, a few species have more specific prey requirements or preferences.
Decaying organic matter is a primary diet for many species. This can range from dung, which is consumed by coprophagous species such as certain scarab beetles (family Scarabaeidae), to dead animals, which are eaten by necrophagous species such as the carrion beetles (family Silphidae). Some of the beetles found within dung and carrion are in fact predatory, such as the clown beetles, preying on the larvae of coprophagous and necrophagous insects.
Aquatic beetles use several techniques for retaining air beneath the water's surface. Beetles of the family Dytiscidae hold air between the abdomen and the elytra when diving. Hydrophilidae have hairs on their under surface that retain a layer of air against their bodies. Adult crawling water beetles use both their elytra and their hind coxae (the basal segment of the back legs) in air retention while whirligig beetles simply carry an air bubble down with them whenever they dive.
Sphaerius acaroides, a member of the small suborder Myxophaga
While some authorities believe modern beetles began about 140 million years ago, research announced in 2007 showed that beetles may have entered the fossil record during the Lower Permian, about 265 to 300 million years ago. Modern Beetles Predate Dinosaurs, Dave Mosher, LiveScience.com, 26 December 2007.
The four extant suborders of beetle are these:
* Polyphaga is the largest suborder, containing more than 300,000 described species in more than 170 families, including rove beetles (Staphylinidae), scarab beetles (Scarabaeidae), blister beetles (Meloidae), stag beetles (Lucanidae) and true weevils (Curculionidae). These beetles can be identified by the cervical sclerites (hardened parts of the head used as points of attachment for muscles) absent in the other suborders.
* Adephaga contains about 10 families of largely predatory beetles, includes ground beetles (Carabidae), Dytiscidae and whirligig beetles (Gyrinidae). In these beetles the testes are tubular and the first abdominal sternum (a plate of the exoskeleton) is divided by the hind coxae (the basal joints of the beetle's legs).
* Archostemata contains four families of mainly wood-eating beetles, including reticulated beetles (Cupedidae) and the telephone-pole beetle.
* Myxophaga contains about 100 described species in four families, mostly very small, including Hydroscaphidae and the genus Sphaerius.
These suborders diverged in the Permian and Triassic. Their phylogenetic relationship is uncertain, with the most popular hypothesis being that Polyphaga and Myxophaga are most closely related, with Adephaga as the sister group to those two, and Archostemata as sister to the other three collectively.
There are about 350,000 species of beetles. Such a large number of species poses special problems for classification, with some families consisting of thousands of species and needing further division into subfamilies and tribes.
Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) larvae
Many agricultural, forestry, and household insect pests are beetles. These include the following:
* The Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, is a notorious pest of potato plants. Crops are destroyed and the beetle can only be treated by employing expensive pesticides, many of which it has begun to develop resistance to. As well as potatoes, suitable hosts can be a number of plants from the potato family (Solanaceae), such as nightshade, tomato, aubergine and capsicum.
* The boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis, has cost cotton producers in the United States billions of dollars since it first entered that country.
* The bark beetles Hylurgopinus rufipes and Scolytus multistriatus, the elm leaf beetle, Pyrrhalta luteola, and other beetles attack elm trees. The bark beetles are important elm pests because they carry Dutch elm disease as they move from infected breeding sites to feed on healthy elm trees. The spread of the fungus by the beetle has led to the devastation of elm trees in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere, notably in Europe and North America.
* The death watch beetle, Xestobium rufovillosum, (family Anobiidae) is of considerable importance as a pest of older wooden buildings in Great Britain. It attacks hardwoods such as oak and chestnut, always where some fungal decay has taken or is taking place. It is thought that the actual introduction of the pest into buildings takes place at the time of construction.
* Asian long-horned beetle
* Citrus long-horned beetle
* Western corn rootworm
* Coconut hispine beetle or Brontispa longissima gestro feeds on young leaves and damages seedlings and mature coconut palms. On September 27, 2007, Philippines' Metro Manila and 26 provinces were quarantined due to having been infested with this pest (to save the $800-million Philippine coconut industry). Inquirer.net, Beetles infest coconuts in Manila, 26 provinces
Coccinella septempunctata, a beneficial beetle
* Both the larvae and adults of some ladybirds (family Coccinellidae) are found in aphid colonies. Other lady beetles feed on scale insects and mealybugs. If normal food sources are scarce they may feed on other things, such as small caterpillars, young plant bugs, honeydew and nectar.
* Ground beetles (family Carabidae) are common predators of many different insects and other arthropods, including fly eggs, caterpillars, wireworms and others.
* Plant-feeding beetles are often important beneficial insects, controlling problem weeds. Some flea beetles of the genus Aphthona feed on leafy spurge, a considerable weed of rangeland in western North America.
Some farmers develop beetle banks to foster and provide cover for beneficial beetles.
Beetles of the Dermestidae family are often used in taxidermy to clean bones of remaining flesh.
Ancient Egyptian scene depicting a scarab beetle
Several species of dung beetle, most notably Scarabaeus sacer (often referred to as "scarab"), enjoyed a sacred status among the ancient Egyptians, as the creatures were likened to the major god Khepri. Some scholars suggest that the Egyptians' practice of making mummies was inspired by the brooding process of the beetle. Many thousands of amulets and stamp seals have been excavated that depict the scarab. In many artifacts, the scarab is depicted pushing the sun along its course in the sky, much as scarabs push or roll balls of dung to their brood sites. During and following the New Kingdom, scarab amulets were often placed over the heart of the mummified deceased.
Some tribal groups, particularly in tropical parts of the world, use the colourful, iridescent elytra of certain beetles, especially certain Scarabaeidae, in ceremonies and as adornment.
Beetle collection at the Melbourne Museum, Australia
The study of beetles is called coleopterology, and its practitioners are coleopterists. Coleopterists have formed organisations to facilitate the study of beetles. Among these is The Coleopterists Society, an international organisation based in the United States. Such organisations may have both professionals and amateurs interested in beetles as members.
Research in this field is often published in peer-reviewed journals specific to the field of coleopterology, though journals dealing with general entomology also publish many papers on various aspects of beetle biology. Some of the journals specific to beetle research are:
*The Coleopterist (United Kingdom beetle fauna)
*The Coleopterists Bulletin (published by The Coleopterists Society)
There is a thriving industry in the collection of beetle specimens for amateur and professional collectors. Many coleopterists prefer to collect beetle specimens for themselves, recording detailed information about each specimen and its habitat. Such collections add to the body of knowledge about the Coleoptera. Some countries have established laws governing or prohibiting the collection of certain rare (and often much sought after) species. One such beetle whose collection is illegal or restricted is the American burying beetle, Nicrophorus americanus.
* Poul Beckmann, Living Jewels: The Natural Design of Beetles ISBN 3-7913-2528-0
* Arthur V. Evans, Charles Bellamy, and Lisa Charles Watson, An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles ISBN 0-520-22323-3
* Entomological Society of America, Beetle Larvae of the World ISBN 0-643-05506-1
* David Grimaldi, Michael S. Engel, Evolution of the Insects ISBN 0-521-82149-5
* Ross H. Arnett, Jr. and Michael C. Thomas, American Beetles (CRC Press, 2001-2). ISBN 0-8493-1925-0
* K. W. Harde, A Field Guide in Colour to Beetles ISBN 0-7064-1937-5 Pages 7-24
* White, R.E. 1983. Beetles. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, NY. ISBN 0-395-91089-7
*Heteroptera - insect suborder that is superficially similar to beetles
* - Coleoptera All what do you need to know about coleoptera, collecting and preparation
* The Beetle Ring - A group of websites about beetles (Coleoptera).
* List of major Beetle collections - worldwide
* Entomology - online insect museum, entomology, tips and tricks, how to spread and pin insects, etc.
* - Gallery of Central European beetles
* Coleoptera from the Tree of Life
* Australian borers species
* Beetles and coleopterologists Russian site with English version, with information about biology, systematics and paleontology of beetles
* North American Beetles from BugGuide
* Bibliography on fossil insects
* Coleoptera Families of the World
* A digital collection of Southeast Asian beetles
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beetle | Can beetles be found in almost all habitats? | Yes. | data/set1/a8 | beetle
Beetles are a group of insects which have the largest number of species. They are placed in the order Coleoptera,which means "sheathed wing" and contains more described species than in any other order in the animal kingdom, constituting about twenty-five percent of all known life-forms. James K. Liebherr and Joseph V. McHugh in Resh, V. H. & R. T. Cardé (Editors) 2003. Encyclopedia of Insects. Academic Press. Forty percent of all described insect species are beetles (about 350,000 species ), and new species are frequently discovered. Estimates put the total number of species, described and undescribed, at between 5 and 8 million.
Beetles can be found in almost all habitats, but are not known to occur in the sea or in the polar regions. They interact with their ecosystems in several ways. They often feed on plants and fungi, break down animal and plant debris, and eat other invertebrates. Some species are prey of various animals including birds and mammals. Certain species are agricultural pests, such as the Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata, the boll weevil Anthonomus grandis, the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, and the mungbean or cowpea beetle Callosobruchus maculatus, while other species of beetles are important controls of agricultural pests. For example, coccinellidae ("ladybirds" or "ladybugs") consume aphids, scale insects, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects that damage crops.
The name "Coleoptera" was given by Aristotle for the hardened shield like forewings (coleo = shield + ptera = wing).
A cockchafer with its elytra raised, exposing the membranous flight wings, where the veins are visible
Trogodendron fasciculatum, a clerid beetle with bright yellow antennae
Other characters of this group which are believed to be monophyletic include a holometabolous life cycle; having a prothorax that is distinct from and freely articulating with the mesothorax; the meso- and meta-thoracic segments fusing to form a pterothorax; a depressed body shape with the legs on the ventral surface; the coxae of legs recessed into cavities formed by heavily sclerotized thoracic sclerites; the abdominal sternites more sclerotized than the tergites; antennae with 11 or fewer segments; and terminal genitalic appendages retracted into the abdomen and invisible at rest.
The general anatomy of beetles is quite uniform, although specific organs and appendages may vary greatly in appearance and function between the many families in the order. Like all insects, beetles' bodies are divided into three sections: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen. When viewed from below, the thorax is that part from which all three pairs of legs and both pairs of wings arise. The abdomen is everything posterior to the thorax. When viewed from above, most beetles appear to have three clear sections, but this is deceptive: on the beetle's upper surface, the middle "section" is a hard plate called the pronotum, which is only the front part of the thorax; the back part of the thorax is concealed by the beetle's wings. Like all arthropods, beetles are segmented organisms, and all three of the major sections of the body are themselves composed of several further segments, although these are not always readily discernible. This further segmentation is usually best seen on the abdomen.
Beetles are generally characterised by a particularly hard exoskeleton and hard forewings (elytra). The beetle's exoskeleton is made up of numerous plates called sclerites, separated by thin sutures. This design creates the armoured defences of the beetle while maintaining flexibility. The elytra are not used for flight, but tend to cover the hind part of the body and protect the second pair of wings (alae). The elytra must be raised in order to move the hind flight wings. A beetle's flight wings are crossed with veins and are folded after landing, often along these veins, and are stored below the elytra.
In some beetles, the ability to fly has been lost. These include the ground beetles (family Carabidae) and some "true weevils" (family Curculionidae), but also some desert and cave-dwelling species of other families. Many of these species have the two elytra fused together, forming a solid shield over the abdomen. In a few families, both the ability to fly and the elytra have been lost, with the best known example being the glow-worms of the family Phengodidae, in which the females are larviform throughout their lives.
Beetles have mouthparts similar to those of grasshoppers. Of these parts, the most commonly known are probably the mandibles, which appear as large pincers on the front of some beetles. The mandibles are a pair of hard, often tooth-like structures that move horizontally to grasp, crush, or cut food or enemies (see defence, below). Two pairs of finger-like appendages are found around the mouth in most beetles, serving to move food into the mouth. These are the maxillary and labial palpi.
The eyes are compound and may display remarkable adaptability, as in the case of whirligig beetles (family Gyrinidae), in which the eyes are split to allow a view both above and below the waterline. Other species also have divided eyes â some longhorn beetles (family Cerambycidae) and weevils â while many beetles have eyes that are notched to some degree. A few beetle genera also possess ocelli, which are small, simple eyes usually situated farther back on the head (on the vertex).
Beetles' antennae are primarily organs of smell, but may also be used to feel out a beetle's environment physically. They may also be used in some families during mating, or among a few beetles for defence. Antennae vary greatly in form within the Coleoptera, but are often similar within any given family. In some cases, males and females of the same species will have different antennal forms. Antennae may be clavate (flabellate and lamellate are sub-forms of clavate, or clubbed antennae), filiform, geniculate, moniliform, pectinate, or serrate. For images of these antennal forms see antenna (biology).
Acilius sulcatus, a diving beetle showing hind legs adapted for life in water
The legs, which are multi-segmented, end in two to five small segments called tarsi. Like many other insect orders beetles bear claws, usually one pair, on the end of the last tarsal segment of each leg. While most beetles use their legs for walking, legs may be variously modified and adapted for other uses. Among aquatic families â Dytiscidae, Haliplidae, many species of Hydrophilidae and others â the legs, most notably the last pair, are modified for swimming and often bear rows of long hairs to aid this purpose. Other beetles have fossorial legs that are widened and often spined for digging. Species with such adaptations are found among the scarabs, ground beetles, and clown beetles (family Histeridae). The hind legs of some beetles, such as flea beetles (within Chrysomelidae) and flea weevils (within Curculionidae), are enlarged and designed for jumping.
Oxygen is obtained via a tracheal system. Air enters a series of tubes along the body through openings called spiracles, and is then taken into increasingly finer fibres. Pumping movements of the body force the air through the system.
Beetles have haemolymph instead of blood, and the open circulatory system of the beetle is powered by a tube-like heart attached to the top inside of the thorax.
Scarabaeiform larva of the cockchafer, Melolontha melolontha
Beetles are endopterygotes with complete metamorphosis.
A single female may lay from several dozen to several thousand eggs during her lifetime. Eggs are usually laid according to the substrate the larva will feed on upon hatching. Among others, they can be laid loose in the substrate (e.g. flour beetle), laid in clumps on leaves (e.g. Colorado potato beetle), or individually attached (e.g. mungbean beetle and other seed borers) or buried in the medium (e.g. carrot weevil).
The larva is usually the principal feeding stage of the beetle life cycle. Larvae tend to feed voraciously once they emerge from their eggs. Some feed externally on plants, such as those of certain leaf beetles, while others feed within their food sources. Examples of internal feeders are most Buprestidae and longhorn beetles. The larvae of many beetle families are predatory like the adults (ground beetles, ladybirds, rove beetles). The larval period varies between species but can be as long as several years.
Beetle larvae can be differentiated from other insect larvae by their hardened, often darkened head, the presence of chewing mouthparts, and spiracles along the sides of the body. Like adult beetles, the larvae are varied in appearance, particularly between beetle families. Beetles whose larvae are somewhat flattened and are highly mobile are the ground beetles, some rove beetles, and others; their larvae are described as campodeiform. Some beetle larvae resemble hardened worms with dark head capsules and minute legs. These are elateriform larvae, and are found in the click beetle (Elateridae) and darkling beetle (Tenebrionidae) families. Some elateriform larvae of click beetles are known as wireworms. Beetles in the families of the Scarabaeoidea have short, thick larvae described as scarabaeiform, but more commonly known as grubs.
All beetle larvae go through several instars, which are the developmental stages between each moult. In many species the larvae simply increase in size with each successive instar as more food is consumed. In some cases, however, more dramatic changes occur. Among certain beetle families or genera, particularly those that exhibit parasitic lifestyles, the first instar (the planidium) is highly mobile in order to search out a host, while the following instars are more sedentary and remain on or within their host. This is known as hypermetamorphosis; examples include the blister beetles (family Meloidae) and some rove beetles, particularly those of the genus Aleochara.
As with all endopterygotes, beetle larvae pupate, and from this pupa emerges a fully formed, sexually mature adult beetle, or imago. Adults have an extremely variable lifespan, from weeks to years, depending on the species.
Beetles mating in San Francisco
Flamboyant flower beetle, Eudicella gralli, from the forests of Central Africa. The iridescent elytra are used in marriage ceremonies.
Beetles may display extremely intricate behaviour when mating. Smell is thought to be important in the location of a mate.
Conflict can play a part in the mating rituals of species such as burying beetles (genus Nicrophorus) where conflicts between males and females rage until only one of each is left, thus ensuring reproduction by the strongest and fittest. Many beetles are territorial and will fiercely defend their small patch of territory from intruding males.
Pairing is generally short but in some cases will last for several hours. During pairing sperm cells are transferred to the female to fertilise the egg.
Parental care varies between species, ranging from the simple laying of eggs under a leaf to certain scarab beetles, which construct underground structures complete with a supply of dung to house and feed their young. Other beetles are leaf rollers, biting sections of leaves to cause them to curl inwards, then laying their eggs, thus protected, inside.
Brachinus sp., a bombardier beetle
Beetles and their larvae have a variety of strategies to avoid being attacked by predators or parasitoids. These include camouflage, mimicry, toxicity, and active defence.
Camouflage involves the use of colouration or shape to blend into the surrounding environment. Among those that exhibit this defensive strategy are some of the leaf beetles (family Chysomelidae), having green colouring very similar to their habitat on plant leaves. More complex camouflage also occurs, as with some weevils, where various coloured scales or hairs cause the beetle to resemble bird dung.
Another defence that often uses colour or shape to deceive potential enemies is mimicry. A number of longhorn beetles (family Cerambycidae) bear a striking resemblance to wasps, which fools predators into keeping their distance even though the beetles are in fact harmless. This defence can be found to a lesser extent in other beetle families, such as the scarab beetles. Beetles may combine their colour mimicry with behavioural mimicry, acting like the wasps they already closely resemble.
Many beetle species, including ladybirds and blister beetles, can secrete distasteful or toxic substances to make them unpalatable or even poisonous. These same species often exhibit aposematism, where bright or contrasting colour patterns warn away potential predators.
Large ground beetles and longhorn beetles may go on the attack, using their strong mandibles to forcibly persuade a predator to seek out easier prey. Others, such as bombardier beetles (within Carabidae) spray acidic gas from their abdomen to repel predators.
Besides being abundant and varied, the Coleoptera are able to exploit the wide diversity of food sources available in their many habitats. Some are generalists, eating both plants and animals. Other beetles are highly specialised in their diet. Many species of leaf beetles, longhorn beetles, and weevils are very host specific, feeding on only a single species of plant. Ground beetles and rove beetles (family Staphylinidae), among others, are primarily carnivorous and will catch and consume many other arthropods and small prey such as earthworms and snails. While most predatory beetles are generalists, a few species have more specific prey requirements or preferences.
Decaying organic matter is a primary diet for many species. This can range from dung, which is consumed by coprophagous species such as certain scarab beetles (family Scarabaeidae), to dead animals, which are eaten by necrophagous species such as the carrion beetles (family Silphidae). Some of the beetles found within dung and carrion are in fact predatory, such as the clown beetles, preying on the larvae of coprophagous and necrophagous insects.
Aquatic beetles use several techniques for retaining air beneath the water's surface. Beetles of the family Dytiscidae hold air between the abdomen and the elytra when diving. Hydrophilidae have hairs on their under surface that retain a layer of air against their bodies. Adult crawling water beetles use both their elytra and their hind coxae (the basal segment of the back legs) in air retention while whirligig beetles simply carry an air bubble down with them whenever they dive.
Sphaerius acaroides, a member of the small suborder Myxophaga
While some authorities believe modern beetles began about 140 million years ago, research announced in 2007 showed that beetles may have entered the fossil record during the Lower Permian, about 265 to 300 million years ago. Modern Beetles Predate Dinosaurs, Dave Mosher, LiveScience.com, 26 December 2007.
The four extant suborders of beetle are these:
* Polyphaga is the largest suborder, containing more than 300,000 described species in more than 170 families, including rove beetles (Staphylinidae), scarab beetles (Scarabaeidae), blister beetles (Meloidae), stag beetles (Lucanidae) and true weevils (Curculionidae). These beetles can be identified by the cervical sclerites (hardened parts of the head used as points of attachment for muscles) absent in the other suborders.
* Adephaga contains about 10 families of largely predatory beetles, includes ground beetles (Carabidae), Dytiscidae and whirligig beetles (Gyrinidae). In these beetles the testes are tubular and the first abdominal sternum (a plate of the exoskeleton) is divided by the hind coxae (the basal joints of the beetle's legs).
* Archostemata contains four families of mainly wood-eating beetles, including reticulated beetles (Cupedidae) and the telephone-pole beetle.
* Myxophaga contains about 100 described species in four families, mostly very small, including Hydroscaphidae and the genus Sphaerius.
These suborders diverged in the Permian and Triassic. Their phylogenetic relationship is uncertain, with the most popular hypothesis being that Polyphaga and Myxophaga are most closely related, with Adephaga as the sister group to those two, and Archostemata as sister to the other three collectively.
There are about 350,000 species of beetles. Such a large number of species poses special problems for classification, with some families consisting of thousands of species and needing further division into subfamilies and tribes.
Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) larvae
Many agricultural, forestry, and household insect pests are beetles. These include the following:
* The Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, is a notorious pest of potato plants. Crops are destroyed and the beetle can only be treated by employing expensive pesticides, many of which it has begun to develop resistance to. As well as potatoes, suitable hosts can be a number of plants from the potato family (Solanaceae), such as nightshade, tomato, aubergine and capsicum.
* The boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis, has cost cotton producers in the United States billions of dollars since it first entered that country.
* The bark beetles Hylurgopinus rufipes and Scolytus multistriatus, the elm leaf beetle, Pyrrhalta luteola, and other beetles attack elm trees. The bark beetles are important elm pests because they carry Dutch elm disease as they move from infected breeding sites to feed on healthy elm trees. The spread of the fungus by the beetle has led to the devastation of elm trees in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere, notably in Europe and North America.
* The death watch beetle, Xestobium rufovillosum, (family Anobiidae) is of considerable importance as a pest of older wooden buildings in Great Britain. It attacks hardwoods such as oak and chestnut, always where some fungal decay has taken or is taking place. It is thought that the actual introduction of the pest into buildings takes place at the time of construction.
* Asian long-horned beetle
* Citrus long-horned beetle
* Western corn rootworm
* Coconut hispine beetle or Brontispa longissima gestro feeds on young leaves and damages seedlings and mature coconut palms. On September 27, 2007, Philippines' Metro Manila and 26 provinces were quarantined due to having been infested with this pest (to save the $800-million Philippine coconut industry). Inquirer.net, Beetles infest coconuts in Manila, 26 provinces
Coccinella septempunctata, a beneficial beetle
* Both the larvae and adults of some ladybirds (family Coccinellidae) are found in aphid colonies. Other lady beetles feed on scale insects and mealybugs. If normal food sources are scarce they may feed on other things, such as small caterpillars, young plant bugs, honeydew and nectar.
* Ground beetles (family Carabidae) are common predators of many different insects and other arthropods, including fly eggs, caterpillars, wireworms and others.
* Plant-feeding beetles are often important beneficial insects, controlling problem weeds. Some flea beetles of the genus Aphthona feed on leafy spurge, a considerable weed of rangeland in western North America.
Some farmers develop beetle banks to foster and provide cover for beneficial beetles.
Beetles of the Dermestidae family are often used in taxidermy to clean bones of remaining flesh.
Ancient Egyptian scene depicting a scarab beetle
Several species of dung beetle, most notably Scarabaeus sacer (often referred to as "scarab"), enjoyed a sacred status among the ancient Egyptians, as the creatures were likened to the major god Khepri. Some scholars suggest that the Egyptians' practice of making mummies was inspired by the brooding process of the beetle. Many thousands of amulets and stamp seals have been excavated that depict the scarab. In many artifacts, the scarab is depicted pushing the sun along its course in the sky, much as scarabs push or roll balls of dung to their brood sites. During and following the New Kingdom, scarab amulets were often placed over the heart of the mummified deceased.
Some tribal groups, particularly in tropical parts of the world, use the colourful, iridescent elytra of certain beetles, especially certain Scarabaeidae, in ceremonies and as adornment.
Beetle collection at the Melbourne Museum, Australia
The study of beetles is called coleopterology, and its practitioners are coleopterists. Coleopterists have formed organisations to facilitate the study of beetles. Among these is The Coleopterists Society, an international organisation based in the United States. Such organisations may have both professionals and amateurs interested in beetles as members.
Research in this field is often published in peer-reviewed journals specific to the field of coleopterology, though journals dealing with general entomology also publish many papers on various aspects of beetle biology. Some of the journals specific to beetle research are:
*The Coleopterist (United Kingdom beetle fauna)
*The Coleopterists Bulletin (published by The Coleopterists Society)
There is a thriving industry in the collection of beetle specimens for amateur and professional collectors. Many coleopterists prefer to collect beetle specimens for themselves, recording detailed information about each specimen and its habitat. Such collections add to the body of knowledge about the Coleoptera. Some countries have established laws governing or prohibiting the collection of certain rare (and often much sought after) species. One such beetle whose collection is illegal or restricted is the American burying beetle, Nicrophorus americanus.
* Poul Beckmann, Living Jewels: The Natural Design of Beetles ISBN 3-7913-2528-0
* Arthur V. Evans, Charles Bellamy, and Lisa Charles Watson, An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles ISBN 0-520-22323-3
* Entomological Society of America, Beetle Larvae of the World ISBN 0-643-05506-1
* David Grimaldi, Michael S. Engel, Evolution of the Insects ISBN 0-521-82149-5
* Ross H. Arnett, Jr. and Michael C. Thomas, American Beetles (CRC Press, 2001-2). ISBN 0-8493-1925-0
* K. W. Harde, A Field Guide in Colour to Beetles ISBN 0-7064-1937-5 Pages 7-24
* White, R.E. 1983. Beetles. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, NY. ISBN 0-395-91089-7
*Heteroptera - insect suborder that is superficially similar to beetles
* - Coleoptera All what do you need to know about coleoptera, collecting and preparation
* The Beetle Ring - A group of websites about beetles (Coleoptera).
* List of major Beetle collections - worldwide
* Entomology - online insect museum, entomology, tips and tricks, how to spread and pin insects, etc.
* - Gallery of Central European beetles
* Coleoptera from the Tree of Life
* Australian borers species
* Beetles and coleopterologists Russian site with English version, with information about biology, systematics and paleontology of beetles
* North American Beetles from BugGuide
* Bibliography on fossil insects
* Coleoptera Families of the World
* A digital collection of Southeast Asian beetles
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beetle | What happened on plants and fungi? | They are food to beetles. | data/set1/a8 | beetle
Beetles are a group of insects which have the largest number of species. They are placed in the order Coleoptera,which means "sheathed wing" and contains more described species than in any other order in the animal kingdom, constituting about twenty-five percent of all known life-forms. James K. Liebherr and Joseph V. McHugh in Resh, V. H. & R. T. Cardé (Editors) 2003. Encyclopedia of Insects. Academic Press. Forty percent of all described insect species are beetles (about 350,000 species ), and new species are frequently discovered. Estimates put the total number of species, described and undescribed, at between 5 and 8 million.
Beetles can be found in almost all habitats, but are not known to occur in the sea or in the polar regions. They interact with their ecosystems in several ways. They often feed on plants and fungi, break down animal and plant debris, and eat other invertebrates. Some species are prey of various animals including birds and mammals. Certain species are agricultural pests, such as the Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata, the boll weevil Anthonomus grandis, the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, and the mungbean or cowpea beetle Callosobruchus maculatus, while other species of beetles are important controls of agricultural pests. For example, coccinellidae ("ladybirds" or "ladybugs") consume aphids, scale insects, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects that damage crops.
The name "Coleoptera" was given by Aristotle for the hardened shield like forewings (coleo = shield + ptera = wing).
A cockchafer with its elytra raised, exposing the membranous flight wings, where the veins are visible
Trogodendron fasciculatum, a clerid beetle with bright yellow antennae
Other characters of this group which are believed to be monophyletic include a holometabolous life cycle; having a prothorax that is distinct from and freely articulating with the mesothorax; the meso- and meta-thoracic segments fusing to form a pterothorax; a depressed body shape with the legs on the ventral surface; the coxae of legs recessed into cavities formed by heavily sclerotized thoracic sclerites; the abdominal sternites more sclerotized than the tergites; antennae with 11 or fewer segments; and terminal genitalic appendages retracted into the abdomen and invisible at rest.
The general anatomy of beetles is quite uniform, although specific organs and appendages may vary greatly in appearance and function between the many families in the order. Like all insects, beetles' bodies are divided into three sections: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen. When viewed from below, the thorax is that part from which all three pairs of legs and both pairs of wings arise. The abdomen is everything posterior to the thorax. When viewed from above, most beetles appear to have three clear sections, but this is deceptive: on the beetle's upper surface, the middle "section" is a hard plate called the pronotum, which is only the front part of the thorax; the back part of the thorax is concealed by the beetle's wings. Like all arthropods, beetles are segmented organisms, and all three of the major sections of the body are themselves composed of several further segments, although these are not always readily discernible. This further segmentation is usually best seen on the abdomen.
Beetles are generally characterised by a particularly hard exoskeleton and hard forewings (elytra). The beetle's exoskeleton is made up of numerous plates called sclerites, separated by thin sutures. This design creates the armoured defences of the beetle while maintaining flexibility. The elytra are not used for flight, but tend to cover the hind part of the body and protect the second pair of wings (alae). The elytra must be raised in order to move the hind flight wings. A beetle's flight wings are crossed with veins and are folded after landing, often along these veins, and are stored below the elytra.
In some beetles, the ability to fly has been lost. These include the ground beetles (family Carabidae) and some "true weevils" (family Curculionidae), but also some desert and cave-dwelling species of other families. Many of these species have the two elytra fused together, forming a solid shield over the abdomen. In a few families, both the ability to fly and the elytra have been lost, with the best known example being the glow-worms of the family Phengodidae, in which the females are larviform throughout their lives.
Beetles have mouthparts similar to those of grasshoppers. Of these parts, the most commonly known are probably the mandibles, which appear as large pincers on the front of some beetles. The mandibles are a pair of hard, often tooth-like structures that move horizontally to grasp, crush, or cut food or enemies (see defence, below). Two pairs of finger-like appendages are found around the mouth in most beetles, serving to move food into the mouth. These are the maxillary and labial palpi.
The eyes are compound and may display remarkable adaptability, as in the case of whirligig beetles (family Gyrinidae), in which the eyes are split to allow a view both above and below the waterline. Other species also have divided eyes â some longhorn beetles (family Cerambycidae) and weevils â while many beetles have eyes that are notched to some degree. A few beetle genera also possess ocelli, which are small, simple eyes usually situated farther back on the head (on the vertex).
Beetles' antennae are primarily organs of smell, but may also be used to feel out a beetle's environment physically. They may also be used in some families during mating, or among a few beetles for defence. Antennae vary greatly in form within the Coleoptera, but are often similar within any given family. In some cases, males and females of the same species will have different antennal forms. Antennae may be clavate (flabellate and lamellate are sub-forms of clavate, or clubbed antennae), filiform, geniculate, moniliform, pectinate, or serrate. For images of these antennal forms see antenna (biology).
Acilius sulcatus, a diving beetle showing hind legs adapted for life in water
The legs, which are multi-segmented, end in two to five small segments called tarsi. Like many other insect orders beetles bear claws, usually one pair, on the end of the last tarsal segment of each leg. While most beetles use their legs for walking, legs may be variously modified and adapted for other uses. Among aquatic families â Dytiscidae, Haliplidae, many species of Hydrophilidae and others â the legs, most notably the last pair, are modified for swimming and often bear rows of long hairs to aid this purpose. Other beetles have fossorial legs that are widened and often spined for digging. Species with such adaptations are found among the scarabs, ground beetles, and clown beetles (family Histeridae). The hind legs of some beetles, such as flea beetles (within Chrysomelidae) and flea weevils (within Curculionidae), are enlarged and designed for jumping.
Oxygen is obtained via a tracheal system. Air enters a series of tubes along the body through openings called spiracles, and is then taken into increasingly finer fibres. Pumping movements of the body force the air through the system.
Beetles have haemolymph instead of blood, and the open circulatory system of the beetle is powered by a tube-like heart attached to the top inside of the thorax.
Scarabaeiform larva of the cockchafer, Melolontha melolontha
Beetles are endopterygotes with complete metamorphosis.
A single female may lay from several dozen to several thousand eggs during her lifetime. Eggs are usually laid according to the substrate the larva will feed on upon hatching. Among others, they can be laid loose in the substrate (e.g. flour beetle), laid in clumps on leaves (e.g. Colorado potato beetle), or individually attached (e.g. mungbean beetle and other seed borers) or buried in the medium (e.g. carrot weevil).
The larva is usually the principal feeding stage of the beetle life cycle. Larvae tend to feed voraciously once they emerge from their eggs. Some feed externally on plants, such as those of certain leaf beetles, while others feed within their food sources. Examples of internal feeders are most Buprestidae and longhorn beetles. The larvae of many beetle families are predatory like the adults (ground beetles, ladybirds, rove beetles). The larval period varies between species but can be as long as several years.
Beetle larvae can be differentiated from other insect larvae by their hardened, often darkened head, the presence of chewing mouthparts, and spiracles along the sides of the body. Like adult beetles, the larvae are varied in appearance, particularly between beetle families. Beetles whose larvae are somewhat flattened and are highly mobile are the ground beetles, some rove beetles, and others; their larvae are described as campodeiform. Some beetle larvae resemble hardened worms with dark head capsules and minute legs. These are elateriform larvae, and are found in the click beetle (Elateridae) and darkling beetle (Tenebrionidae) families. Some elateriform larvae of click beetles are known as wireworms. Beetles in the families of the Scarabaeoidea have short, thick larvae described as scarabaeiform, but more commonly known as grubs.
All beetle larvae go through several instars, which are the developmental stages between each moult. In many species the larvae simply increase in size with each successive instar as more food is consumed. In some cases, however, more dramatic changes occur. Among certain beetle families or genera, particularly those that exhibit parasitic lifestyles, the first instar (the planidium) is highly mobile in order to search out a host, while the following instars are more sedentary and remain on or within their host. This is known as hypermetamorphosis; examples include the blister beetles (family Meloidae) and some rove beetles, particularly those of the genus Aleochara.
As with all endopterygotes, beetle larvae pupate, and from this pupa emerges a fully formed, sexually mature adult beetle, or imago. Adults have an extremely variable lifespan, from weeks to years, depending on the species.
Beetles mating in San Francisco
Flamboyant flower beetle, Eudicella gralli, from the forests of Central Africa. The iridescent elytra are used in marriage ceremonies.
Beetles may display extremely intricate behaviour when mating. Smell is thought to be important in the location of a mate.
Conflict can play a part in the mating rituals of species such as burying beetles (genus Nicrophorus) where conflicts between males and females rage until only one of each is left, thus ensuring reproduction by the strongest and fittest. Many beetles are territorial and will fiercely defend their small patch of territory from intruding males.
Pairing is generally short but in some cases will last for several hours. During pairing sperm cells are transferred to the female to fertilise the egg.
Parental care varies between species, ranging from the simple laying of eggs under a leaf to certain scarab beetles, which construct underground structures complete with a supply of dung to house and feed their young. Other beetles are leaf rollers, biting sections of leaves to cause them to curl inwards, then laying their eggs, thus protected, inside.
Brachinus sp., a bombardier beetle
Beetles and their larvae have a variety of strategies to avoid being attacked by predators or parasitoids. These include camouflage, mimicry, toxicity, and active defence.
Camouflage involves the use of colouration or shape to blend into the surrounding environment. Among those that exhibit this defensive strategy are some of the leaf beetles (family Chysomelidae), having green colouring very similar to their habitat on plant leaves. More complex camouflage also occurs, as with some weevils, where various coloured scales or hairs cause the beetle to resemble bird dung.
Another defence that often uses colour or shape to deceive potential enemies is mimicry. A number of longhorn beetles (family Cerambycidae) bear a striking resemblance to wasps, which fools predators into keeping their distance even though the beetles are in fact harmless. This defence can be found to a lesser extent in other beetle families, such as the scarab beetles. Beetles may combine their colour mimicry with behavioural mimicry, acting like the wasps they already closely resemble.
Many beetle species, including ladybirds and blister beetles, can secrete distasteful or toxic substances to make them unpalatable or even poisonous. These same species often exhibit aposematism, where bright or contrasting colour patterns warn away potential predators.
Large ground beetles and longhorn beetles may go on the attack, using their strong mandibles to forcibly persuade a predator to seek out easier prey. Others, such as bombardier beetles (within Carabidae) spray acidic gas from their abdomen to repel predators.
Besides being abundant and varied, the Coleoptera are able to exploit the wide diversity of food sources available in their many habitats. Some are generalists, eating both plants and animals. Other beetles are highly specialised in their diet. Many species of leaf beetles, longhorn beetles, and weevils are very host specific, feeding on only a single species of plant. Ground beetles and rove beetles (family Staphylinidae), among others, are primarily carnivorous and will catch and consume many other arthropods and small prey such as earthworms and snails. While most predatory beetles are generalists, a few species have more specific prey requirements or preferences.
Decaying organic matter is a primary diet for many species. This can range from dung, which is consumed by coprophagous species such as certain scarab beetles (family Scarabaeidae), to dead animals, which are eaten by necrophagous species such as the carrion beetles (family Silphidae). Some of the beetles found within dung and carrion are in fact predatory, such as the clown beetles, preying on the larvae of coprophagous and necrophagous insects.
Aquatic beetles use several techniques for retaining air beneath the water's surface. Beetles of the family Dytiscidae hold air between the abdomen and the elytra when diving. Hydrophilidae have hairs on their under surface that retain a layer of air against their bodies. Adult crawling water beetles use both their elytra and their hind coxae (the basal segment of the back legs) in air retention while whirligig beetles simply carry an air bubble down with them whenever they dive.
Sphaerius acaroides, a member of the small suborder Myxophaga
While some authorities believe modern beetles began about 140 million years ago, research announced in 2007 showed that beetles may have entered the fossil record during the Lower Permian, about 265 to 300 million years ago. Modern Beetles Predate Dinosaurs, Dave Mosher, LiveScience.com, 26 December 2007.
The four extant suborders of beetle are these:
* Polyphaga is the largest suborder, containing more than 300,000 described species in more than 170 families, including rove beetles (Staphylinidae), scarab beetles (Scarabaeidae), blister beetles (Meloidae), stag beetles (Lucanidae) and true weevils (Curculionidae). These beetles can be identified by the cervical sclerites (hardened parts of the head used as points of attachment for muscles) absent in the other suborders.
* Adephaga contains about 10 families of largely predatory beetles, includes ground beetles (Carabidae), Dytiscidae and whirligig beetles (Gyrinidae). In these beetles the testes are tubular and the first abdominal sternum (a plate of the exoskeleton) is divided by the hind coxae (the basal joints of the beetle's legs).
* Archostemata contains four families of mainly wood-eating beetles, including reticulated beetles (Cupedidae) and the telephone-pole beetle.
* Myxophaga contains about 100 described species in four families, mostly very small, including Hydroscaphidae and the genus Sphaerius.
These suborders diverged in the Permian and Triassic. Their phylogenetic relationship is uncertain, with the most popular hypothesis being that Polyphaga and Myxophaga are most closely related, with Adephaga as the sister group to those two, and Archostemata as sister to the other three collectively.
There are about 350,000 species of beetles. Such a large number of species poses special problems for classification, with some families consisting of thousands of species and needing further division into subfamilies and tribes.
Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) larvae
Many agricultural, forestry, and household insect pests are beetles. These include the following:
* The Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, is a notorious pest of potato plants. Crops are destroyed and the beetle can only be treated by employing expensive pesticides, many of which it has begun to develop resistance to. As well as potatoes, suitable hosts can be a number of plants from the potato family (Solanaceae), such as nightshade, tomato, aubergine and capsicum.
* The boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis, has cost cotton producers in the United States billions of dollars since it first entered that country.
* The bark beetles Hylurgopinus rufipes and Scolytus multistriatus, the elm leaf beetle, Pyrrhalta luteola, and other beetles attack elm trees. The bark beetles are important elm pests because they carry Dutch elm disease as they move from infected breeding sites to feed on healthy elm trees. The spread of the fungus by the beetle has led to the devastation of elm trees in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere, notably in Europe and North America.
* The death watch beetle, Xestobium rufovillosum, (family Anobiidae) is of considerable importance as a pest of older wooden buildings in Great Britain. It attacks hardwoods such as oak and chestnut, always where some fungal decay has taken or is taking place. It is thought that the actual introduction of the pest into buildings takes place at the time of construction.
* Asian long-horned beetle
* Citrus long-horned beetle
* Western corn rootworm
* Coconut hispine beetle or Brontispa longissima gestro feeds on young leaves and damages seedlings and mature coconut palms. On September 27, 2007, Philippines' Metro Manila and 26 provinces were quarantined due to having been infested with this pest (to save the $800-million Philippine coconut industry). Inquirer.net, Beetles infest coconuts in Manila, 26 provinces
Coccinella septempunctata, a beneficial beetle
* Both the larvae and adults of some ladybirds (family Coccinellidae) are found in aphid colonies. Other lady beetles feed on scale insects and mealybugs. If normal food sources are scarce they may feed on other things, such as small caterpillars, young plant bugs, honeydew and nectar.
* Ground beetles (family Carabidae) are common predators of many different insects and other arthropods, including fly eggs, caterpillars, wireworms and others.
* Plant-feeding beetles are often important beneficial insects, controlling problem weeds. Some flea beetles of the genus Aphthona feed on leafy spurge, a considerable weed of rangeland in western North America.
Some farmers develop beetle banks to foster and provide cover for beneficial beetles.
Beetles of the Dermestidae family are often used in taxidermy to clean bones of remaining flesh.
Ancient Egyptian scene depicting a scarab beetle
Several species of dung beetle, most notably Scarabaeus sacer (often referred to as "scarab"), enjoyed a sacred status among the ancient Egyptians, as the creatures were likened to the major god Khepri. Some scholars suggest that the Egyptians' practice of making mummies was inspired by the brooding process of the beetle. Many thousands of amulets and stamp seals have been excavated that depict the scarab. In many artifacts, the scarab is depicted pushing the sun along its course in the sky, much as scarabs push or roll balls of dung to their brood sites. During and following the New Kingdom, scarab amulets were often placed over the heart of the mummified deceased.
Some tribal groups, particularly in tropical parts of the world, use the colourful, iridescent elytra of certain beetles, especially certain Scarabaeidae, in ceremonies and as adornment.
Beetle collection at the Melbourne Museum, Australia
The study of beetles is called coleopterology, and its practitioners are coleopterists. Coleopterists have formed organisations to facilitate the study of beetles. Among these is The Coleopterists Society, an international organisation based in the United States. Such organisations may have both professionals and amateurs interested in beetles as members.
Research in this field is often published in peer-reviewed journals specific to the field of coleopterology, though journals dealing with general entomology also publish many papers on various aspects of beetle biology. Some of the journals specific to beetle research are:
*The Coleopterist (United Kingdom beetle fauna)
*The Coleopterists Bulletin (published by The Coleopterists Society)
There is a thriving industry in the collection of beetle specimens for amateur and professional collectors. Many coleopterists prefer to collect beetle specimens for themselves, recording detailed information about each specimen and its habitat. Such collections add to the body of knowledge about the Coleoptera. Some countries have established laws governing or prohibiting the collection of certain rare (and often much sought after) species. One such beetle whose collection is illegal or restricted is the American burying beetle, Nicrophorus americanus.
* Poul Beckmann, Living Jewels: The Natural Design of Beetles ISBN 3-7913-2528-0
* Arthur V. Evans, Charles Bellamy, and Lisa Charles Watson, An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles ISBN 0-520-22323-3
* Entomological Society of America, Beetle Larvae of the World ISBN 0-643-05506-1
* David Grimaldi, Michael S. Engel, Evolution of the Insects ISBN 0-521-82149-5
* Ross H. Arnett, Jr. and Michael C. Thomas, American Beetles (CRC Press, 2001-2). ISBN 0-8493-1925-0
* K. W. Harde, A Field Guide in Colour to Beetles ISBN 0-7064-1937-5 Pages 7-24
* White, R.E. 1983. Beetles. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, NY. ISBN 0-395-91089-7
*Heteroptera - insect suborder that is superficially similar to beetles
* - Coleoptera All what do you need to know about coleoptera, collecting and preparation
* The Beetle Ring - A group of websites about beetles (Coleoptera).
* List of major Beetle collections - worldwide
* Entomology - online insect museum, entomology, tips and tricks, how to spread and pin insects, etc.
* - Gallery of Central European beetles
* Coleoptera from the Tree of Life
* Australian borers species
* Beetles and coleopterologists Russian site with English version, with information about biology, systematics and paleontology of beetles
* North American Beetles from BugGuide
* Bibliography on fossil insects
* Coleoptera Families of the World
* A digital collection of Southeast Asian beetles
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Calvin_Coolidge | Was Calvin Coolidge the twenty-ninth vice president? | no | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Was Calvin Coolidge the twenty-ninth vice president? | Yes | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
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Calvin_Coolidge | Was Calvin Coolidge born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont? | yes | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Was Calvin Coolidge born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont? | Yes | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Did Coolidge graduate from Black River Academy? | yes | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Did Coolidge graduate from Black River Academy? | Yes | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | When did he drop John from his name? | upon graduating from college | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
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Calvin_Coolidge | When did he drop John from his name? | Upon graduating from college | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | When did Coolidge meet and marry Grace Anna Goodhue? | 1905 | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | When did Coolidge meet and marry Grace Anna Goodhue? | In 1905 | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | What period of rapid economic growth did the United States experience during Coolidge's presidency? | the Roaring Twenties | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | What period of rapid economic growth did the United States experience during Coolidge's presidency? | the "Roaring Twenties" | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
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Calvin_Coolidge | What did Coolidge do after graduating from Amherst? | Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | What did Coolidge do after graduating from Amherst? | Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Of what state was Coolidge governor? | Massachusetts | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Who appointed Harlan Fiske Stone to the Supreme Court? | Coolidge | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Who appointed Harlan Fiske Stone to the Supreme Court? | Coolidge | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
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Calvin_Coolidge | Was Coolidge the thirteenth President of the United States? | No | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Was Coolidge the thirteenth President of the United States? | Yes | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Was Calvin Coolidge Republican? | Yes | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Was Calvin Coolidge Republican? | Yes | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Was Calvin Coolidge a governor of Massachusetts? | Yes | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
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Calvin_Coolidge | Was Calvin Coolidge a governor of Massachusetts? | Yes | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | When was Coolidge born? | July 4 1872 | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | When was Coolidge born? | Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Where did Coolidge's grandfather had government offices? | Plymouth | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Where did Coolidge's grandfather had government offices? | The town of Plymouth Notch | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
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Calvin_Coolidge | Which state were Coolidge born in? | Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Which state were Coolidge born in? | Vermont | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Is Calvin Jr. older than John Coolidge? | No | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Is Calvin Jr. older than John Coolidge? | No | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Did Coolidge get in Amherst College? | Yes | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
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Calvin_Coolidge | Did Coolidge get in Amherst College? | Yes | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | What caused Calvin Jr.'s death? | heart attack | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | What caused Calvin Jr.'s death? | Heart attack | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Was John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Las Vegas? | No | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Was John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Las Vegas? | no | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
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Calvin_Coolidge | Was Coolidge opposed in the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918? | Yes | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Was Coolidge opposed in the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918? | no | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Did Coolidge meet and marry Grace Anna Goodhue? | Yes | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Did Coolidge meet and marry Grace Anna Goodhue? | yes | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | What year did Coolidge open his own law office? | 1898 | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
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Herbert Hoover
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Calvin_Coolidge | What year did Coolidge open his own law office? | 1898 | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | What fraternity was Coolidge a member of? | Phi Gamma Delta | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | What fraternity was Coolidge a member of? | phi gamma delta | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | In 1905 Coolidge met and married whom? | Grace Anna Goodhue | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | In 1905 Coolidge met and married whom? | Grace Anna Goodhue | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
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Calvin_Coolidge | Why did Coolidge not attend law school? | It was too expensive | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Why did Coolidge not attend law school? | cost | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Have there been other US presidents that have visited Cuba? | No | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Have there been other US presidents that have visited Cuba? | no | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | What years were Coolidge's two sons born in? | 1906 and 1908 | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
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Calvin_Coolidge | What years were Coolidge's two sons born in? | 1906 and 1908 | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | What thrust him into the national spotlight? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | What to be born on the fourth of July? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Who was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr and Victoria Coolidge? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Who or what placed as high as sixth in the voting? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
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Calvin_Coolidge | Is it true that he appointed stone to the supreme court? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | What do well - received and he have in common? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | What did Coolidge address in 1924? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Was Coolidge more outspoken? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Was Coolidge admitted to the bar? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
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Calvin_Coolidge | What emigrated from Cambridge? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | What graduated from Black? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | What Retrieved on May? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | He later what? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | They were what? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
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Calvin_Coolidge | The Republicans retained what? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | (NNP Harding #)(NNP Death )))(PP (IN in )(NP (NP (NN office ))(PP (IN for )(NP (DT a )(JJ full )(NN description )(NNP Vice )(NNP President )(person (NNP Coolidge ))))))))(VP (VP (VBD was )(VP (VBG visiting )(NP (PRP$ his )(NN family )(NN home ))))(, , )(SBAR (WHNP (WDT which ))(S (VP (VBD did )(RB not )(VP (VB have )(NP (NP (NN electricity ))(CC or )(NP (DT a )(NN telephone )))(, , )(PP (IN in )(NP (location (NNP Vermont ))))(SBAR (WHADVP (WRB when ))(S (NP (PRP he ))(VP (VBD received )(NP (NP (NN word ))(PP (IN of )(NP (NP (NNP Harding )(POS 's ))(NN death ))))))))))))))(. . ))) | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | null | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | null | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Was 364 Stone later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt ? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
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Calvin_Coolidge | Did Coolidge not publish his autobiography in 1929 and write a syndicated newspaper column , `` Calvin Coolidge Says , '' from 1930 -- 1931 ? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Were the more well-known Coolidges , such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge , and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge , descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts ? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | Is the genius of the average the most convincing proof of $ his strength? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | What happened from tuberculosis? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
*
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Calvin_Coolidge | What happened from black river academy , vermont? | null | data/set3/a9 | Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4 1872 January 5 1933), more commonly known as Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923â1929). A lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the twenty-ninth Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.
In many ways Coolidge's style of governance was a throwback to the passive presidency of the nineteenth century. Sobel, 14 He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. McCoy, 420â421; Greenberg, 49â53 As his biographer later put it, "he embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Fuess, 500
Many later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. McCoy, 418; Greenberg, 146â150; Ferrell, 66â72 His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, Sobel, 12â13; Greenberg, 2â3 but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating the economy. Greenberg, 1â7
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born in Plymouth, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4 1872, the only U.S. President to be born on the fourth of July. He was the elder of two children of John Calvin Sr. and Victoria Coolidge. The Coolidge family had deep roots in New England. His earliest American ancestor, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cambridge, England, around 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Fuess, 12 Coolidge's great-great-grandfather, also named John Coolidge, was an American army officer in the American Revolution, and was one of the first selectmen of the town of Plymouth Notch. Fuess, 7 Most of Coolidge's ancestors were farmers. The more well-known Coolidges, such as architect Charles Allerton Coolidge, and diplomat Archibald Cary Coolidge, were descended from other branches of the family that had stayed in Massachusetts. Coolidge's grandmother Sarah Almeda Brewer had two famous first cousins: Arthur Brown, a United States Senator, and Olympia Brown, a women's suffragist.
Coolidge as an Amherst undergraduate
Coolidge's grandfather, Calvin Coolidge, held some local government offices in Plymouth and was best remembered as a man with "a fondness for practical jokes". Fuess, 14 His grandmother, Sarah Brewer, was also of New England. It is through this ancestor that Coolidge claimed to be descended in part from American Indians. McCoy, 5 Coolidge's father was also a farmer, but spent some time as a schoolteacher and justice of the peace. Fuess, 16 His mother, Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, was the daughter of another Plymouth Notch farmer. Fuess, 17 Coolidge's mother was chronically ill, possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died young in 1884, but Coolidge's father lived to see him become President. McCoy, 5; White, 11
Coolidge graduated from Black River Academy, Vermont, but failed his initial entrance exam to Amherst College. Vermont Historical Society biography of Calvin Coolidge accessed December 6 2007 He spent one term at St. Johnsbury Academy, Vermont before entering Amherst. Accomplished alumni. Amherst College, where he was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 He dropped John from his name upon graduating from college. At Amherst, Coolidge became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta and joined the College Republicans in 1892. White, 35 While there, Coolidge met Dwight Morrow, who would become a life-long friend. Sobel, 36 Coolidge would later credit Charles E. Garman, a professor of philosophy and ethics, with having a significant influence on his education. Autobiography, 63â70 He graduated cum laude in 1895. Sobel, 41 At graduation, Coolidge was selected by his classmates to compose and read the Grove Oration, a humorous speech traditionally given during the graduation ceremony.
After graduating from Amherst, at his father's urging, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to take up the practice of law. Avoiding the costly alternative of attending a law school, Coolidge followed the more common practice at the time of apprenticing with a local firm, Hammond & Field. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both Amherst graduates themselves, introduced Coolidge to the law practice in the county seat of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar. With his savings and a small inheritance from his grandfather, Coolidge was able to open his own law office in Northampton in 1898, where he practiced transactional law, believing that he served his clients best by staying out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent attorney grew, local banks and other businesses began to retain his services. Fuess, 74â81; McCoy 22â26
In 1905 Coolidge met and married Grace Anna Goodhue, a local schoolteacher and fellow Vermonter. They were opposites in personality: she was talkative and fun-loving, while Coolidge was quiet and serious. Greenberg, 58â59 Not long after their marriage, Coolidge handed her a bag with fifty-two pairs of socks in it, all of them full of holes. Grace's reply was "Did you marry me to darn your socks?" Without cracking a smile and with his usual seriousness, Calvin answered, "No, but I find it mighty handy." Telleen, Maurice. The Days Before Yesterday: 75 years ago. The Draft Horse Journal, Autumn, 2001. Retrieved from Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. They had two sons; John Coolidge, born in 1906, and Calvin Jr., born in 1908. White, 65â66 The marriage was, by most accounts, a happy one. Fuess, 89â92; Sobel, 57â58. Some biographers disagree with this rosy portrait, see Ferrell, 21â23 As Coolidge wrote in his Autobiography, "We thought we were made for each other. For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces." Autobiography, 93
The Republican Party was dominant in New England in Coolidge's time, and he followed Hammond's and Field's example by becoming active in local politics. Sobel, 49â51 Coolidge campaigned locally for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley in 1896, and the next year he was selected to be a member of the Republican City Committee. Sobel, 51 In 1898, he won election to the City Council of Northampton, placing second in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position offered no salary, but gave Coolidge experience in the political world. Fuess, 83 In 1899, he declined renomination, running instead for City Solicitor, a position elected by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and reelected in 1901. Fuess, 84â85 This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer, and paid a salary of $600. In 1902, the city council selected a Democrat for city solicitor, and Coolidge returned to an exclusively private practice. McCoy, 29 Soon thereafter, however, the clerk of courts for the county died, and Coolidge was chosen to replace him. The position paid well, but barred him from practicing law, so he only remained at the job for one year. The next year, 1904, Coolidge met with his only defeat before the voters, losing an election to the Northampton school board. When told that some of his neighbors voted against him because he had no children in the schools he would govern, Coolidge replied "Might give me time!"
Calvin and Grace Coolidge, about 1918.
In 1906 the local Republican committee nominated Coolidge for election to the state House of Representatives. He won a close victory over the incumbent Democrat, and reported to Boston for the 1907 session of the Massachusetts General Court. Sobel, 61 In his freshman term, Coolidge served on minor committees and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as a Progressive Republican, voting in favor of such measures as women's suffrage and the direct election of Senators. Sobel, 62; Fuess, 99 Throughout his time in Boston, Coolidge found himself allied primarily with the western Winthrop Murray Crane faction of the state Republican Party, as against the Henry Cabot Lodge-dominated eastern faction. Sobel, 63â66 In 1907, he was elected to a second term. In the 1908 session, Coolidge was more outspoken, but was still not one of the leaders in the legislature. Sobel, 68â69
Instead of vying for another term in the state house, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for mayor of Northampton when the incumbent Democrat retired. He was well-liked in the town, and defeated his challenger by a vote of 1,597 to 1,409. Sobel, 72 During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teachers' salaries and retired some of the city's debt while still managing to effect a slight tax decrease. Fuess, 106â107; Sobel, 74 He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent by a slightly larger margin. Fuess, 108
Calvin Coolidge as a young legislator
In 1911 the State Senator for the Hampshire County area retired and encouraged Coolidge to run for his seat for the 1912 session. He defeated his Democratic opponent by a large margin. Sobel, 76 At the start of that term, Coolidge was selected to be chairman of a committee to arbitrate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the workers of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See also the main article, Lawrence textile strike, for a full description. After two tense months, the company agreed to the workers' demands in a settlement the committee proposed. Fuess, 110â111; McCoy, 45â46 The other major issue for Republicans that year was the party split between the progressive wing, which favored Theodore Roosevelt, and the conservative wing, which favored William Howard Taft. Although he favored some progressive measures, Coolidge refused to bolt the party. Sobel, 79â80; Fuess, 111 When the new Progressive Party declined to run a candidate in his state senate district, Coolidge won reelection against his Democratic opponent by an increased margin.
The 1913 session was less eventful, and Coolidge's time was mostly spent on the railroad committee, of which he was the chairman. Fuess, 111â113 Coolidge intended to retire after the 1913 session, as two terms were the norm, but when the President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, considered running for Lieutenant Governor, Coolidge decided to run again for the Senate in the hopes of being elected as its presiding officer. Fuess, 114â115 Although Greenwood later decided to run for reelection to the Senate, he was defeated and Coolidge was elected, with Crane's help, as the President of a closely divided Senate. Sobel, 80â82 After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a speech entitled Have Faith in Massachusetts, which was later republished as a book. Have Faith in Massachusetts: A Collection of Speeches And Messages by Calvin Coolidge, 1919, ISBN 1417926082. His speech, later much-quoted, summarized Coolidge's philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well-received and he attracted some admirers on its account. Sobel, 90â92 Towards the end of the term, many of them were proposing his name for nomination to lieutenant governor. After winning reelection to the Senate by an increased margin in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was reelected unanimously to be President of the Senate. Sobel, 90; Fuess, 124 As the 1915 session drew to a close, Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, encouraged him once again to run for lieutenant governor. This time, he accepted their advice. Sobel, 92â98; Fuess, 133â136
Coolidge entered the primary election for lieutenant governor and was nominated to run alongside gubernatorial candidate Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge was the leading vote-getter in the Republican primary, and balanced the Republican ticket by adding a western presence to McCall's eastern base of support. Fuess, 139â142 McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election, with Coolidge defeating his opponent by more than 50,000 votes. Fuess, 145
Coolidge's duties as lieutenant governor were few; in Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not preside over the state Senate, although Coolidge did become an ex officio member of the governor's cabinet. Fuess, 150; Sobel, 104 As a full-time elected official, Coolidge no longer practiced law after 1916, though his family continued to live in Northampton. Fuess, 151â152 McCall and Coolidge were both reelected in 1916 and again in 1917 (both offices were one-year terms in those days). When McCall decided that he would not stand for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his own intention to run for governor. Sobel, 107â110
Coolidge was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his running mate, Channing Cox, a Boston lawyer and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, ran on the previous administration's record: fiscal conservatism, a vague opposition to Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in the First World War. Sobel, 111; McCall, 75â76 The issue of the war proved divisive, especially among Irish- and German-Americans. Sobel, 112 Coolidge was elected by a margin of 16,773 votes over his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any of his state-wide campaigns. Sobel, 115; McCall, 76
In 1919 in response to rumors that policemen of the Boston Police Department planned to form a trade union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis issued a statement saying that such a move would not be countenanced. In August of that year, the American Federation of Labor issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Russell, 77â79; Sobel, 129 Curtis said the union's leaders were insubordinate and planned to relieve them of duty, but said that he would suspend the sentence if the union was dissolved by September 4. Russell, 86â87 The mayor of Boston, Andrew Peters, convinced Curtis to delay his action for a few days, but Curtis ultimately suspended the union leaders after a brief delay, on September 8. Russell, 111â113; Sobel, 133â136
The following day about three-quarters of the policemen in Boston went on strike. The exact total was 1,117 out of 1,544. Russell, 113 Coolidge had observed the situation throughout the conflict, but had not yet intervened. That night and the next, there was sporadic violence and rioting in the lawless city. Russell, 131â170 Peters, concerned about sympathy strikes, had called up some units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area and relieved Curtis of duty. Russell, 120 Coolidge, furious that the mayor had called out state guard units, finally acted. Sobel, 141 He called up more units of the National Guard, restored Curtis to office, and took personal control of the police force. Sobel, 142 Curtis proclaimed that none of the strikers would be allowed back to their former jobs, and Coolidge issued calls for a new police force to be recruited. Russell, 182â183
Samuel Gompers.
That night Coolidge received a telegram from AFL leader Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disorder has occurred", Gompers wrote, "is due to Curtis's order in which the right of the policemen has been denied â¦" Sobel, 143 Coolidge publicly answered Gompers's telegram with the response that would launch him into the national consciousness (quoted, above left). Newspapers across the nation picked up on Coolidge's statement and he became the newest hero to defenders of American capitalism. In the midst of the First Red Scare, many Americans were terrified of the spread of communist revolution, like those that had taken place in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge had lost some friends among organized labor, conservatives across the nation had seen a rising star.
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. By this time Coolidge's supporters (especially Stearns) had publicized his actions in the Police Strike around the state and the nation and some of Coolidge's speeches were reissued as a book. He was faced with the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge defeated him by 125,101 votes, more than ten times his margin of victory from a year earlier. The tally was Coolidge 317,774, Long 192,673. Fuess, 238. His actions in the police strike, combined with the massive electoral victory, led to suggestions that Coolidge should run for President in 1920. Fuess, 239â243; McCoy, 102â113
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 1 1919 the First World War had ended, and Coolidge pushed the legislature to give a $100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill reducing the work week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying "we must humanize the industry, or the system will break down." Sobel, 117; Fuess, 195 He signed into law a budget that kept the tax rates the same, while trimming four million dollars from expenditures, thus allowing the state to retire some of its debt. Fuess, 186
Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor. His most publicized veto was of a bill that would have increased legislators' pay by 50%. Fuess, 187; McCall, 81 In May 1920, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75% alcohol or less, in contravention of the Eighteenth Amendment. Although Coolidge himself was opposed to Prohibition, he felt constrained to veto the bill. "Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution," he said in his veto message, "Against it, they are void." Fuess, 187â188
At the 1920 Republican Convention most of the delegates were selected by state party conventions, not primaries. As such, the field was divided among many local favorites. Sobel, 152â153 Coolidge was one such candidate, and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting, the powerful party bosses never considered him a serious candidate. After ten ballots, the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for President. Fuess, 259â260 When the time came to select a Vice Presidential nominee, the party bosses had also made a decision on who they would nominate: Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin. Fuess, 261 A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, having read Have Faith in Massachusetts, proposed Coolidge for Vice President instead. The suggestion caught on quickly, and Coolidge found himself unexpectedly nominated. Fuess, 262â264
President Harding and Vice President Coolidge and their wives.
The Democrats nominated another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for President and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for Vice President. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations was a major issue in the campaign, as was the unfinished legacy of Progressivism. Sobel, 204â212 Harding ran a "front-porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge took to the campaign trail in the Upper South, New York, and New England. Sobel, 204â207 On November 2 1920, Harding and Coolidge were victorious in a landslide, winning every state outside the South. ; They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won a Southern state since Reconstruction.
The Vice Presidency did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend cabinet meetings, making him the first Vice President to do so. Sobel, 210â211 He gave speeches around the country, but none were especially noteworthy. Sobel, 219; McCoy, 136
As Vice President, Coolidge and his vivacious wife Grace were invited to quite a few parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It was from this time most of the jokes and anecdotes at his expense originate. Although Coolidge was known to be a skilled and effective public speaker, in private he was a man of few words and was therefore commonly referred to as "Silent Cal." A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose." Hannaford, 169 It was also Parker who, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly remarked, "How can they tell?" Greenberg, 9 Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among fashionable Washington society; when asked why he continued to attend so many of their dinner parties, he replied "Got to eat somewhere." Sobel, 217
As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Sobel, 243 Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." Greenberg, 60
Coolidge's father, John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.
On August 2 1923, President Harding died while on a speaking tour in California. See the main article, Warren Harding#Death in office for a full description Vice President Coolidge was visiting his family home, which did not have electricity or a telephone, in Vermont when he received word of Harding's death. Fuess, 308â309 Coolidge dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; Coolidge was re-sworn by Justice A. A. Hoehling of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia upon his return to Washington. Fuess, 310â315
Coolidge signing the Immigration Act and some appropriation bills. General John J. Pershing looks on.
The nation did not know what to make of its new President; Coolidge had not stood out in the Harding administration and many had expected him to be replaced on the ballot in 1924. Sobel, 226â228; Fuess, 303â305; Ferrell, 43â51 He chose C. Bascom Slemp, a Virginia Congressman and experienced federal politician, as his secretary (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff). Fuess, 320â322 Although many of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge announced that he would not demand any of their resignations, believing that since the people had elected Harding, he should carry on Harding's presidency, at least until the next election.
He addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6 1923, giving a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania. Fuess, 328â329; Sobel, 248â249 The Washington Naval Treaty was proclaimed just one month into Coolidge's term, and was generally well received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I veterans' Bonus Bill was passed over his veto. Fuess, 341 Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, though he appended a signing statement expressing his unhappiness with the bill's specific exclusion of Japanese immigrants. Fuess, 342; Sobel, 269 Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed into law the Revenue Act of 1924, which decreased personal income tax rates while increasing the estate tax, and creating a gift tax to reinforce the transfer tax system. Sobel, 278â279
Electoral votes by state, 1924.
The Republican Convention was held from June 10 to June 12 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio; President Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Fuess, 345 The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for Vice President on the second ballot, but he declined via telegram. Fuess, 346 Former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes, who would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925, was nominated on the third ballot; he accepted.
John W. DavisThe Democrats held their convention a month later in New York City. The convention soon deadlocked, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate, John W. Davis. Charles W. Bryan was nominated for Vice President. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette, Sr., a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, split from the party to form a new Progressive Party. Many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the Presidency. Sobel, 300
Shortly after the conventions Coolidge experienced a personal tragedy. Coolidge's younger son, Calvin, Jr., developed a blister from playing tennis on the White House courts. The blister became infected, and Calvin, Jr. died. After that Coolidge became even more withdrawn. He later said that "when he died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Autobiography, 190 In spite of his sadness, Coolidge ran his conventional campaign; he never maligned his opponents (or even mentioned them by name) and delivered speeches on his theory of government, including several that were broadcast over radio. Sobel, 300â301 It was easily the most subdued campaign since 1896, partly because the President was grieving for his son, but partly because Coolidge's style was naturally non-confrontational. Sobel, 302â303 The other candidates campaigned in a more modern fashion, but despite the split in the Republican party, the results were very similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except for Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge had a popular vote majority of 2.5 million over his opponents' combined total. ,
Coolidge, reporters, and cameramen
During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties." His economic policy has often been misquoted as "generally speaking, the business of the American people is business" (full quotation below, at left). Although some commentators have criticized Coolidge as a doctrinaire laissez-faire ideologue, historian Robert Sobel offers some context based on Coolidge's sense of federalism: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed child labor, imposed economic controls during World War I, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards. Did he support these measures while president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Sobel, Robert. Coolidge and American Business. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Retrieved from March 08, 2006 version in Internet Archive on May 18, 2007. See also Greenberg, 47.
Coolidge with his Vice President, Charles G. Dawes.
Coolidge's taxation policy, and that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, was that taxes should be lower and that fewer people should have to pay them. Sobel, 310â311; Greenberg, 127â129 The Congress concurred, and the tax burden on Americans was reduced in Coolidge's term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Sobel, 310â311; Fuess, 382â383 To that end, Coolidge declined to sign some of the spending that Congress approved. He vetoed the proposed McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill of 1926, designed to allow the federal government to purchase agricultural surpluses and sell them abroad at lowered prices. Coolidge declared that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." Fuess, 383â384 He favored Herbert Hoover's proposal to modernize agriculture to create profits, instead of manipulating prices. When Congress re-passed the McNary-Haugen bill in 1927, Coolidge vetoed it again. Fuess, 388; Ferrell, 93 "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, the Vermont farmer's son, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Ferrell, 86
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sobel, 315; Barry, 286â287; Greenberg, 132â135 Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a commission in charge of flood relief, Coolidge's lack of interest in federal flood control has been much maligned. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, but would be seen only as political grandstanding, and he did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require. McCoy, 330â331 Congress wanted a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation; Coolidge wanted the property owners to bear much of the costs. Barry, 372â374 When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the bill in private on May 15. Greenberg, 135
Coolidge's official White House portraitWhile he was not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter foreign alliances. Sobel, 342 Coolidge saw the landslide Republican victory of 1920 as a rejection of the Wilsonian idea that the United States should join the League of Nations. McCoy, 184â185 While not completely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed the League, as then constituted, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate membership in it. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the Permanent Court of International Justice, provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. McCoy, 360 The Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations) in 1926. McCoy, 363 The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but suggested some modifications of their own. Greenberg, 114â116 The Senate failed to act; the United States never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's best-known initiative was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, named for Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories including the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." Fuess, 421â423 The treaty did not actually achieve its result â the outlawry of war â but did provide the founding principle for international law after World War II. McCoy, 380â381; Greenberg, 123â124
Coolidge continued the previous administration's policy not to recognize the Soviet Union. McCoy, 181 He also continued the United States' support for the elected government of Mexico against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo on that country. McCoy, 178â179 He sent his close friend Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador. Sobel, 349 Coolidge represented the U.S. at the Pan American Conference in Havana, Cuba, making him the only sitting U.S. President to visit the country. The United States' occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his administration, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Fuess, 414â417; Ferrell, 122â123
President Coolidge signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat. Coolidge did not seek renomination; he announced his decision to reporters, in writing, with typical terseness: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." Sobel, 370 After allowing them to take that in, Coolidge elaborated. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933 ⦠Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had itâtoo long!" White, 361 In his memoirs, Coolidge explained his decision not to run: "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish." Autobiography, 239 After leaving office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoirs. The Republicans retained the White House in 1928 in the person of Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge had been lukewarm on the choice of Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice all of it bad." Brandes, ___ Even so, Coolidge had no desire to split the party by publicly opposing the popular Commerce Secretary's nomination. McCoy, 390â391; Wilson, 122â123 The delegates did consider nominating Vice President Charles Dawes to be Hoover's running mate, but the convention selected Senator Charles Curtis instead. Wilson, 125â127
Despite his reputation as a quiet and even reclusive politician, Coolidge made use of the new medium of radio and made radio history several times while President. He made himself available to reporters, giving 529 press conferences, meeting with reporters more regularly than any President before or since. Greenberg, 7 His inauguration was the first presidential inauguration broadcast on radio. On 6 December 1923, Coolidge was the first President whose address to Congress was broadcast on radio. Sobel, 252 On February 12 1924, he became the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio. On August 11 1924, Coolidge was filmed on the White House lawn by Lee De Forest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process, becoming the first President to appear in a sound film. The title of the DeForest film was President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Lawn. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon
Coolidge was the only president to have his face on a coin during his lifetime, the sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar of 1926.
*Signed Immigration Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1924
*Signed Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
*Signed Revenue Act of 1926
*Signed Radio Act of 1927
*Signed Revenue Act of 1928
Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Coolidge appointed one Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone was Coolidge's fellow Amherst alumnus and was serving as dean of Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him to be Attorney General in 1924. He appointed Stone to the Supreme Court in 1925, and the Senate approved the nomination. Fuess, 364 Stone was later appointed Chief Justice by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Coolidge addressing a crowd at Arlington National Cemetery's Roman style Memorial Amphitheater in 1924.
After the presidency, Coolidge served as chairman of the non-partisan Railroad Commission, as honorary president of the Foundation of the Blind, as a director of New York Life Insurance Company, as president of the American Antiquarian Society, and as a trustee of Amherst College. Coolidge Family Papers, 1802â1932, Vermont Historical Society Library. Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Coolidge received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930â1931. Sobel, 403; Ferrell, 201â202 Faced with looming defeat in 1932, some Republicans spoke of rejecting Herbert Hoover as their party's nominee, and instead drafting Coolidge to run, but the former President made it clear that he was not interested in running again, and that he would publicly repudiate any effort to draft him, should it come about. Fuess, 457â459; Greenberg, 153 Hoover was renominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses in support of him. Fuess, 460
He died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Northampton, "The Beeches," at 12:45 p.m., January 5 1933. Greenberg, 154â155 Shortly before his death, Coolidge confided to an old friend: "I feel I am no longer fit in these times." Sobel, 410
Coolidge is buried beneath a simple headstone in Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont, where the family homestead is maintained as a museum. The State of Vermont dedicated a new visitors' center nearby to mark Coolidge's 100th birthday on July 4 1972. Calvin Coolidge's Brave Little State of Vermont speech is memorialized in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont State House at Montpelier, Vermont.
* Coolidge, Calvin. Have faith in Massachusetts; a collection of speeches and messages
* Coolidge, Calvin. The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929), ISBN 0944951031.
* The Talkative President: The Off-the Record Press Conferences of Calvin Coolidge edited by Howard H. Quint and Robert H. Ferrell (1964)
* Barry, John M., Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America (1997), ISBN 0684840022.
* Brandes, Joseph, Herbert Hoover and Economic Diplomacy. (1962)
* Ferrell, Robert H., The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (1998), ISBN 0700608923.
* Fuess, Claude M., Calvin Coolidge: The Man from Vermont (1940), ISBN 0837193206.
* Greenberg, David, Calvin Coolidge, The American Presidents Series, (2006), ISBN 0805069577.
* Hannaford, Peter, The Quotable Calvin Coolidge (2001), ISBN 1884592333.
* McCoy, Donald, Calvin Coolidge: The Quiet President (1967), ISBN 0945707231.
* Russell, Francis, A City in Terror: Calvin Coolidge and the 1919 Boston Police Strike (1975), ISBN 0807050334.
* Silver, Thomas B., Coolidge and the Historians (1983), ISBN 0890890382.
* Sobel, Robert, Coolidge: An American Enigma (1998), ISBN 0895264102.
* White, William Allen, A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938), .
* Wilson, Joan Hoff, Herbert Hoover, Forgotten Progressive (1975), ISBN 0316944165.
An academic conference on Coolidge was held July 30â31, 1998, at the John F. Kennedy Library to mark the 75th anniversary of his lantern-light homestead inaugural.
* Coolidge, Arizona
* Coolidge Dam
* The Coolidge Effect
* The SS President Coolidge
* Extensive essay on Calvin Coolidge and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
* Calvin Coolidge birthplace, a Vermont State Historic Site
* Official White House biography
* Audio clips of Coolidge's speeches
* Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation
* Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum at Forbes Library, Northampton, MA
* Calvin Coolidge official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
* Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era at the Library of Congress
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Herbert Hoover
Vice President of the United States
March 4
1921
August 2
1923
Warren G. Harding
Thomas R. Marshall
Charles G. Dawes
January 2
1919
January 6
1921
Channing H. Cox
Samuel W. McCall
Channing H. Cox
Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
January 6
1916
January 2
1919
Samuel W. McCall
Grafton D. Cushing
Channing H. Cox
Plymouth, Vermont
Vermont
Northampton, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
Congregational church
Grace Coolidge
United States Republican Party
July 4
1872
January 5
1933
President of the United States
Vermont
Massachusetts
Boston Police Strike
Vice President of the United States
Warren G. Harding
fiscal conservative
Warren G. Harding#Administrative Scandals
middle class
laissez-faire
Ronald Reagan
Plymouth, Vermont
Windsor County, Vermont
Vermont
July 4
1872
Independence Day (United States)
New England
Cambridge
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Watertown, Massachusetts
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American Revolution
Board of Selectmen
Charles Allerton Coolidge
Archibald Cary Coolidge
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December 6
2007
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Phi Gamma Delta
2007-05-18
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Dwight Morrow
Charles E. Garman
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Northampton, Massachusetts
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Hampshire County, Massachusetts
Grace Coolidge
2007-05-18
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Bread and Roses
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United States presidential election, 1912
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Levi H. Greenwood
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Frank Stearns
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1919
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1919
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Near beer#Small beer
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1920
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2007
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2007
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1923
California
Warren Harding#Death in office
Coolidge Homestead
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Oath of office#United States
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1923
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
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Virginia
White House Chief of Staff
December 6
1923
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1924
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2007
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2007
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2006-03-08
2007-05-18
January 25
1925
Vice President of the United States
Charles G. Dawes
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October 22
1924
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6 December
1923
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1924
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1924
Lee De Forest
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Hubert Work
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1933
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1972
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Theora
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Charles G. Dawes
Warren G. Harding
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Herbert Hoover
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Herbert Hoover
Plymouth, Vermont
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Canada | Did France cede nearly all of its colonies in Europe in 1763? | Yes. | data/set2/a8 | Canada
Canada ( ) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal, semi-autonomous polity. This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon tradeâparticularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.
Jacques Cartier
The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word 'Canada' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.
The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later, it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted for the entire country, and it was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The fur trade was Canada's most important industry until the 1800s
Aboriginal and Inuit tradition holds that the First Peoples inhabited parts of Canada prehistorically. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 for England and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France ; seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.
The Death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, part of the Seven Years' War.
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years' War.
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada. New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.
Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.
Robert Harris's painting of the Fathers of Confederation. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.
The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel, and paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.
An animated map, exhibiting the growth and refactoring of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation.
Following several constitutional conferences, the British North America Act brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government decided to create the Yukon territory as a separate territory in the region to better control the situation. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
Canadian soldiers would win the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.
The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, and the Battle of the Scheldt during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's 10th province. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.
Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy. The separatist Parti Québécois first came to power in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population, and a second referendum in 1995 was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional; Quebec's sovereignty movement has continued nonetheless.
The Queen and the Registrar General signing the Constitution Act, 1982.
Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982.
Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (or Auto Pact) in 1965 and the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1987 were defining moments in integrating the two economies. Canadian nationalists continued to worry about their cultural autonomy as American television shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent. However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.
Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state; the Canadian monarch also serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting Canada in a personal union relationship with those other states. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.
Canada's constitution consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act) established governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Constitution Act, 1982 added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that generally cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. However, a notwithstanding clause, allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.
The Chamber of the House of Commons.
The monarch is represented by a viceroy, the Governor General, who is empowered to exercise almost all of the constitutional duties of the sovereign, though wielding these powers almost always on the advice of the appointed Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice, the only body to direct the use of the executive powers is the Cabinet a committee of the Privy Council made up of Ministers of the Crown, all of whom are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who holds the conventional position of head of government; to ensure the stability of government, the Governor General will usually appoint the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has been her Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.
The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a riding or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.
Four parties have substantial representation in the federal parliament: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill.
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining participation in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.
Lester B. Pearson with 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.
Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.
Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989
and has since maintained forces in international missions in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in three major relief efforts in the past two years; the two-hundred member team has been deployed in relief operations after the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. " Rich Nations Launch Vaccine Pact". Reuters. February 10, 2007. In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged following a Russian expedition which planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.
A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories.
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into numerous regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba). Eastern Canada consists of Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) and Atlantic Canada (comprised of the three Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland and Labrador). Three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) comprise Northern Canada. Provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.
All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.
A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield. Ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains. Flat and fertile Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, and largest on the continent. By land area it ranks fourth, after Russia, China, and the United States. World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada and in the world is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Islandâlatitude 82.5°Nâjust 817 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole. Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres.
The population density, , is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River in the southeast.
To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers. Canada by far has more lakes than any other country and has a large amount of the world's freshwater.
The Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls, a major source of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.
In eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary, that contains the island of Newfoundland. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern New England and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada. West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.
In western Canada, the Mackenzie River flows from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. A tributary of a tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls.
Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near â15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below â40 °C (â40 °F) with severe wind chills. In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year, (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate climate with a mild and rainy winter.
On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (75 to 85 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). For a more complete description of climate across Canada see Environment Canada's Website.
Canadian banknotes depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.
Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. Canada has traditionally had a lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP) than its southern neighbour (whereas wealth has been more equally divided), but higher than the large western European economies . Since the early 1990's, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. Today Canada closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. While as of October 2007, Canada's national unemployment rate of 5.9% is its lowest in 33 years. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 3.6% in Alberta to a high of 14.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important.
Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas and large oil and gas resources are centred in Alberta. The vast Athabasca Tar Sands give Canada the world's second largest reserves of oil behind Saudi Arabia. In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba, hydroelectric power is a cheap and clean source of renewable energy.
Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies one of the most important suppliers of wheat, canola and other grains. Canada is the world's largest producer of zinc and uranium and a world leader in many other natural resources such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; many, if not most, towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.
Canada is highly dependent on international trade, especially trade with the United States. The 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Since the mid 1990s, Canada's federal government has posted annual budgetary surpluses and has steadily paid down the national debt.
Toronto, Ontario skyline with the CN tower. Toronto is Canada's most populous metropolitan area with 5,113,149 people.
Canada's 2006 census counted 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population lives within 150 kilometres (90 mi) of the US border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably: the Greater Golden Horseshoe anchored around Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and their environs), the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and environs), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.
According to the 2001 census, it has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, with 83% of the total population claiming they are white. Ethnic diversity of Canada
The largest ethnic group is English (20.2%), followed by French (15.8%), Scottish (14.0%), Irish (12.9%), German (9.3%), Italian (4.3%), Chinese (3.7%), Ukrainian (3.6%), and First Nations (3.4%); 40% of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian." Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the Canadian average. In 2001, 13.4% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.
In 2001, 49% of the Vancouver population and 42.8% of Toronto's population were visible minorities. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that people of non-European origins will constitute a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012. Canadian People - Learn About Canada's People According to Statistics Canada's forecasts, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to double by 2017. Roughly one out of every five people in Canada could be a member of a visible minority by 2017. Visible majority by 2017
Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification; Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. Newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. By the 1990s and 2000s, almost all of Canadaâs immigrants came from Asia. Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year
Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada; about 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam numbering 1.9%, followed by Judaism: 1.1%.
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar while reflecting regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age ranges between 5â7 to 16â18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate that is 99%. Postsecondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, who provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 had post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34 the post-secondary attainment reaches 51%.
A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional "big house" in Victoria, BC.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions. It has also been influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. American media and entertainment are popular if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide. Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market.
The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. There are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism, and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, seen here at Expo 67, are the federal and national police force of Canada and an international icon.
National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. Particularly, the use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, and on the coat of arms. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, the Crown, and the RCMP.
Canada's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is the most popular sport Canadians play, with 1.65 million active participants in 2004. Canada's six largest metropolitan areas - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton - have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the league than from all other countries combined. After hockey, other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread.
Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada will be the host country for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.
The population of Montreal, Quebec is mainly Francophone, with a significant Anglophone community.
Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official Bilingualism in Canada is law, defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.
English and French are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively, and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3% and 22.3% of the population respectively. 98.5% of Canadians speak English or French (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%). English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0% and 23.6% of the population.
Although 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta and southern Manitoba, with an Acadian population in the northern and southeastern parts of New Brunswick constituting 35% of that province's population as well as concentrations in Southwestern Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. The Charter of the French Language in Quebec makes French the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province to have a statement of official bilingualism in the constitution. Other provinces have no official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official. Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.
Non-official languages are important in Canada, with 5,202,245 people listing one as a first language. Some significant non-official first languages include Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).
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Canada | Did France cede nearly all of its colonies in Europe in 1763? | yes | data/set2/a8 | Canada
Canada ( ) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal, semi-autonomous polity. This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon tradeâparticularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.
Jacques Cartier
The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word 'Canada' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.
The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later, it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted for the entire country, and it was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The fur trade was Canada's most important industry until the 1800s
Aboriginal and Inuit tradition holds that the First Peoples inhabited parts of Canada prehistorically. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 for England and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France ; seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.
The Death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, part of the Seven Years' War.
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years' War.
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada. New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.
Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.
Robert Harris's painting of the Fathers of Confederation. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.
The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel, and paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.
An animated map, exhibiting the growth and refactoring of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation.
Following several constitutional conferences, the British North America Act brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government decided to create the Yukon territory as a separate territory in the region to better control the situation. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
Canadian soldiers would win the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.
The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, and the Battle of the Scheldt during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's 10th province. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.
Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy. The separatist Parti Québécois first came to power in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population, and a second referendum in 1995 was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional; Quebec's sovereignty movement has continued nonetheless.
The Queen and the Registrar General signing the Constitution Act, 1982.
Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982.
Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (or Auto Pact) in 1965 and the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1987 were defining moments in integrating the two economies. Canadian nationalists continued to worry about their cultural autonomy as American television shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent. However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.
Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state; the Canadian monarch also serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting Canada in a personal union relationship with those other states. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.
Canada's constitution consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act) established governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Constitution Act, 1982 added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that generally cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. However, a notwithstanding clause, allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.
The Chamber of the House of Commons.
The monarch is represented by a viceroy, the Governor General, who is empowered to exercise almost all of the constitutional duties of the sovereign, though wielding these powers almost always on the advice of the appointed Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice, the only body to direct the use of the executive powers is the Cabinet a committee of the Privy Council made up of Ministers of the Crown, all of whom are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who holds the conventional position of head of government; to ensure the stability of government, the Governor General will usually appoint the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has been her Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.
The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a riding or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.
Four parties have substantial representation in the federal parliament: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill.
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining participation in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.
Lester B. Pearson with 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.
Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.
Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989
and has since maintained forces in international missions in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in three major relief efforts in the past two years; the two-hundred member team has been deployed in relief operations after the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. " Rich Nations Launch Vaccine Pact". Reuters. February 10, 2007. In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged following a Russian expedition which planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.
A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories.
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into numerous regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba). Eastern Canada consists of Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) and Atlantic Canada (comprised of the three Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland and Labrador). Three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) comprise Northern Canada. Provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.
All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.
A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield. Ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains. Flat and fertile Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, and largest on the continent. By land area it ranks fourth, after Russia, China, and the United States. World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada and in the world is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Islandâlatitude 82.5°Nâjust 817 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole. Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres.
The population density, , is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River in the southeast.
To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers. Canada by far has more lakes than any other country and has a large amount of the world's freshwater.
The Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls, a major source of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.
In eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary, that contains the island of Newfoundland. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern New England and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada. West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.
In western Canada, the Mackenzie River flows from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. A tributary of a tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls.
Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near â15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below â40 °C (â40 °F) with severe wind chills. In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year, (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate climate with a mild and rainy winter.
On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (75 to 85 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). For a more complete description of climate across Canada see Environment Canada's Website.
Canadian banknotes depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.
Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. Canada has traditionally had a lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP) than its southern neighbour (whereas wealth has been more equally divided), but higher than the large western European economies . Since the early 1990's, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. Today Canada closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. While as of October 2007, Canada's national unemployment rate of 5.9% is its lowest in 33 years. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 3.6% in Alberta to a high of 14.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important.
Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas and large oil and gas resources are centred in Alberta. The vast Athabasca Tar Sands give Canada the world's second largest reserves of oil behind Saudi Arabia. In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba, hydroelectric power is a cheap and clean source of renewable energy.
Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies one of the most important suppliers of wheat, canola and other grains. Canada is the world's largest producer of zinc and uranium and a world leader in many other natural resources such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; many, if not most, towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.
Canada is highly dependent on international trade, especially trade with the United States. The 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Since the mid 1990s, Canada's federal government has posted annual budgetary surpluses and has steadily paid down the national debt.
Toronto, Ontario skyline with the CN tower. Toronto is Canada's most populous metropolitan area with 5,113,149 people.
Canada's 2006 census counted 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population lives within 150 kilometres (90 mi) of the US border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably: the Greater Golden Horseshoe anchored around Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and their environs), the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and environs), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.
According to the 2001 census, it has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, with 83% of the total population claiming they are white. Ethnic diversity of Canada
The largest ethnic group is English (20.2%), followed by French (15.8%), Scottish (14.0%), Irish (12.9%), German (9.3%), Italian (4.3%), Chinese (3.7%), Ukrainian (3.6%), and First Nations (3.4%); 40% of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian." Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the Canadian average. In 2001, 13.4% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.
In 2001, 49% of the Vancouver population and 42.8% of Toronto's population were visible minorities. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that people of non-European origins will constitute a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012. Canadian People - Learn About Canada's People According to Statistics Canada's forecasts, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to double by 2017. Roughly one out of every five people in Canada could be a member of a visible minority by 2017. Visible majority by 2017
Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification; Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. Newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. By the 1990s and 2000s, almost all of Canadaâs immigrants came from Asia. Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year
Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada; about 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam numbering 1.9%, followed by Judaism: 1.1%.
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar while reflecting regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age ranges between 5â7 to 16â18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate that is 99%. Postsecondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, who provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 had post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34 the post-secondary attainment reaches 51%.
A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional "big house" in Victoria, BC.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions. It has also been influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. American media and entertainment are popular if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide. Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market.
The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. There are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism, and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, seen here at Expo 67, are the federal and national police force of Canada and an international icon.
National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. Particularly, the use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, and on the coat of arms. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, the Crown, and the RCMP.
Canada's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is the most popular sport Canadians play, with 1.65 million active participants in 2004. Canada's six largest metropolitan areas - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton - have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the league than from all other countries combined. After hockey, other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread.
Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada will be the host country for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.
The population of Montreal, Quebec is mainly Francophone, with a significant Anglophone community.
Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official Bilingualism in Canada is law, defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.
English and French are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively, and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3% and 22.3% of the population respectively. 98.5% of Canadians speak English or French (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%). English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0% and 23.6% of the population.
Although 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta and southern Manitoba, with an Acadian population in the northern and southeastern parts of New Brunswick constituting 35% of that province's population as well as concentrations in Southwestern Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. The Charter of the French Language in Quebec makes French the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province to have a statement of official bilingualism in the constitution. Other provinces have no official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official. Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.
Non-official languages are important in Canada, with 5,202,245 people listing one as a first language. Some significant non-official first languages include Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).
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Canada | Did France cede nearly all of its colonies in Europe in 1763? | null | data/set2/a8 | Canada
Canada ( ) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal, semi-autonomous polity. This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon tradeâparticularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.
Jacques Cartier
The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word 'Canada' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.
The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later, it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted for the entire country, and it was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The fur trade was Canada's most important industry until the 1800s
Aboriginal and Inuit tradition holds that the First Peoples inhabited parts of Canada prehistorically. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 for England and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France ; seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.
The Death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, part of the Seven Years' War.
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years' War.
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada. New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.
Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.
Robert Harris's painting of the Fathers of Confederation. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.
The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel, and paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.
An animated map, exhibiting the growth and refactoring of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation.
Following several constitutional conferences, the British North America Act brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government decided to create the Yukon territory as a separate territory in the region to better control the situation. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
Canadian soldiers would win the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.
The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, and the Battle of the Scheldt during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's 10th province. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.
Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy. The separatist Parti Québécois first came to power in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population, and a second referendum in 1995 was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional; Quebec's sovereignty movement has continued nonetheless.
The Queen and the Registrar General signing the Constitution Act, 1982.
Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982.
Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (or Auto Pact) in 1965 and the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1987 were defining moments in integrating the two economies. Canadian nationalists continued to worry about their cultural autonomy as American television shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent. However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.
Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state; the Canadian monarch also serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting Canada in a personal union relationship with those other states. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.
Canada's constitution consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act) established governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Constitution Act, 1982 added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that generally cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. However, a notwithstanding clause, allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.
The Chamber of the House of Commons.
The monarch is represented by a viceroy, the Governor General, who is empowered to exercise almost all of the constitutional duties of the sovereign, though wielding these powers almost always on the advice of the appointed Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice, the only body to direct the use of the executive powers is the Cabinet a committee of the Privy Council made up of Ministers of the Crown, all of whom are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who holds the conventional position of head of government; to ensure the stability of government, the Governor General will usually appoint the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has been her Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.
The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a riding or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.
Four parties have substantial representation in the federal parliament: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill.
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining participation in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.
Lester B. Pearson with 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.
Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.
Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989
and has since maintained forces in international missions in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in three major relief efforts in the past two years; the two-hundred member team has been deployed in relief operations after the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. " Rich Nations Launch Vaccine Pact". Reuters. February 10, 2007. In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged following a Russian expedition which planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.
A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories.
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into numerous regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba). Eastern Canada consists of Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) and Atlantic Canada (comprised of the three Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland and Labrador). Three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) comprise Northern Canada. Provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.
All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.
A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield. Ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains. Flat and fertile Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, and largest on the continent. By land area it ranks fourth, after Russia, China, and the United States. World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada and in the world is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Islandâlatitude 82.5°Nâjust 817 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole. Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres.
The population density, , is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River in the southeast.
To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers. Canada by far has more lakes than any other country and has a large amount of the world's freshwater.
The Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls, a major source of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.
In eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary, that contains the island of Newfoundland. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern New England and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada. West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.
In western Canada, the Mackenzie River flows from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. A tributary of a tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls.
Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near â15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below â40 °C (â40 °F) with severe wind chills. In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year, (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate climate with a mild and rainy winter.
On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (75 to 85 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). For a more complete description of climate across Canada see Environment Canada's Website.
Canadian banknotes depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.
Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. Canada has traditionally had a lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP) than its southern neighbour (whereas wealth has been more equally divided), but higher than the large western European economies . Since the early 1990's, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. Today Canada closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. While as of October 2007, Canada's national unemployment rate of 5.9% is its lowest in 33 years. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 3.6% in Alberta to a high of 14.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important.
Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas and large oil and gas resources are centred in Alberta. The vast Athabasca Tar Sands give Canada the world's second largest reserves of oil behind Saudi Arabia. In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba, hydroelectric power is a cheap and clean source of renewable energy.
Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies one of the most important suppliers of wheat, canola and other grains. Canada is the world's largest producer of zinc and uranium and a world leader in many other natural resources such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; many, if not most, towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.
Canada is highly dependent on international trade, especially trade with the United States. The 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Since the mid 1990s, Canada's federal government has posted annual budgetary surpluses and has steadily paid down the national debt.
Toronto, Ontario skyline with the CN tower. Toronto is Canada's most populous metropolitan area with 5,113,149 people.
Canada's 2006 census counted 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population lives within 150 kilometres (90 mi) of the US border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably: the Greater Golden Horseshoe anchored around Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and their environs), the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and environs), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.
According to the 2001 census, it has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, with 83% of the total population claiming they are white. Ethnic diversity of Canada
The largest ethnic group is English (20.2%), followed by French (15.8%), Scottish (14.0%), Irish (12.9%), German (9.3%), Italian (4.3%), Chinese (3.7%), Ukrainian (3.6%), and First Nations (3.4%); 40% of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian." Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the Canadian average. In 2001, 13.4% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.
In 2001, 49% of the Vancouver population and 42.8% of Toronto's population were visible minorities. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that people of non-European origins will constitute a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012. Canadian People - Learn About Canada's People According to Statistics Canada's forecasts, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to double by 2017. Roughly one out of every five people in Canada could be a member of a visible minority by 2017. Visible majority by 2017
Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification; Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. Newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. By the 1990s and 2000s, almost all of Canadaâs immigrants came from Asia. Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year
Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada; about 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam numbering 1.9%, followed by Judaism: 1.1%.
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar while reflecting regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age ranges between 5â7 to 16â18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate that is 99%. Postsecondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, who provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 had post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34 the post-secondary attainment reaches 51%.
A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional "big house" in Victoria, BC.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions. It has also been influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. American media and entertainment are popular if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide. Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market.
The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. There are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism, and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, seen here at Expo 67, are the federal and national police force of Canada and an international icon.
National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. Particularly, the use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, and on the coat of arms. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, the Crown, and the RCMP.
Canada's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is the most popular sport Canadians play, with 1.65 million active participants in 2004. Canada's six largest metropolitan areas - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton - have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the league than from all other countries combined. After hockey, other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread.
Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada will be the host country for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.
The population of Montreal, Quebec is mainly Francophone, with a significant Anglophone community.
Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official Bilingualism in Canada is law, defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.
English and French are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively, and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3% and 22.3% of the population respectively. 98.5% of Canadians speak English or French (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%). English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0% and 23.6% of the population.
Although 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta and southern Manitoba, with an Acadian population in the northern and southeastern parts of New Brunswick constituting 35% of that province's population as well as concentrations in Southwestern Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. The Charter of the French Language in Quebec makes French the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province to have a statement of official bilingualism in the constitution. Other provinces have no official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official. Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.
Non-official languages are important in Canada, with 5,202,245 people listing one as a first language. Some significant non-official first languages include Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).
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Canada | Is Canada a member of the OECD? | Yes. | data/set2/a8 | Canada
Canada ( ) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal, semi-autonomous polity. This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon tradeâparticularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.
Jacques Cartier
The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word 'Canada' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.
The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later, it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted for the entire country, and it was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The fur trade was Canada's most important industry until the 1800s
Aboriginal and Inuit tradition holds that the First Peoples inhabited parts of Canada prehistorically. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 for England and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France ; seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.
The Death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, part of the Seven Years' War.
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years' War.
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada. New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.
Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.
Robert Harris's painting of the Fathers of Confederation. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.
The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel, and paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.
An animated map, exhibiting the growth and refactoring of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation.
Following several constitutional conferences, the British North America Act brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government decided to create the Yukon territory as a separate territory in the region to better control the situation. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
Canadian soldiers would win the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.
The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, and the Battle of the Scheldt during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's 10th province. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.
Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy. The separatist Parti Québécois first came to power in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population, and a second referendum in 1995 was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional; Quebec's sovereignty movement has continued nonetheless.
The Queen and the Registrar General signing the Constitution Act, 1982.
Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982.
Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (or Auto Pact) in 1965 and the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1987 were defining moments in integrating the two economies. Canadian nationalists continued to worry about their cultural autonomy as American television shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent. However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.
Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state; the Canadian monarch also serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting Canada in a personal union relationship with those other states. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.
Canada's constitution consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act) established governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Constitution Act, 1982 added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that generally cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. However, a notwithstanding clause, allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.
The Chamber of the House of Commons.
The monarch is represented by a viceroy, the Governor General, who is empowered to exercise almost all of the constitutional duties of the sovereign, though wielding these powers almost always on the advice of the appointed Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice, the only body to direct the use of the executive powers is the Cabinet a committee of the Privy Council made up of Ministers of the Crown, all of whom are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who holds the conventional position of head of government; to ensure the stability of government, the Governor General will usually appoint the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has been her Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.
The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a riding or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.
Four parties have substantial representation in the federal parliament: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill.
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining participation in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.
Lester B. Pearson with 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.
Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.
Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989
and has since maintained forces in international missions in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in three major relief efforts in the past two years; the two-hundred member team has been deployed in relief operations after the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. " Rich Nations Launch Vaccine Pact". Reuters. February 10, 2007. In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged following a Russian expedition which planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.
A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories.
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into numerous regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba). Eastern Canada consists of Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) and Atlantic Canada (comprised of the three Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland and Labrador). Three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) comprise Northern Canada. Provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.
All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.
A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield. Ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains. Flat and fertile Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, and largest on the continent. By land area it ranks fourth, after Russia, China, and the United States. World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada and in the world is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Islandâlatitude 82.5°Nâjust 817 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole. Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres.
The population density, , is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River in the southeast.
To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers. Canada by far has more lakes than any other country and has a large amount of the world's freshwater.
The Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls, a major source of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.
In eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary, that contains the island of Newfoundland. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern New England and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada. West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.
In western Canada, the Mackenzie River flows from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. A tributary of a tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls.
Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near â15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below â40 °C (â40 °F) with severe wind chills. In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year, (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate climate with a mild and rainy winter.
On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (75 to 85 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). For a more complete description of climate across Canada see Environment Canada's Website.
Canadian banknotes depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.
Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. Canada has traditionally had a lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP) than its southern neighbour (whereas wealth has been more equally divided), but higher than the large western European economies . Since the early 1990's, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. Today Canada closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. While as of October 2007, Canada's national unemployment rate of 5.9% is its lowest in 33 years. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 3.6% in Alberta to a high of 14.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important.
Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas and large oil and gas resources are centred in Alberta. The vast Athabasca Tar Sands give Canada the world's second largest reserves of oil behind Saudi Arabia. In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba, hydroelectric power is a cheap and clean source of renewable energy.
Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies one of the most important suppliers of wheat, canola and other grains. Canada is the world's largest producer of zinc and uranium and a world leader in many other natural resources such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; many, if not most, towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.
Canada is highly dependent on international trade, especially trade with the United States. The 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Since the mid 1990s, Canada's federal government has posted annual budgetary surpluses and has steadily paid down the national debt.
Toronto, Ontario skyline with the CN tower. Toronto is Canada's most populous metropolitan area with 5,113,149 people.
Canada's 2006 census counted 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population lives within 150 kilometres (90 mi) of the US border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably: the Greater Golden Horseshoe anchored around Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and their environs), the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and environs), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.
According to the 2001 census, it has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, with 83% of the total population claiming they are white. Ethnic diversity of Canada
The largest ethnic group is English (20.2%), followed by French (15.8%), Scottish (14.0%), Irish (12.9%), German (9.3%), Italian (4.3%), Chinese (3.7%), Ukrainian (3.6%), and First Nations (3.4%); 40% of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian." Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the Canadian average. In 2001, 13.4% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.
In 2001, 49% of the Vancouver population and 42.8% of Toronto's population were visible minorities. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that people of non-European origins will constitute a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012. Canadian People - Learn About Canada's People According to Statistics Canada's forecasts, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to double by 2017. Roughly one out of every five people in Canada could be a member of a visible minority by 2017. Visible majority by 2017
Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification; Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. Newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. By the 1990s and 2000s, almost all of Canadaâs immigrants came from Asia. Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year
Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada; about 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam numbering 1.9%, followed by Judaism: 1.1%.
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar while reflecting regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age ranges between 5â7 to 16â18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate that is 99%. Postsecondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, who provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 had post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34 the post-secondary attainment reaches 51%.
A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional "big house" in Victoria, BC.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions. It has also been influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. American media and entertainment are popular if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide. Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market.
The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. There are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism, and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, seen here at Expo 67, are the federal and national police force of Canada and an international icon.
National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. Particularly, the use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, and on the coat of arms. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, the Crown, and the RCMP.
Canada's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is the most popular sport Canadians play, with 1.65 million active participants in 2004. Canada's six largest metropolitan areas - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton - have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the league than from all other countries combined. After hockey, other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread.
Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada will be the host country for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.
The population of Montreal, Quebec is mainly Francophone, with a significant Anglophone community.
Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official Bilingualism in Canada is law, defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.
English and French are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively, and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3% and 22.3% of the population respectively. 98.5% of Canadians speak English or French (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%). English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0% and 23.6% of the population.
Although 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta and southern Manitoba, with an Acadian population in the northern and southeastern parts of New Brunswick constituting 35% of that province's population as well as concentrations in Southwestern Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. The Charter of the French Language in Quebec makes French the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province to have a statement of official bilingualism in the constitution. Other provinces have no official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official. Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.
Non-official languages are important in Canada, with 5,202,245 people listing one as a first language. Some significant non-official first languages include Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).
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Canada | Is Canada a member of the OECD? | yes | data/set2/a8 | Canada
Canada ( ) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal, semi-autonomous polity. This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon tradeâparticularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.
Jacques Cartier
The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word 'Canada' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.
The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later, it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted for the entire country, and it was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The fur trade was Canada's most important industry until the 1800s
Aboriginal and Inuit tradition holds that the First Peoples inhabited parts of Canada prehistorically. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 for England and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France ; seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.
The Death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, part of the Seven Years' War.
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years' War.
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada. New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.
Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.
Robert Harris's painting of the Fathers of Confederation. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.
The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel, and paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.
An animated map, exhibiting the growth and refactoring of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation.
Following several constitutional conferences, the British North America Act brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government decided to create the Yukon territory as a separate territory in the region to better control the situation. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
Canadian soldiers would win the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.
The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, and the Battle of the Scheldt during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's 10th province. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.
Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy. The separatist Parti Québécois first came to power in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population, and a second referendum in 1995 was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional; Quebec's sovereignty movement has continued nonetheless.
The Queen and the Registrar General signing the Constitution Act, 1982.
Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982.
Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (or Auto Pact) in 1965 and the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1987 were defining moments in integrating the two economies. Canadian nationalists continued to worry about their cultural autonomy as American television shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent. However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.
Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state; the Canadian monarch also serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting Canada in a personal union relationship with those other states. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.
Canada's constitution consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act) established governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Constitution Act, 1982 added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that generally cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. However, a notwithstanding clause, allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.
The Chamber of the House of Commons.
The monarch is represented by a viceroy, the Governor General, who is empowered to exercise almost all of the constitutional duties of the sovereign, though wielding these powers almost always on the advice of the appointed Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice, the only body to direct the use of the executive powers is the Cabinet a committee of the Privy Council made up of Ministers of the Crown, all of whom are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who holds the conventional position of head of government; to ensure the stability of government, the Governor General will usually appoint the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has been her Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.
The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a riding or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.
Four parties have substantial representation in the federal parliament: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill.
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining participation in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.
Lester B. Pearson with 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.
Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.
Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989
and has since maintained forces in international missions in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in three major relief efforts in the past two years; the two-hundred member team has been deployed in relief operations after the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. " Rich Nations Launch Vaccine Pact". Reuters. February 10, 2007. In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged following a Russian expedition which planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.
A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories.
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into numerous regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba). Eastern Canada consists of Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) and Atlantic Canada (comprised of the three Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland and Labrador). Three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) comprise Northern Canada. Provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.
All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.
A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield. Ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains. Flat and fertile Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, and largest on the continent. By land area it ranks fourth, after Russia, China, and the United States. World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada and in the world is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Islandâlatitude 82.5°Nâjust 817 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole. Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres.
The population density, , is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River in the southeast.
To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers. Canada by far has more lakes than any other country and has a large amount of the world's freshwater.
The Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls, a major source of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.
In eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary, that contains the island of Newfoundland. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern New England and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada. West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.
In western Canada, the Mackenzie River flows from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. A tributary of a tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls.
Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near â15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below â40 °C (â40 °F) with severe wind chills. In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year, (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate climate with a mild and rainy winter.
On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (75 to 85 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). For a more complete description of climate across Canada see Environment Canada's Website.
Canadian banknotes depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.
Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. Canada has traditionally had a lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP) than its southern neighbour (whereas wealth has been more equally divided), but higher than the large western European economies . Since the early 1990's, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. Today Canada closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. While as of October 2007, Canada's national unemployment rate of 5.9% is its lowest in 33 years. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 3.6% in Alberta to a high of 14.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important.
Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas and large oil and gas resources are centred in Alberta. The vast Athabasca Tar Sands give Canada the world's second largest reserves of oil behind Saudi Arabia. In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba, hydroelectric power is a cheap and clean source of renewable energy.
Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies one of the most important suppliers of wheat, canola and other grains. Canada is the world's largest producer of zinc and uranium and a world leader in many other natural resources such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; many, if not most, towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.
Canada is highly dependent on international trade, especially trade with the United States. The 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Since the mid 1990s, Canada's federal government has posted annual budgetary surpluses and has steadily paid down the national debt.
Toronto, Ontario skyline with the CN tower. Toronto is Canada's most populous metropolitan area with 5,113,149 people.
Canada's 2006 census counted 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population lives within 150 kilometres (90 mi) of the US border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably: the Greater Golden Horseshoe anchored around Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and their environs), the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and environs), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.
According to the 2001 census, it has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, with 83% of the total population claiming they are white. Ethnic diversity of Canada
The largest ethnic group is English (20.2%), followed by French (15.8%), Scottish (14.0%), Irish (12.9%), German (9.3%), Italian (4.3%), Chinese (3.7%), Ukrainian (3.6%), and First Nations (3.4%); 40% of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian." Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the Canadian average. In 2001, 13.4% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.
In 2001, 49% of the Vancouver population and 42.8% of Toronto's population were visible minorities. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that people of non-European origins will constitute a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012. Canadian People - Learn About Canada's People According to Statistics Canada's forecasts, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to double by 2017. Roughly one out of every five people in Canada could be a member of a visible minority by 2017. Visible majority by 2017
Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification; Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. Newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. By the 1990s and 2000s, almost all of Canadaâs immigrants came from Asia. Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year
Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada; about 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam numbering 1.9%, followed by Judaism: 1.1%.
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar while reflecting regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age ranges between 5â7 to 16â18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate that is 99%. Postsecondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, who provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 had post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34 the post-secondary attainment reaches 51%.
A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional "big house" in Victoria, BC.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions. It has also been influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. American media and entertainment are popular if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide. Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market.
The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. There are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism, and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, seen here at Expo 67, are the federal and national police force of Canada and an international icon.
National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. Particularly, the use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, and on the coat of arms. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, the Crown, and the RCMP.
Canada's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is the most popular sport Canadians play, with 1.65 million active participants in 2004. Canada's six largest metropolitan areas - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton - have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the league than from all other countries combined. After hockey, other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread.
Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada will be the host country for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.
The population of Montreal, Quebec is mainly Francophone, with a significant Anglophone community.
Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official Bilingualism in Canada is law, defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.
English and French are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively, and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3% and 22.3% of the population respectively. 98.5% of Canadians speak English or French (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%). English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0% and 23.6% of the population.
Although 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta and southern Manitoba, with an Acadian population in the northern and southeastern parts of New Brunswick constituting 35% of that province's population as well as concentrations in Southwestern Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. The Charter of the French Language in Quebec makes French the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province to have a statement of official bilingualism in the constitution. Other provinces have no official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official. Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.
Non-official languages are important in Canada, with 5,202,245 people listing one as a first language. Some significant non-official first languages include Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).
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Canada | Is Canada a member of the OECD? | null | data/set2/a8 | Canada
Canada ( ) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal, semi-autonomous polity. This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon tradeâparticularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.
Jacques Cartier
The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word 'Canada' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.
The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later, it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted for the entire country, and it was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The fur trade was Canada's most important industry until the 1800s
Aboriginal and Inuit tradition holds that the First Peoples inhabited parts of Canada prehistorically. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 for England and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France ; seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.
The Death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, part of the Seven Years' War.
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years' War.
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada. New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.
Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.
Robert Harris's painting of the Fathers of Confederation. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.
The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel, and paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.
An animated map, exhibiting the growth and refactoring of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation.
Following several constitutional conferences, the British North America Act brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government decided to create the Yukon territory as a separate territory in the region to better control the situation. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
Canadian soldiers would win the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.
The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, and the Battle of the Scheldt during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's 10th province. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.
Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy. The separatist Parti Québécois first came to power in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population, and a second referendum in 1995 was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional; Quebec's sovereignty movement has continued nonetheless.
The Queen and the Registrar General signing the Constitution Act, 1982.
Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982.
Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (or Auto Pact) in 1965 and the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1987 were defining moments in integrating the two economies. Canadian nationalists continued to worry about their cultural autonomy as American television shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent. However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.
Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state; the Canadian monarch also serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting Canada in a personal union relationship with those other states. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.
Canada's constitution consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act) established governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Constitution Act, 1982 added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that generally cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. However, a notwithstanding clause, allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.
The Chamber of the House of Commons.
The monarch is represented by a viceroy, the Governor General, who is empowered to exercise almost all of the constitutional duties of the sovereign, though wielding these powers almost always on the advice of the appointed Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice, the only body to direct the use of the executive powers is the Cabinet a committee of the Privy Council made up of Ministers of the Crown, all of whom are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who holds the conventional position of head of government; to ensure the stability of government, the Governor General will usually appoint the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has been her Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.
The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a riding or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.
Four parties have substantial representation in the federal parliament: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill.
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining participation in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.
Lester B. Pearson with 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.
Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.
Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989
and has since maintained forces in international missions in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in three major relief efforts in the past two years; the two-hundred member team has been deployed in relief operations after the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. " Rich Nations Launch Vaccine Pact". Reuters. February 10, 2007. In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged following a Russian expedition which planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.
A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories.
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into numerous regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba). Eastern Canada consists of Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) and Atlantic Canada (comprised of the three Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland and Labrador). Three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) comprise Northern Canada. Provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.
All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.
A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield. Ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains. Flat and fertile Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, and largest on the continent. By land area it ranks fourth, after Russia, China, and the United States. World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada and in the world is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Islandâlatitude 82.5°Nâjust 817 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole. Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres.
The population density, , is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River in the southeast.
To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers. Canada by far has more lakes than any other country and has a large amount of the world's freshwater.
The Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls, a major source of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.
In eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary, that contains the island of Newfoundland. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern New England and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada. West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.
In western Canada, the Mackenzie River flows from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. A tributary of a tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls.
Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near â15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below â40 °C (â40 °F) with severe wind chills. In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year, (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate climate with a mild and rainy winter.
On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (75 to 85 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). For a more complete description of climate across Canada see Environment Canada's Website.
Canadian banknotes depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.
Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. Canada has traditionally had a lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP) than its southern neighbour (whereas wealth has been more equally divided), but higher than the large western European economies . Since the early 1990's, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. Today Canada closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. While as of October 2007, Canada's national unemployment rate of 5.9% is its lowest in 33 years. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 3.6% in Alberta to a high of 14.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important.
Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas and large oil and gas resources are centred in Alberta. The vast Athabasca Tar Sands give Canada the world's second largest reserves of oil behind Saudi Arabia. In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba, hydroelectric power is a cheap and clean source of renewable energy.
Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies one of the most important suppliers of wheat, canola and other grains. Canada is the world's largest producer of zinc and uranium and a world leader in many other natural resources such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; many, if not most, towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.
Canada is highly dependent on international trade, especially trade with the United States. The 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Since the mid 1990s, Canada's federal government has posted annual budgetary surpluses and has steadily paid down the national debt.
Toronto, Ontario skyline with the CN tower. Toronto is Canada's most populous metropolitan area with 5,113,149 people.
Canada's 2006 census counted 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population lives within 150 kilometres (90 mi) of the US border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably: the Greater Golden Horseshoe anchored around Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and their environs), the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and environs), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.
According to the 2001 census, it has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, with 83% of the total population claiming they are white. Ethnic diversity of Canada
The largest ethnic group is English (20.2%), followed by French (15.8%), Scottish (14.0%), Irish (12.9%), German (9.3%), Italian (4.3%), Chinese (3.7%), Ukrainian (3.6%), and First Nations (3.4%); 40% of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian." Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the Canadian average. In 2001, 13.4% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.
In 2001, 49% of the Vancouver population and 42.8% of Toronto's population were visible minorities. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that people of non-European origins will constitute a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012. Canadian People - Learn About Canada's People According to Statistics Canada's forecasts, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to double by 2017. Roughly one out of every five people in Canada could be a member of a visible minority by 2017. Visible majority by 2017
Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification; Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. Newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. By the 1990s and 2000s, almost all of Canadaâs immigrants came from Asia. Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year
Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada; about 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam numbering 1.9%, followed by Judaism: 1.1%.
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar while reflecting regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age ranges between 5â7 to 16â18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate that is 99%. Postsecondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, who provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 had post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34 the post-secondary attainment reaches 51%.
A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional "big house" in Victoria, BC.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions. It has also been influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. American media and entertainment are popular if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide. Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market.
The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. There are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism, and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, seen here at Expo 67, are the federal and national police force of Canada and an international icon.
National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. Particularly, the use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, and on the coat of arms. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, the Crown, and the RCMP.
Canada's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is the most popular sport Canadians play, with 1.65 million active participants in 2004. Canada's six largest metropolitan areas - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton - have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the league than from all other countries combined. After hockey, other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread.
Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada will be the host country for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.
The population of Montreal, Quebec is mainly Francophone, with a significant Anglophone community.
Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official Bilingualism in Canada is law, defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.
English and French are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively, and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3% and 22.3% of the population respectively. 98.5% of Canadians speak English or French (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%). English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0% and 23.6% of the population.
Although 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta and southern Manitoba, with an Acadian population in the northern and southeastern parts of New Brunswick constituting 35% of that province's population as well as concentrations in Southwestern Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. The Charter of the French Language in Quebec makes French the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province to have a statement of official bilingualism in the constitution. Other provinces have no official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official. Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.
Non-official languages are important in Canada, with 5,202,245 people listing one as a first language. Some significant non-official first languages include Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).
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Canada | Is Canada's official language Zulu? | No. | data/set2/a8 | Canada
Canada ( ) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal, semi-autonomous polity. This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon tradeâparticularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.
Jacques Cartier
The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word 'Canada' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.
The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later, it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted for the entire country, and it was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The fur trade was Canada's most important industry until the 1800s
Aboriginal and Inuit tradition holds that the First Peoples inhabited parts of Canada prehistorically. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 for England and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France ; seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.
The Death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, part of the Seven Years' War.
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years' War.
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada. New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.
Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.
Robert Harris's painting of the Fathers of Confederation. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.
The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel, and paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.
An animated map, exhibiting the growth and refactoring of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation.
Following several constitutional conferences, the British North America Act brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government decided to create the Yukon territory as a separate territory in the region to better control the situation. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
Canadian soldiers would win the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.
The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, and the Battle of the Scheldt during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's 10th province. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.
Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy. The separatist Parti Québécois first came to power in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population, and a second referendum in 1995 was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional; Quebec's sovereignty movement has continued nonetheless.
The Queen and the Registrar General signing the Constitution Act, 1982.
Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982.
Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (or Auto Pact) in 1965 and the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1987 were defining moments in integrating the two economies. Canadian nationalists continued to worry about their cultural autonomy as American television shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent. However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.
Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state; the Canadian monarch also serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting Canada in a personal union relationship with those other states. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.
Canada's constitution consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act) established governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Constitution Act, 1982 added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that generally cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. However, a notwithstanding clause, allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.
The Chamber of the House of Commons.
The monarch is represented by a viceroy, the Governor General, who is empowered to exercise almost all of the constitutional duties of the sovereign, though wielding these powers almost always on the advice of the appointed Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice, the only body to direct the use of the executive powers is the Cabinet a committee of the Privy Council made up of Ministers of the Crown, all of whom are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who holds the conventional position of head of government; to ensure the stability of government, the Governor General will usually appoint the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has been her Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.
The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a riding or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.
Four parties have substantial representation in the federal parliament: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill.
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining participation in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.
Lester B. Pearson with 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.
Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.
Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989
and has since maintained forces in international missions in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in three major relief efforts in the past two years; the two-hundred member team has been deployed in relief operations after the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. " Rich Nations Launch Vaccine Pact". Reuters. February 10, 2007. In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged following a Russian expedition which planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.
A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories.
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into numerous regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba). Eastern Canada consists of Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) and Atlantic Canada (comprised of the three Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland and Labrador). Three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) comprise Northern Canada. Provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.
All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.
A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield. Ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains. Flat and fertile Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, and largest on the continent. By land area it ranks fourth, after Russia, China, and the United States. World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada and in the world is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Islandâlatitude 82.5°Nâjust 817 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole. Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres.
The population density, , is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River in the southeast.
To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers. Canada by far has more lakes than any other country and has a large amount of the world's freshwater.
The Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls, a major source of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.
In eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary, that contains the island of Newfoundland. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern New England and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada. West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.
In western Canada, the Mackenzie River flows from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. A tributary of a tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls.
Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near â15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below â40 °C (â40 °F) with severe wind chills. In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year, (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate climate with a mild and rainy winter.
On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (75 to 85 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). For a more complete description of climate across Canada see Environment Canada's Website.
Canadian banknotes depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.
Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. Canada has traditionally had a lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP) than its southern neighbour (whereas wealth has been more equally divided), but higher than the large western European economies . Since the early 1990's, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. Today Canada closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. While as of October 2007, Canada's national unemployment rate of 5.9% is its lowest in 33 years. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 3.6% in Alberta to a high of 14.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important.
Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas and large oil and gas resources are centred in Alberta. The vast Athabasca Tar Sands give Canada the world's second largest reserves of oil behind Saudi Arabia. In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba, hydroelectric power is a cheap and clean source of renewable energy.
Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies one of the most important suppliers of wheat, canola and other grains. Canada is the world's largest producer of zinc and uranium and a world leader in many other natural resources such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; many, if not most, towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.
Canada is highly dependent on international trade, especially trade with the United States. The 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Since the mid 1990s, Canada's federal government has posted annual budgetary surpluses and has steadily paid down the national debt.
Toronto, Ontario skyline with the CN tower. Toronto is Canada's most populous metropolitan area with 5,113,149 people.
Canada's 2006 census counted 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population lives within 150 kilometres (90 mi) of the US border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably: the Greater Golden Horseshoe anchored around Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and their environs), the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and environs), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.
According to the 2001 census, it has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, with 83% of the total population claiming they are white. Ethnic diversity of Canada
The largest ethnic group is English (20.2%), followed by French (15.8%), Scottish (14.0%), Irish (12.9%), German (9.3%), Italian (4.3%), Chinese (3.7%), Ukrainian (3.6%), and First Nations (3.4%); 40% of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian." Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the Canadian average. In 2001, 13.4% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.
In 2001, 49% of the Vancouver population and 42.8% of Toronto's population were visible minorities. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that people of non-European origins will constitute a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012. Canadian People - Learn About Canada's People According to Statistics Canada's forecasts, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to double by 2017. Roughly one out of every five people in Canada could be a member of a visible minority by 2017. Visible majority by 2017
Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification; Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. Newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. By the 1990s and 2000s, almost all of Canadaâs immigrants came from Asia. Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year
Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada; about 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam numbering 1.9%, followed by Judaism: 1.1%.
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar while reflecting regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age ranges between 5â7 to 16â18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate that is 99%. Postsecondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, who provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 had post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34 the post-secondary attainment reaches 51%.
A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional "big house" in Victoria, BC.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions. It has also been influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. American media and entertainment are popular if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide. Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market.
The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. There are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism, and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, seen here at Expo 67, are the federal and national police force of Canada and an international icon.
National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. Particularly, the use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, and on the coat of arms. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, the Crown, and the RCMP.
Canada's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is the most popular sport Canadians play, with 1.65 million active participants in 2004. Canada's six largest metropolitan areas - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton - have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the league than from all other countries combined. After hockey, other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread.
Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada will be the host country for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.
The population of Montreal, Quebec is mainly Francophone, with a significant Anglophone community.
Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official Bilingualism in Canada is law, defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.
English and French are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively, and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3% and 22.3% of the population respectively. 98.5% of Canadians speak English or French (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%). English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0% and 23.6% of the population.
Although 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta and southern Manitoba, with an Acadian population in the northern and southeastern parts of New Brunswick constituting 35% of that province's population as well as concentrations in Southwestern Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. The Charter of the French Language in Quebec makes French the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province to have a statement of official bilingualism in the constitution. Other provinces have no official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official. Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.
Non-official languages are important in Canada, with 5,202,245 people listing one as a first language. Some significant non-official first languages include Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).
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Canada | Is Canada's official language Zulu? | no | data/set2/a8 | Canada
Canada ( ) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal, semi-autonomous polity. This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon tradeâparticularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.
Jacques Cartier
The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word 'Canada' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.
The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later, it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted for the entire country, and it was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The fur trade was Canada's most important industry until the 1800s
Aboriginal and Inuit tradition holds that the First Peoples inhabited parts of Canada prehistorically. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 for England and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France ; seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.
The Death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, part of the Seven Years' War.
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years' War.
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada. New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.
Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.
Robert Harris's painting of the Fathers of Confederation. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.
The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel, and paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.
An animated map, exhibiting the growth and refactoring of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation.
Following several constitutional conferences, the British North America Act brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government decided to create the Yukon territory as a separate territory in the region to better control the situation. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
Canadian soldiers would win the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.
The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, and the Battle of the Scheldt during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's 10th province. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.
Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy. The separatist Parti Québécois first came to power in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population, and a second referendum in 1995 was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional; Quebec's sovereignty movement has continued nonetheless.
The Queen and the Registrar General signing the Constitution Act, 1982.
Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982.
Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (or Auto Pact) in 1965 and the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1987 were defining moments in integrating the two economies. Canadian nationalists continued to worry about their cultural autonomy as American television shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent. However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.
Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state; the Canadian monarch also serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting Canada in a personal union relationship with those other states. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.
Canada's constitution consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act) established governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Constitution Act, 1982 added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that generally cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. However, a notwithstanding clause, allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.
The Chamber of the House of Commons.
The monarch is represented by a viceroy, the Governor General, who is empowered to exercise almost all of the constitutional duties of the sovereign, though wielding these powers almost always on the advice of the appointed Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice, the only body to direct the use of the executive powers is the Cabinet a committee of the Privy Council made up of Ministers of the Crown, all of whom are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who holds the conventional position of head of government; to ensure the stability of government, the Governor General will usually appoint the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has been her Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.
The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a riding or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.
Four parties have substantial representation in the federal parliament: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill.
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining participation in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.
Lester B. Pearson with 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.
Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.
Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989
and has since maintained forces in international missions in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in three major relief efforts in the past two years; the two-hundred member team has been deployed in relief operations after the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. " Rich Nations Launch Vaccine Pact". Reuters. February 10, 2007. In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged following a Russian expedition which planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.
A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories.
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into numerous regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba). Eastern Canada consists of Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) and Atlantic Canada (comprised of the three Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland and Labrador). Three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) comprise Northern Canada. Provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.
All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.
A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield. Ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains. Flat and fertile Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, and largest on the continent. By land area it ranks fourth, after Russia, China, and the United States. World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada and in the world is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Islandâlatitude 82.5°Nâjust 817 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole. Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres.
The population density, , is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River in the southeast.
To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers. Canada by far has more lakes than any other country and has a large amount of the world's freshwater.
The Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls, a major source of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.
In eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary, that contains the island of Newfoundland. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern New England and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada. West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.
In western Canada, the Mackenzie River flows from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. A tributary of a tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls.
Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near â15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below â40 °C (â40 °F) with severe wind chills. In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year, (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate climate with a mild and rainy winter.
On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (75 to 85 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). For a more complete description of climate across Canada see Environment Canada's Website.
Canadian banknotes depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.
Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. Canada has traditionally had a lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP) than its southern neighbour (whereas wealth has been more equally divided), but higher than the large western European economies . Since the early 1990's, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. Today Canada closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. While as of October 2007, Canada's national unemployment rate of 5.9% is its lowest in 33 years. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 3.6% in Alberta to a high of 14.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important.
Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas and large oil and gas resources are centred in Alberta. The vast Athabasca Tar Sands give Canada the world's second largest reserves of oil behind Saudi Arabia. In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba, hydroelectric power is a cheap and clean source of renewable energy.
Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies one of the most important suppliers of wheat, canola and other grains. Canada is the world's largest producer of zinc and uranium and a world leader in many other natural resources such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; many, if not most, towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.
Canada is highly dependent on international trade, especially trade with the United States. The 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Since the mid 1990s, Canada's federal government has posted annual budgetary surpluses and has steadily paid down the national debt.
Toronto, Ontario skyline with the CN tower. Toronto is Canada's most populous metropolitan area with 5,113,149 people.
Canada's 2006 census counted 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population lives within 150 kilometres (90 mi) of the US border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably: the Greater Golden Horseshoe anchored around Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and their environs), the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and environs), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.
According to the 2001 census, it has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, with 83% of the total population claiming they are white. Ethnic diversity of Canada
The largest ethnic group is English (20.2%), followed by French (15.8%), Scottish (14.0%), Irish (12.9%), German (9.3%), Italian (4.3%), Chinese (3.7%), Ukrainian (3.6%), and First Nations (3.4%); 40% of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian." Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the Canadian average. In 2001, 13.4% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.
In 2001, 49% of the Vancouver population and 42.8% of Toronto's population were visible minorities. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that people of non-European origins will constitute a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012. Canadian People - Learn About Canada's People According to Statistics Canada's forecasts, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to double by 2017. Roughly one out of every five people in Canada could be a member of a visible minority by 2017. Visible majority by 2017
Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification; Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. Newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. By the 1990s and 2000s, almost all of Canadaâs immigrants came from Asia. Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year
Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada; about 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam numbering 1.9%, followed by Judaism: 1.1%.
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar while reflecting regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age ranges between 5â7 to 16â18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate that is 99%. Postsecondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, who provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 had post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34 the post-secondary attainment reaches 51%.
A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional "big house" in Victoria, BC.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions. It has also been influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. American media and entertainment are popular if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide. Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market.
The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. There are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism, and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, seen here at Expo 67, are the federal and national police force of Canada and an international icon.
National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. Particularly, the use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, and on the coat of arms. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, the Crown, and the RCMP.
Canada's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is the most popular sport Canadians play, with 1.65 million active participants in 2004. Canada's six largest metropolitan areas - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton - have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the league than from all other countries combined. After hockey, other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread.
Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada will be the host country for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.
The population of Montreal, Quebec is mainly Francophone, with a significant Anglophone community.
Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official Bilingualism in Canada is law, defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.
English and French are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively, and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3% and 22.3% of the population respectively. 98.5% of Canadians speak English or French (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%). English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0% and 23.6% of the population.
Although 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta and southern Manitoba, with an Acadian population in the northern and southeastern parts of New Brunswick constituting 35% of that province's population as well as concentrations in Southwestern Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. The Charter of the French Language in Quebec makes French the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province to have a statement of official bilingualism in the constitution. Other provinces have no official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official. Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.
Non-official languages are important in Canada, with 5,202,245 people listing one as a first language. Some significant non-official first languages include Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).
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Canada | Is Canada's official language Zulu? | null | data/set2/a8 | Canada
Canada ( ) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal, semi-autonomous polity. This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon tradeâparticularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.
Jacques Cartier
The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word 'Canada' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.
The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later, it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted for the entire country, and it was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The fur trade was Canada's most important industry until the 1800s
Aboriginal and Inuit tradition holds that the First Peoples inhabited parts of Canada prehistorically. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 for England and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France ; seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.
The Death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, part of the Seven Years' War.
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years' War.
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada. New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.
Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.
Robert Harris's painting of the Fathers of Confederation. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.
The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel, and paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.
An animated map, exhibiting the growth and refactoring of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation.
Following several constitutional conferences, the British North America Act brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government decided to create the Yukon territory as a separate territory in the region to better control the situation. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
Canadian soldiers would win the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.
The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, and the Battle of the Scheldt during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's 10th province. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.
Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy. The separatist Parti Québécois first came to power in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population, and a second referendum in 1995 was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional; Quebec's sovereignty movement has continued nonetheless.
The Queen and the Registrar General signing the Constitution Act, 1982.
Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982.
Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (or Auto Pact) in 1965 and the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1987 were defining moments in integrating the two economies. Canadian nationalists continued to worry about their cultural autonomy as American television shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent. However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.
Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state; the Canadian monarch also serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting Canada in a personal union relationship with those other states. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.
Canada's constitution consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act) established governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Constitution Act, 1982 added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that generally cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. However, a notwithstanding clause, allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.
The Chamber of the House of Commons.
The monarch is represented by a viceroy, the Governor General, who is empowered to exercise almost all of the constitutional duties of the sovereign, though wielding these powers almost always on the advice of the appointed Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice, the only body to direct the use of the executive powers is the Cabinet a committee of the Privy Council made up of Ministers of the Crown, all of whom are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who holds the conventional position of head of government; to ensure the stability of government, the Governor General will usually appoint the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has been her Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.
The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a riding or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.
Four parties have substantial representation in the federal parliament: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill.
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining participation in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.
Lester B. Pearson with 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.
Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.
Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989
and has since maintained forces in international missions in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in three major relief efforts in the past two years; the two-hundred member team has been deployed in relief operations after the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. " Rich Nations Launch Vaccine Pact". Reuters. February 10, 2007. In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged following a Russian expedition which planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.
A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories.
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into numerous regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba). Eastern Canada consists of Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) and Atlantic Canada (comprised of the three Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland and Labrador). Three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) comprise Northern Canada. Provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.
All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.
A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield. Ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains. Flat and fertile Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, and largest on the continent. By land area it ranks fourth, after Russia, China, and the United States. World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada and in the world is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Islandâlatitude 82.5°Nâjust 817 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole. Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres.
The population density, , is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River in the southeast.
To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers. Canada by far has more lakes than any other country and has a large amount of the world's freshwater.
The Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls, a major source of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.
In eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary, that contains the island of Newfoundland. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern New England and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada. West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.
In western Canada, the Mackenzie River flows from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. A tributary of a tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls.
Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near â15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below â40 °C (â40 °F) with severe wind chills. In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year, (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate climate with a mild and rainy winter.
On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (75 to 85 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). For a more complete description of climate across Canada see Environment Canada's Website.
Canadian banknotes depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.
Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. Canada has traditionally had a lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP) than its southern neighbour (whereas wealth has been more equally divided), but higher than the large western European economies . Since the early 1990's, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. Today Canada closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. While as of October 2007, Canada's national unemployment rate of 5.9% is its lowest in 33 years. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 3.6% in Alberta to a high of 14.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important.
Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas and large oil and gas resources are centred in Alberta. The vast Athabasca Tar Sands give Canada the world's second largest reserves of oil behind Saudi Arabia. In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba, hydroelectric power is a cheap and clean source of renewable energy.
Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies one of the most important suppliers of wheat, canola and other grains. Canada is the world's largest producer of zinc and uranium and a world leader in many other natural resources such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; many, if not most, towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.
Canada is highly dependent on international trade, especially trade with the United States. The 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Since the mid 1990s, Canada's federal government has posted annual budgetary surpluses and has steadily paid down the national debt.
Toronto, Ontario skyline with the CN tower. Toronto is Canada's most populous metropolitan area with 5,113,149 people.
Canada's 2006 census counted 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population lives within 150 kilometres (90 mi) of the US border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably: the Greater Golden Horseshoe anchored around Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and their environs), the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and environs), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.
According to the 2001 census, it has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, with 83% of the total population claiming they are white. Ethnic diversity of Canada
The largest ethnic group is English (20.2%), followed by French (15.8%), Scottish (14.0%), Irish (12.9%), German (9.3%), Italian (4.3%), Chinese (3.7%), Ukrainian (3.6%), and First Nations (3.4%); 40% of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian." Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the Canadian average. In 2001, 13.4% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.
In 2001, 49% of the Vancouver population and 42.8% of Toronto's population were visible minorities. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that people of non-European origins will constitute a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012. Canadian People - Learn About Canada's People According to Statistics Canada's forecasts, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to double by 2017. Roughly one out of every five people in Canada could be a member of a visible minority by 2017. Visible majority by 2017
Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification; Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. Newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. By the 1990s and 2000s, almost all of Canadaâs immigrants came from Asia. Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year
Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada; about 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam numbering 1.9%, followed by Judaism: 1.1%.
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar while reflecting regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age ranges between 5â7 to 16â18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate that is 99%. Postsecondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, who provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 had post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34 the post-secondary attainment reaches 51%.
A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional "big house" in Victoria, BC.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions. It has also been influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. American media and entertainment are popular if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide. Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market.
The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. There are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism, and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, seen here at Expo 67, are the federal and national police force of Canada and an international icon.
National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. Particularly, the use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, and on the coat of arms. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, the Crown, and the RCMP.
Canada's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is the most popular sport Canadians play, with 1.65 million active participants in 2004. Canada's six largest metropolitan areas - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton - have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the league than from all other countries combined. After hockey, other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread.
Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada will be the host country for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.
The population of Montreal, Quebec is mainly Francophone, with a significant Anglophone community.
Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official Bilingualism in Canada is law, defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.
English and French are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively, and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3% and 22.3% of the population respectively. 98.5% of Canadians speak English or French (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%). English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0% and 23.6% of the population.
Although 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta and southern Manitoba, with an Acadian population in the northern and southeastern parts of New Brunswick constituting 35% of that province's population as well as concentrations in Southwestern Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. The Charter of the French Language in Quebec makes French the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province to have a statement of official bilingualism in the constitution. Other provinces have no official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official. Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.
Non-official languages are important in Canada, with 5,202,245 people listing one as a first language. Some significant non-official first languages include Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).
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Canada | What is one significant non-official language? | Chinese. | data/set2/a8 | Canada
Canada ( ) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal, semi-autonomous polity. This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon tradeâparticularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.
Jacques Cartier
The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word 'Canada' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.
The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later, it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted for the entire country, and it was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The fur trade was Canada's most important industry until the 1800s
Aboriginal and Inuit tradition holds that the First Peoples inhabited parts of Canada prehistorically. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 for England and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France ; seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.
The Death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, part of the Seven Years' War.
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years' War.
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada. New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.
Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.
Robert Harris's painting of the Fathers of Confederation. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.
The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel, and paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.
An animated map, exhibiting the growth and refactoring of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation.
Following several constitutional conferences, the British North America Act brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government decided to create the Yukon territory as a separate territory in the region to better control the situation. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
Canadian soldiers would win the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.
The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, and the Battle of the Scheldt during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's 10th province. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.
Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy. The separatist Parti Québécois first came to power in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population, and a second referendum in 1995 was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional; Quebec's sovereignty movement has continued nonetheless.
The Queen and the Registrar General signing the Constitution Act, 1982.
Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982.
Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (or Auto Pact) in 1965 and the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1987 were defining moments in integrating the two economies. Canadian nationalists continued to worry about their cultural autonomy as American television shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent. However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.
Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state; the Canadian monarch also serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting Canada in a personal union relationship with those other states. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.
Canada's constitution consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act) established governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Constitution Act, 1982 added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that generally cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. However, a notwithstanding clause, allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.
The Chamber of the House of Commons.
The monarch is represented by a viceroy, the Governor General, who is empowered to exercise almost all of the constitutional duties of the sovereign, though wielding these powers almost always on the advice of the appointed Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice, the only body to direct the use of the executive powers is the Cabinet a committee of the Privy Council made up of Ministers of the Crown, all of whom are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who holds the conventional position of head of government; to ensure the stability of government, the Governor General will usually appoint the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has been her Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.
The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a riding or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.
Four parties have substantial representation in the federal parliament: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill.
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining participation in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.
Lester B. Pearson with 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.
Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.
Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989
and has since maintained forces in international missions in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in three major relief efforts in the past two years; the two-hundred member team has been deployed in relief operations after the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. " Rich Nations Launch Vaccine Pact". Reuters. February 10, 2007. In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged following a Russian expedition which planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.
A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories.
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into numerous regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba). Eastern Canada consists of Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) and Atlantic Canada (comprised of the three Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland and Labrador). Three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) comprise Northern Canada. Provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.
All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.
A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield. Ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains. Flat and fertile Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, and largest on the continent. By land area it ranks fourth, after Russia, China, and the United States. World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada and in the world is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Islandâlatitude 82.5°Nâjust 817 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole. Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres.
The population density, , is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River in the southeast.
To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers. Canada by far has more lakes than any other country and has a large amount of the world's freshwater.
The Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls, a major source of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.
In eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary, that contains the island of Newfoundland. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern New England and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada. West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.
In western Canada, the Mackenzie River flows from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. A tributary of a tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls.
Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near â15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below â40 °C (â40 °F) with severe wind chills. In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year, (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate climate with a mild and rainy winter.
On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (75 to 85 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). For a more complete description of climate across Canada see Environment Canada's Website.
Canadian banknotes depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.
Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. Canada has traditionally had a lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP) than its southern neighbour (whereas wealth has been more equally divided), but higher than the large western European economies . Since the early 1990's, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. Today Canada closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. While as of October 2007, Canada's national unemployment rate of 5.9% is its lowest in 33 years. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 3.6% in Alberta to a high of 14.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important.
Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas and large oil and gas resources are centred in Alberta. The vast Athabasca Tar Sands give Canada the world's second largest reserves of oil behind Saudi Arabia. In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba, hydroelectric power is a cheap and clean source of renewable energy.
Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies one of the most important suppliers of wheat, canola and other grains. Canada is the world's largest producer of zinc and uranium and a world leader in many other natural resources such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; many, if not most, towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.
Canada is highly dependent on international trade, especially trade with the United States. The 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Since the mid 1990s, Canada's federal government has posted annual budgetary surpluses and has steadily paid down the national debt.
Toronto, Ontario skyline with the CN tower. Toronto is Canada's most populous metropolitan area with 5,113,149 people.
Canada's 2006 census counted 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population lives within 150 kilometres (90 mi) of the US border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably: the Greater Golden Horseshoe anchored around Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and their environs), the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and environs), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.
According to the 2001 census, it has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, with 83% of the total population claiming they are white. Ethnic diversity of Canada
The largest ethnic group is English (20.2%), followed by French (15.8%), Scottish (14.0%), Irish (12.9%), German (9.3%), Italian (4.3%), Chinese (3.7%), Ukrainian (3.6%), and First Nations (3.4%); 40% of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian." Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the Canadian average. In 2001, 13.4% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.
In 2001, 49% of the Vancouver population and 42.8% of Toronto's population were visible minorities. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that people of non-European origins will constitute a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012. Canadian People - Learn About Canada's People According to Statistics Canada's forecasts, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to double by 2017. Roughly one out of every five people in Canada could be a member of a visible minority by 2017. Visible majority by 2017
Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification; Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. Newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. By the 1990s and 2000s, almost all of Canadaâs immigrants came from Asia. Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year
Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada; about 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam numbering 1.9%, followed by Judaism: 1.1%.
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar while reflecting regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age ranges between 5â7 to 16â18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate that is 99%. Postsecondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, who provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 had post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34 the post-secondary attainment reaches 51%.
A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional "big house" in Victoria, BC.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions. It has also been influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. American media and entertainment are popular if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide. Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market.
The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. There are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism, and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, seen here at Expo 67, are the federal and national police force of Canada and an international icon.
National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. Particularly, the use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, and on the coat of arms. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, the Crown, and the RCMP.
Canada's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is the most popular sport Canadians play, with 1.65 million active participants in 2004. Canada's six largest metropolitan areas - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton - have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the league than from all other countries combined. After hockey, other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread.
Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada will be the host country for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.
The population of Montreal, Quebec is mainly Francophone, with a significant Anglophone community.
Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official Bilingualism in Canada is law, defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.
English and French are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively, and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3% and 22.3% of the population respectively. 98.5% of Canadians speak English or French (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%). English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0% and 23.6% of the population.
Although 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta and southern Manitoba, with an Acadian population in the northern and southeastern parts of New Brunswick constituting 35% of that province's population as well as concentrations in Southwestern Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. The Charter of the French Language in Quebec makes French the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province to have a statement of official bilingualism in the constitution. Other provinces have no official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official. Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.
Non-official languages are important in Canada, with 5,202,245 people listing one as a first language. Some significant non-official first languages include Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).
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Canada | What is one significant non-official language? | Chinese | data/set2/a8 | Canada
Canada ( ) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal, semi-autonomous polity. This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon tradeâparticularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.
Jacques Cartier
The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word 'Canada' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.
The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later, it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted for the entire country, and it was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The fur trade was Canada's most important industry until the 1800s
Aboriginal and Inuit tradition holds that the First Peoples inhabited parts of Canada prehistorically. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 for England and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France ; seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.
The Death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, part of the Seven Years' War.
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years' War.
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada. New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.
Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.
Robert Harris's painting of the Fathers of Confederation. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.
The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel, and paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.
An animated map, exhibiting the growth and refactoring of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation.
Following several constitutional conferences, the British North America Act brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government decided to create the Yukon territory as a separate territory in the region to better control the situation. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
Canadian soldiers would win the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.
The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, and the Battle of the Scheldt during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's 10th province. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.
Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy. The separatist Parti Québécois first came to power in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population, and a second referendum in 1995 was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional; Quebec's sovereignty movement has continued nonetheless.
The Queen and the Registrar General signing the Constitution Act, 1982.
Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982.
Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (or Auto Pact) in 1965 and the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1987 were defining moments in integrating the two economies. Canadian nationalists continued to worry about their cultural autonomy as American television shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent. However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.
Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state; the Canadian monarch also serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting Canada in a personal union relationship with those other states. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.
Canada's constitution consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act) established governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Constitution Act, 1982 added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that generally cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. However, a notwithstanding clause, allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.
The Chamber of the House of Commons.
The monarch is represented by a viceroy, the Governor General, who is empowered to exercise almost all of the constitutional duties of the sovereign, though wielding these powers almost always on the advice of the appointed Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice, the only body to direct the use of the executive powers is the Cabinet a committee of the Privy Council made up of Ministers of the Crown, all of whom are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who holds the conventional position of head of government; to ensure the stability of government, the Governor General will usually appoint the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has been her Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.
The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a riding or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.
Four parties have substantial representation in the federal parliament: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill.
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining participation in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.
Lester B. Pearson with 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.
Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.
Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989
and has since maintained forces in international missions in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in three major relief efforts in the past two years; the two-hundred member team has been deployed in relief operations after the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. " Rich Nations Launch Vaccine Pact". Reuters. February 10, 2007. In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged following a Russian expedition which planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.
A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories.
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into numerous regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba). Eastern Canada consists of Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) and Atlantic Canada (comprised of the three Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland and Labrador). Three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) comprise Northern Canada. Provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.
All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.
A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield. Ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains. Flat and fertile Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, and largest on the continent. By land area it ranks fourth, after Russia, China, and the United States. World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada and in the world is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Islandâlatitude 82.5°Nâjust 817 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole. Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres.
The population density, , is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River in the southeast.
To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers. Canada by far has more lakes than any other country and has a large amount of the world's freshwater.
The Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls, a major source of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.
In eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary, that contains the island of Newfoundland. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern New England and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada. West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.
In western Canada, the Mackenzie River flows from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. A tributary of a tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls.
Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near â15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below â40 °C (â40 °F) with severe wind chills. In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year, (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate climate with a mild and rainy winter.
On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (75 to 85 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). For a more complete description of climate across Canada see Environment Canada's Website.
Canadian banknotes depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.
Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. Canada has traditionally had a lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP) than its southern neighbour (whereas wealth has been more equally divided), but higher than the large western European economies . Since the early 1990's, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. Today Canada closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. While as of October 2007, Canada's national unemployment rate of 5.9% is its lowest in 33 years. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 3.6% in Alberta to a high of 14.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important.
Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas and large oil and gas resources are centred in Alberta. The vast Athabasca Tar Sands give Canada the world's second largest reserves of oil behind Saudi Arabia. In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba, hydroelectric power is a cheap and clean source of renewable energy.
Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies one of the most important suppliers of wheat, canola and other grains. Canada is the world's largest producer of zinc and uranium and a world leader in many other natural resources such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; many, if not most, towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.
Canada is highly dependent on international trade, especially trade with the United States. The 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Since the mid 1990s, Canada's federal government has posted annual budgetary surpluses and has steadily paid down the national debt.
Toronto, Ontario skyline with the CN tower. Toronto is Canada's most populous metropolitan area with 5,113,149 people.
Canada's 2006 census counted 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population lives within 150 kilometres (90 mi) of the US border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably: the Greater Golden Horseshoe anchored around Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and their environs), the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and environs), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.
According to the 2001 census, it has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, with 83% of the total population claiming they are white. Ethnic diversity of Canada
The largest ethnic group is English (20.2%), followed by French (15.8%), Scottish (14.0%), Irish (12.9%), German (9.3%), Italian (4.3%), Chinese (3.7%), Ukrainian (3.6%), and First Nations (3.4%); 40% of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian." Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the Canadian average. In 2001, 13.4% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.
In 2001, 49% of the Vancouver population and 42.8% of Toronto's population were visible minorities. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that people of non-European origins will constitute a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012. Canadian People - Learn About Canada's People According to Statistics Canada's forecasts, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to double by 2017. Roughly one out of every five people in Canada could be a member of a visible minority by 2017. Visible majority by 2017
Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification; Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. Newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. By the 1990s and 2000s, almost all of Canadaâs immigrants came from Asia. Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year
Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada; about 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam numbering 1.9%, followed by Judaism: 1.1%.
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar while reflecting regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age ranges between 5â7 to 16â18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate that is 99%. Postsecondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, who provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 had post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34 the post-secondary attainment reaches 51%.
A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional "big house" in Victoria, BC.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions. It has also been influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. American media and entertainment are popular if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide. Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market.
The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. There are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism, and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, seen here at Expo 67, are the federal and national police force of Canada and an international icon.
National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. Particularly, the use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, and on the coat of arms. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, the Crown, and the RCMP.
Canada's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is the most popular sport Canadians play, with 1.65 million active participants in 2004. Canada's six largest metropolitan areas - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton - have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the league than from all other countries combined. After hockey, other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread.
Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada will be the host country for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.
The population of Montreal, Quebec is mainly Francophone, with a significant Anglophone community.
Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official Bilingualism in Canada is law, defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.
English and French are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively, and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3% and 22.3% of the population respectively. 98.5% of Canadians speak English or French (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%). English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0% and 23.6% of the population.
Although 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta and southern Manitoba, with an Acadian population in the northern and southeastern parts of New Brunswick constituting 35% of that province's population as well as concentrations in Southwestern Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. The Charter of the French Language in Quebec makes French the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province to have a statement of official bilingualism in the constitution. Other provinces have no official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official. Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.
Non-official languages are important in Canada, with 5,202,245 people listing one as a first language. Some significant non-official first languages include Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).
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Canada | What is one significant non-official language? | null | data/set2/a8 | Canada
Canada ( ) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal, semi-autonomous polity. This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon tradeâparticularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.
Jacques Cartier
The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word 'Canada' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.
The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later, it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted for the entire country, and it was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The fur trade was Canada's most important industry until the 1800s
Aboriginal and Inuit tradition holds that the First Peoples inhabited parts of Canada prehistorically. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 for England and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France ; seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.
The Death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, part of the Seven Years' War.
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years' War.
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada. New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.
Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.
Robert Harris's painting of the Fathers of Confederation. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.
The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel, and paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.
An animated map, exhibiting the growth and refactoring of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation.
Following several constitutional conferences, the British North America Act brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government decided to create the Yukon territory as a separate territory in the region to better control the situation. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
Canadian soldiers would win the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.
The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, and the Battle of the Scheldt during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's 10th province. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.
Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy. The separatist Parti Québécois first came to power in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population, and a second referendum in 1995 was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional; Quebec's sovereignty movement has continued nonetheless.
The Queen and the Registrar General signing the Constitution Act, 1982.
Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982.
Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (or Auto Pact) in 1965 and the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1987 were defining moments in integrating the two economies. Canadian nationalists continued to worry about their cultural autonomy as American television shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent. However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.
Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state; the Canadian monarch also serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting Canada in a personal union relationship with those other states. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.
Canada's constitution consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act) established governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Constitution Act, 1982 added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that generally cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. However, a notwithstanding clause, allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.
The Chamber of the House of Commons.
The monarch is represented by a viceroy, the Governor General, who is empowered to exercise almost all of the constitutional duties of the sovereign, though wielding these powers almost always on the advice of the appointed Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice, the only body to direct the use of the executive powers is the Cabinet a committee of the Privy Council made up of Ministers of the Crown, all of whom are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who holds the conventional position of head of government; to ensure the stability of government, the Governor General will usually appoint the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has been her Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.
The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a riding or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.
Four parties have substantial representation in the federal parliament: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill.
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining participation in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.
Lester B. Pearson with 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.
Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.
Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989
and has since maintained forces in international missions in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in three major relief efforts in the past two years; the two-hundred member team has been deployed in relief operations after the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. " Rich Nations Launch Vaccine Pact". Reuters. February 10, 2007. In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged following a Russian expedition which planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.
A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories.
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into numerous regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba). Eastern Canada consists of Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) and Atlantic Canada (comprised of the three Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland and Labrador). Three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) comprise Northern Canada. Provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.
All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.
A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield. Ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains. Flat and fertile Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, and largest on the continent. By land area it ranks fourth, after Russia, China, and the United States. World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada and in the world is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Islandâlatitude 82.5°Nâjust 817 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole. Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres.
The population density, , is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River in the southeast.
To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers. Canada by far has more lakes than any other country and has a large amount of the world's freshwater.
The Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls, a major source of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.
In eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary, that contains the island of Newfoundland. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern New England and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada. West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.
In western Canada, the Mackenzie River flows from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. A tributary of a tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls.
Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near â15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below â40 °C (â40 °F) with severe wind chills. In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year, (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate climate with a mild and rainy winter.
On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (75 to 85 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). For a more complete description of climate across Canada see Environment Canada's Website.
Canadian banknotes depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.
Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. Canada has traditionally had a lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP) than its southern neighbour (whereas wealth has been more equally divided), but higher than the large western European economies . Since the early 1990's, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. Today Canada closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. While as of October 2007, Canada's national unemployment rate of 5.9% is its lowest in 33 years. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 3.6% in Alberta to a high of 14.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important.
Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas and large oil and gas resources are centred in Alberta. The vast Athabasca Tar Sands give Canada the world's second largest reserves of oil behind Saudi Arabia. In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba, hydroelectric power is a cheap and clean source of renewable energy.
Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies one of the most important suppliers of wheat, canola and other grains. Canada is the world's largest producer of zinc and uranium and a world leader in many other natural resources such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; many, if not most, towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.
Canada is highly dependent on international trade, especially trade with the United States. The 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Since the mid 1990s, Canada's federal government has posted annual budgetary surpluses and has steadily paid down the national debt.
Toronto, Ontario skyline with the CN tower. Toronto is Canada's most populous metropolitan area with 5,113,149 people.
Canada's 2006 census counted 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population lives within 150 kilometres (90 mi) of the US border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably: the Greater Golden Horseshoe anchored around Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and their environs), the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and environs), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.
According to the 2001 census, it has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, with 83% of the total population claiming they are white. Ethnic diversity of Canada
The largest ethnic group is English (20.2%), followed by French (15.8%), Scottish (14.0%), Irish (12.9%), German (9.3%), Italian (4.3%), Chinese (3.7%), Ukrainian (3.6%), and First Nations (3.4%); 40% of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian." Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the Canadian average. In 2001, 13.4% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.
In 2001, 49% of the Vancouver population and 42.8% of Toronto's population were visible minorities. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that people of non-European origins will constitute a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012. Canadian People - Learn About Canada's People According to Statistics Canada's forecasts, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to double by 2017. Roughly one out of every five people in Canada could be a member of a visible minority by 2017. Visible majority by 2017
Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification; Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. Newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. By the 1990s and 2000s, almost all of Canadaâs immigrants came from Asia. Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year
Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada; about 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam numbering 1.9%, followed by Judaism: 1.1%.
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar while reflecting regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age ranges between 5â7 to 16â18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate that is 99%. Postsecondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, who provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 had post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34 the post-secondary attainment reaches 51%.
A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional "big house" in Victoria, BC.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions. It has also been influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. American media and entertainment are popular if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide. Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market.
The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. There are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism, and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, seen here at Expo 67, are the federal and national police force of Canada and an international icon.
National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. Particularly, the use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, and on the coat of arms. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, the Crown, and the RCMP.
Canada's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is the most popular sport Canadians play, with 1.65 million active participants in 2004. Canada's six largest metropolitan areas - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton - have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the league than from all other countries combined. After hockey, other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread.
Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada will be the host country for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.
The population of Montreal, Quebec is mainly Francophone, with a significant Anglophone community.
Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official Bilingualism in Canada is law, defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.
English and French are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively, and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3% and 22.3% of the population respectively. 98.5% of Canadians speak English or French (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%). English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0% and 23.6% of the population.
Although 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta and southern Manitoba, with an Acadian population in the northern and southeastern parts of New Brunswick constituting 35% of that province's population as well as concentrations in Southwestern Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. The Charter of the French Language in Quebec makes French the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province to have a statement of official bilingualism in the constitution. Other provinces have no official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official. Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.
Non-official languages are important in Canada, with 5,202,245 people listing one as a first language. Some significant non-official first languages include Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).
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Canada | In addition to Port Royal, where else did Samuel de Champlain establish a settlement? | Quebec City | data/set2/a8 | Canada
Canada ( ) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal, semi-autonomous polity. This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon tradeâparticularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.
Jacques Cartier
The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word 'Canada' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.
The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later, it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted for the entire country, and it was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The fur trade was Canada's most important industry until the 1800s
Aboriginal and Inuit tradition holds that the First Peoples inhabited parts of Canada prehistorically. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 for England and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France ; seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.
The Death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, part of the Seven Years' War.
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years' War.
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada. New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.
Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.
Robert Harris's painting of the Fathers of Confederation. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.
The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel, and paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.
An animated map, exhibiting the growth and refactoring of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation.
Following several constitutional conferences, the British North America Act brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government decided to create the Yukon territory as a separate territory in the region to better control the situation. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
Canadian soldiers would win the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.
The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, and the Battle of the Scheldt during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's 10th province. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.
Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy. The separatist Parti Québécois first came to power in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population, and a second referendum in 1995 was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional; Quebec's sovereignty movement has continued nonetheless.
The Queen and the Registrar General signing the Constitution Act, 1982.
Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982.
Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (or Auto Pact) in 1965 and the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1987 were defining moments in integrating the two economies. Canadian nationalists continued to worry about their cultural autonomy as American television shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent. However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.
Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state; the Canadian monarch also serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting Canada in a personal union relationship with those other states. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.
Canada's constitution consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act) established governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Constitution Act, 1982 added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that generally cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. However, a notwithstanding clause, allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.
The Chamber of the House of Commons.
The monarch is represented by a viceroy, the Governor General, who is empowered to exercise almost all of the constitutional duties of the sovereign, though wielding these powers almost always on the advice of the appointed Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice, the only body to direct the use of the executive powers is the Cabinet a committee of the Privy Council made up of Ministers of the Crown, all of whom are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who holds the conventional position of head of government; to ensure the stability of government, the Governor General will usually appoint the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has been her Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.
The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a riding or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.
Four parties have substantial representation in the federal parliament: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill.
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining participation in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.
Lester B. Pearson with 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.
Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.
Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989
and has since maintained forces in international missions in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in three major relief efforts in the past two years; the two-hundred member team has been deployed in relief operations after the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. " Rich Nations Launch Vaccine Pact". Reuters. February 10, 2007. In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged following a Russian expedition which planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.
A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories.
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into numerous regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba). Eastern Canada consists of Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) and Atlantic Canada (comprised of the three Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland and Labrador). Three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) comprise Northern Canada. Provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.
All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.
A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield. Ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains. Flat and fertile Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, and largest on the continent. By land area it ranks fourth, after Russia, China, and the United States. World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada and in the world is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Islandâlatitude 82.5°Nâjust 817 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole. Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres.
The population density, , is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River in the southeast.
To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers. Canada by far has more lakes than any other country and has a large amount of the world's freshwater.
The Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls, a major source of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.
In eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary, that contains the island of Newfoundland. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern New England and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada. West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.
In western Canada, the Mackenzie River flows from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. A tributary of a tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls.
Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near â15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below â40 °C (â40 °F) with severe wind chills. In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year, (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate climate with a mild and rainy winter.
On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (75 to 85 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). For a more complete description of climate across Canada see Environment Canada's Website.
Canadian banknotes depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.
Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. Canada has traditionally had a lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP) than its southern neighbour (whereas wealth has been more equally divided), but higher than the large western European economies . Since the early 1990's, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. Today Canada closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. While as of October 2007, Canada's national unemployment rate of 5.9% is its lowest in 33 years. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 3.6% in Alberta to a high of 14.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important.
Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas and large oil and gas resources are centred in Alberta. The vast Athabasca Tar Sands give Canada the world's second largest reserves of oil behind Saudi Arabia. In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba, hydroelectric power is a cheap and clean source of renewable energy.
Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies one of the most important suppliers of wheat, canola and other grains. Canada is the world's largest producer of zinc and uranium and a world leader in many other natural resources such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; many, if not most, towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.
Canada is highly dependent on international trade, especially trade with the United States. The 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Since the mid 1990s, Canada's federal government has posted annual budgetary surpluses and has steadily paid down the national debt.
Toronto, Ontario skyline with the CN tower. Toronto is Canada's most populous metropolitan area with 5,113,149 people.
Canada's 2006 census counted 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population lives within 150 kilometres (90 mi) of the US border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably: the Greater Golden Horseshoe anchored around Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and their environs), the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and environs), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.
According to the 2001 census, it has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, with 83% of the total population claiming they are white. Ethnic diversity of Canada
The largest ethnic group is English (20.2%), followed by French (15.8%), Scottish (14.0%), Irish (12.9%), German (9.3%), Italian (4.3%), Chinese (3.7%), Ukrainian (3.6%), and First Nations (3.4%); 40% of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian." Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the Canadian average. In 2001, 13.4% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.
In 2001, 49% of the Vancouver population and 42.8% of Toronto's population were visible minorities. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that people of non-European origins will constitute a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012. Canadian People - Learn About Canada's People According to Statistics Canada's forecasts, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to double by 2017. Roughly one out of every five people in Canada could be a member of a visible minority by 2017. Visible majority by 2017
Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification; Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. Newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. By the 1990s and 2000s, almost all of Canadaâs immigrants came from Asia. Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year
Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada; about 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam numbering 1.9%, followed by Judaism: 1.1%.
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar while reflecting regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age ranges between 5â7 to 16â18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate that is 99%. Postsecondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, who provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 had post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34 the post-secondary attainment reaches 51%.
A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional "big house" in Victoria, BC.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions. It has also been influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. American media and entertainment are popular if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide. Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market.
The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. There are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism, and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, seen here at Expo 67, are the federal and national police force of Canada and an international icon.
National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. Particularly, the use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, and on the coat of arms. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, the Crown, and the RCMP.
Canada's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is the most popular sport Canadians play, with 1.65 million active participants in 2004. Canada's six largest metropolitan areas - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton - have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the league than from all other countries combined. After hockey, other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread.
Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada will be the host country for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.
The population of Montreal, Quebec is mainly Francophone, with a significant Anglophone community.
Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official Bilingualism in Canada is law, defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.
English and French are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively, and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3% and 22.3% of the population respectively. 98.5% of Canadians speak English or French (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%). English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0% and 23.6% of the population.
Although 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta and southern Manitoba, with an Acadian population in the northern and southeastern parts of New Brunswick constituting 35% of that province's population as well as concentrations in Southwestern Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. The Charter of the French Language in Quebec makes French the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province to have a statement of official bilingualism in the constitution. Other provinces have no official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official. Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.
Non-official languages are important in Canada, with 5,202,245 people listing one as a first language. Some significant non-official first languages include Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).
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Canada | In addition to Port Royal, where else did Samuel de Champlain establish a settlement? | null | data/set2/a8 | Canada
Canada ( ) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal, semi-autonomous polity. This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon tradeâparticularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.
Jacques Cartier
The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word 'Canada' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.
The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later, it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted for the entire country, and it was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The fur trade was Canada's most important industry until the 1800s
Aboriginal and Inuit tradition holds that the First Peoples inhabited parts of Canada prehistorically. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 for England and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France ; seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.
The Death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, part of the Seven Years' War.
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years' War.
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada. New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.
Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.
Robert Harris's painting of the Fathers of Confederation. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.
The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel, and paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.
An animated map, exhibiting the growth and refactoring of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation.
Following several constitutional conferences, the British North America Act brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government decided to create the Yukon territory as a separate territory in the region to better control the situation. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
Canadian soldiers would win the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.
The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, and the Battle of the Scheldt during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's 10th province. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.
Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy. The separatist Parti Québécois first came to power in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population, and a second referendum in 1995 was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional; Quebec's sovereignty movement has continued nonetheless.
The Queen and the Registrar General signing the Constitution Act, 1982.
Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982.
Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (or Auto Pact) in 1965 and the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1987 were defining moments in integrating the two economies. Canadian nationalists continued to worry about their cultural autonomy as American television shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent. However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.
Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state; the Canadian monarch also serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting Canada in a personal union relationship with those other states. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.
Canada's constitution consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act) established governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Constitution Act, 1982 added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that generally cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. However, a notwithstanding clause, allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.
The Chamber of the House of Commons.
The monarch is represented by a viceroy, the Governor General, who is empowered to exercise almost all of the constitutional duties of the sovereign, though wielding these powers almost always on the advice of the appointed Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice, the only body to direct the use of the executive powers is the Cabinet a committee of the Privy Council made up of Ministers of the Crown, all of whom are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who holds the conventional position of head of government; to ensure the stability of government, the Governor General will usually appoint the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has been her Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.
The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a riding or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.
Four parties have substantial representation in the federal parliament: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill.
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining participation in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.
Lester B. Pearson with 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.
Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.
Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989
and has since maintained forces in international missions in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in three major relief efforts in the past two years; the two-hundred member team has been deployed in relief operations after the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. " Rich Nations Launch Vaccine Pact". Reuters. February 10, 2007. In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged following a Russian expedition which planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.
A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories.
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into numerous regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba). Eastern Canada consists of Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) and Atlantic Canada (comprised of the three Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland and Labrador). Three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) comprise Northern Canada. Provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.
All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.
A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield. Ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains. Flat and fertile Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, and largest on the continent. By land area it ranks fourth, after Russia, China, and the United States. World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada and in the world is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Islandâlatitude 82.5°Nâjust 817 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole. Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres.
The population density, , is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River in the southeast.
To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers. Canada by far has more lakes than any other country and has a large amount of the world's freshwater.
The Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls, a major source of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.
In eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary, that contains the island of Newfoundland. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern New England and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada. West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.
In western Canada, the Mackenzie River flows from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. A tributary of a tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls.
Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near â15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below â40 °C (â40 °F) with severe wind chills. In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year, (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate climate with a mild and rainy winter.
On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (75 to 85 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). For a more complete description of climate across Canada see Environment Canada's Website.
Canadian banknotes depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.
Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. Canada has traditionally had a lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP) than its southern neighbour (whereas wealth has been more equally divided), but higher than the large western European economies . Since the early 1990's, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. Today Canada closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. While as of October 2007, Canada's national unemployment rate of 5.9% is its lowest in 33 years. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 3.6% in Alberta to a high of 14.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important.
Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas and large oil and gas resources are centred in Alberta. The vast Athabasca Tar Sands give Canada the world's second largest reserves of oil behind Saudi Arabia. In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba, hydroelectric power is a cheap and clean source of renewable energy.
Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies one of the most important suppliers of wheat, canola and other grains. Canada is the world's largest producer of zinc and uranium and a world leader in many other natural resources such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; many, if not most, towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.
Canada is highly dependent on international trade, especially trade with the United States. The 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Since the mid 1990s, Canada's federal government has posted annual budgetary surpluses and has steadily paid down the national debt.
Toronto, Ontario skyline with the CN tower. Toronto is Canada's most populous metropolitan area with 5,113,149 people.
Canada's 2006 census counted 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population lives within 150 kilometres (90 mi) of the US border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably: the Greater Golden Horseshoe anchored around Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and their environs), the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and environs), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.
According to the 2001 census, it has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, with 83% of the total population claiming they are white. Ethnic diversity of Canada
The largest ethnic group is English (20.2%), followed by French (15.8%), Scottish (14.0%), Irish (12.9%), German (9.3%), Italian (4.3%), Chinese (3.7%), Ukrainian (3.6%), and First Nations (3.4%); 40% of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian." Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the Canadian average. In 2001, 13.4% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.
In 2001, 49% of the Vancouver population and 42.8% of Toronto's population were visible minorities. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that people of non-European origins will constitute a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012. Canadian People - Learn About Canada's People According to Statistics Canada's forecasts, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to double by 2017. Roughly one out of every five people in Canada could be a member of a visible minority by 2017. Visible majority by 2017
Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification; Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. Newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. By the 1990s and 2000s, almost all of Canadaâs immigrants came from Asia. Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year
Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada; about 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam numbering 1.9%, followed by Judaism: 1.1%.
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar while reflecting regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age ranges between 5â7 to 16â18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate that is 99%. Postsecondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, who provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 had post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34 the post-secondary attainment reaches 51%.
A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional "big house" in Victoria, BC.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions. It has also been influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. American media and entertainment are popular if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide. Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market.
The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. There are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism, and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, seen here at Expo 67, are the federal and national police force of Canada and an international icon.
National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. Particularly, the use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, and on the coat of arms. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, the Crown, and the RCMP.
Canada's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is the most popular sport Canadians play, with 1.65 million active participants in 2004. Canada's six largest metropolitan areas - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton - have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the league than from all other countries combined. After hockey, other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread.
Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada will be the host country for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.
The population of Montreal, Quebec is mainly Francophone, with a significant Anglophone community.
Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official Bilingualism in Canada is law, defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.
English and French are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively, and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3% and 22.3% of the population respectively. 98.5% of Canadians speak English or French (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%). English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0% and 23.6% of the population.
Although 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta and southern Manitoba, with an Acadian population in the northern and southeastern parts of New Brunswick constituting 35% of that province's population as well as concentrations in Southwestern Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. The Charter of the French Language in Quebec makes French the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province to have a statement of official bilingualism in the constitution. Other provinces have no official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official. Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.
Non-official languages are important in Canada, with 5,202,245 people listing one as a first language. Some significant non-official first languages include Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).
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The Canadas
United Province of Canada
Responsible government#British North America
Oregon Treaty
Oregon boundary dispute
49th parallel north
Colony of Vancouver Island
Colony of British Columbia
Rupert's Land
Arctic
New England
Territorial evolution of Canada
Constitution Act, 1867
Canadian Confederation
Canada's name#Adoption of Dominion
Ontario
Quebec
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
Rupert's Land
North-Western Territory
Northwest Territories
Métis people (Canada)
Red River Rebellion
Manitoba
United Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia
Prince Edward Island
Prime Minister of Canada
John A. Macdonald
Conservative Party of Canada (historical)
National Policy
tariffs
Canadian Pacific Railway
Dominion Lands Act
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Klondike Gold Rush
Yukon
Liberal Party of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
Wilfrid Laurier
Alberta
Saskatchewan
Battle of Vimy Ridge
First World War
Conscription Crisis of 1917
Conservative Party of Canada (historical)
Robert Borden
League of Nations
Statute of Westminster 1931
Great Depression of 1929
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Tommy Douglas
Military history of Canada during World War II
World War II
William Lyon Mackenzie King
Battle of the Atlantic
Dieppe Raid
Allied invasion of Italy
Battle of the Scheldt
Netherlands
materiel
Conscription Crisis of 1944
Newfoundland and Labrador
Post-World War II baby boom
Quebec
Quiet Revolution
Québécois
Quebec nationalism
Quebec sovereignty movement
Parti Québécois
referendum
sovereignty-association
1980 Quebec referendum
1995 Quebec referendum
Reference re Secession of Quebec
Registrar General of Canada
Constitution Act, 1982
Liberal Party of Canada
Lester B. Pearson
Pierre Trudeau
Canadian identity
Flag of Canada
francophone
Quebec
Bilingualism in Canada
Official Languages Act (Canada)
Immigration to Canada
Multiculturalism#Origins in Canada
Social democratic
Medicare (Canada)
Canada Pension Plan
Canada Student Loans
Pierre Trudeau
patriation
Charter of Rights and Freedoms
individual rights
Constitution Act of 1982
Canada-United States Automotive Agreement
Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement
Canadian nationalism
Health care in Canada
Parliament Hill
Ottawa
constitutional monarchy
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Style of the Canadian sovereign
2005-04-21
2005-12-06
Monarchy of Canada
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federation
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Constitution of Canada
Constitution Act, 1867
Constitution Act, 1982
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Section Thirty-three of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
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head of government
List of Prime Ministers of Canada
plurality
Canadian House of Commons
Michaëlle Jean
September 27
2005
Stephen Harper
Conservative Party of Canada
February 6
2006
Parliament of Canada
Canadian Senate
plurality electoral system
electoral district (Canada)
Conservative Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
New Democratic Party
Bloc Québécois
Green Party of Canada
List of political parties in Canada#Historical parties that have won seats in Parliament
Supreme Court of Canada
judiciary
Supreme Court of Canada
Beverley McLachlin
Governor General of Canada
Court system of Canada
Common law
civil law (legal system)
Criminal law in Canada
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Peacekeeping Monument
U.S.-Canada relations
border
Cuba
Iraq War
United Kingdom
France
Commonwealth of Nations
La Francophonie
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Lester B. Pearson
Nobel Peace Prize
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Canada in the Cold War
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Suez Crisis
Lester B. Pearson
UN peacekeeping
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Organization of American States
Pacific Rim
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
Canada's role in the invasion of Afghanistan
Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001âpresent)
International Security Assistance Force
Disaster Assistance Response Team
2004 tsunami
Hurricane Katrina
2005 Kashmir earthquake
Reuters
February 10
2007
Territorial claims in the Arctic
Arktika 2007
Provinces and territories of Canada
federation
province
Territory (country subdivision)
region
Western Canada
British Columbia
Canadian Prairies
Alberta
Saskatchewan
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Eastern Canada
Central Canada
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Ontario
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List of Canadian provincial and territorial symbols
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Canada Health Act
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Legislative Assemblies of Canada's provinces and territories
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Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Boreal forest
Canadian Shield
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Canadian Rockies
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contiguous United States
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Pacific Ocean
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Russia
continent
China
longitude
2004-04-06
CFS Alert
Ellesmere Island
nautical mile
2006-12-19
population density
Quebec City-Windsor Corridor
Canadian Shield
Wisconsin glaciation
2004-04-02
Horseshoe Falls (Canada)
Niagara Falls
2004-04-05
Gulf of Saint Lawrence
estuary
Newfoundland (island)
Canadian Maritimes
Appalachian Mountains
New England
Gaspé Peninsula
New Brunswick
Nova Scotia
Bay of Fundy
Ontario
Hudson Bay
Canadian Prairies
Rocky Mountains
British Columbia
Mackenzie River
Great Slave Lake
Arctic Ocean
South Nahanni River
Virginia Falls, Northwest Territories
Niagara Falls
Northern Canada
coniferous
tundra
Canadian Arctic Archipelago
List of islands by area
continental climate
Celsius
Fahrenheit
2004-02-25
Canadian banknotes
Wilfrid Laurier
John A. Macdonald
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
William Lyon Mackenzie King
Robert Borden
List of countries by GDP (nominal)
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Group of Eight
free market
gross domestic product
unemployment
Government of Canada
2006-08-04
first world nation
service industry
primary industry
logging
petroleum
Atlantic Canada
Alberta
Athabasca Tar Sands
Saudi Arabia
2006-03-10
hydroelectric power
wheat
canola
zinc
uranium
gold
nickel
aluminum
lead
automobiles
aeronautics
international trade
Canada-US Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
Toronto
Ontario
CN tower
2007-03-13
2007-03-13
Canada 2006 Census
2007-03-13
Immigration to Canada
mile
urban area
Quebec City-Windsor Corridor
Golden Horseshoe
Toronto
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Lower Mainland
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English-Canadian
French Canadian
Scottish-Canadian
Irish-Canadian
German-Canadian
Italian Canadian
Chinese Canadian
Ukrainian Canadian
First Nations
2005-01-25
Aboriginal peoples in Canada
visible minorities
2001-01-21
Vancouver
Toronto
visible minorities
Statistics Canada
Immigration to Canada#Immigration rate
2004-10-31
Economic impact of immigration to Canada
Immigration to Canada#Immigration categories
refugees
Asia
religious pluralism
Canada's political culture
2005-01-25
Christianity
Catholicism
Protestant
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Islam
Judaism
2005-11-14
Kwakwaka'wakw
totem pole
Victoria, British Columbia
British Columbia
British people
French people
Aboriginal peoples in Canada
American culture
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
National Film Board of Canada
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
multiculturalism
Section Twenty-seven of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
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Expo 67
National symbols of Canada
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maple leaf
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common loon
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Sport in Canada
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national pastime
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curling
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volleyball
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1976 Summer Olympics
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2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup
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Vancouver
Whistler, British Columbia
British Columbia
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French language
Bilingualism in Canada
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2005-01-27
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2005-01-27
2005-01-27
Franco-Ontarian
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2003-09-01
2005-01-27
2005-01-27
The World Factbook
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Canada | What was the Consitution Act formerly called? | The British North America Act. | data/set2/a8 | Canada
Canada ( ) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal, semi-autonomous polity. This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon tradeâparticularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.
Jacques Cartier
The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word 'Canada' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.
The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later, it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted for the entire country, and it was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The fur trade was Canada's most important industry until the 1800s
Aboriginal and Inuit tradition holds that the First Peoples inhabited parts of Canada prehistorically. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 for England and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France ; seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.
The Death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, part of the Seven Years' War.
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years' War.
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada. New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.
Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.
Robert Harris's painting of the Fathers of Confederation. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.
The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel, and paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.
An animated map, exhibiting the growth and refactoring of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation.
Following several constitutional conferences, the British North America Act brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government decided to create the Yukon territory as a separate territory in the region to better control the situation. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
Canadian soldiers would win the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.
The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, and the Battle of the Scheldt during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's 10th province. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.
Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy. The separatist Parti Québécois first came to power in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population, and a second referendum in 1995 was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional; Quebec's sovereignty movement has continued nonetheless.
The Queen and the Registrar General signing the Constitution Act, 1982.
Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982.
Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (or Auto Pact) in 1965 and the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1987 were defining moments in integrating the two economies. Canadian nationalists continued to worry about their cultural autonomy as American television shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent. However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.
Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state; the Canadian monarch also serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting Canada in a personal union relationship with those other states. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.
Canada's constitution consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act) established governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Constitution Act, 1982 added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that generally cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. However, a notwithstanding clause, allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.
The Chamber of the House of Commons.
The monarch is represented by a viceroy, the Governor General, who is empowered to exercise almost all of the constitutional duties of the sovereign, though wielding these powers almost always on the advice of the appointed Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice, the only body to direct the use of the executive powers is the Cabinet a committee of the Privy Council made up of Ministers of the Crown, all of whom are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who holds the conventional position of head of government; to ensure the stability of government, the Governor General will usually appoint the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has been her Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.
The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a riding or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.
Four parties have substantial representation in the federal parliament: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill.
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining participation in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.
Lester B. Pearson with 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.
Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.
Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989
and has since maintained forces in international missions in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in three major relief efforts in the past two years; the two-hundred member team has been deployed in relief operations after the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. " Rich Nations Launch Vaccine Pact". Reuters. February 10, 2007. In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged following a Russian expedition which planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.
A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories.
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into numerous regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba). Eastern Canada consists of Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) and Atlantic Canada (comprised of the three Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland and Labrador). Three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) comprise Northern Canada. Provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.
All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.
A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield. Ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains. Flat and fertile Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, and largest on the continent. By land area it ranks fourth, after Russia, China, and the United States. World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada and in the world is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Islandâlatitude 82.5°Nâjust 817 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole. Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres.
The population density, , is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River in the southeast.
To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers. Canada by far has more lakes than any other country and has a large amount of the world's freshwater.
The Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls, a major source of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.
In eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary, that contains the island of Newfoundland. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern New England and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada. West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.
In western Canada, the Mackenzie River flows from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. A tributary of a tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls.
Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near â15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below â40 °C (â40 °F) with severe wind chills. In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year, (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate climate with a mild and rainy winter.
On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (75 to 85 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). For a more complete description of climate across Canada see Environment Canada's Website.
Canadian banknotes depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.
Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. Canada has traditionally had a lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP) than its southern neighbour (whereas wealth has been more equally divided), but higher than the large western European economies . Since the early 1990's, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. Today Canada closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. While as of October 2007, Canada's national unemployment rate of 5.9% is its lowest in 33 years. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 3.6% in Alberta to a high of 14.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important.
Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas and large oil and gas resources are centred in Alberta. The vast Athabasca Tar Sands give Canada the world's second largest reserves of oil behind Saudi Arabia. In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba, hydroelectric power is a cheap and clean source of renewable energy.
Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies one of the most important suppliers of wheat, canola and other grains. Canada is the world's largest producer of zinc and uranium and a world leader in many other natural resources such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; many, if not most, towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.
Canada is highly dependent on international trade, especially trade with the United States. The 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Since the mid 1990s, Canada's federal government has posted annual budgetary surpluses and has steadily paid down the national debt.
Toronto, Ontario skyline with the CN tower. Toronto is Canada's most populous metropolitan area with 5,113,149 people.
Canada's 2006 census counted 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population lives within 150 kilometres (90 mi) of the US border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably: the Greater Golden Horseshoe anchored around Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and their environs), the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and environs), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.
According to the 2001 census, it has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, with 83% of the total population claiming they are white. Ethnic diversity of Canada
The largest ethnic group is English (20.2%), followed by French (15.8%), Scottish (14.0%), Irish (12.9%), German (9.3%), Italian (4.3%), Chinese (3.7%), Ukrainian (3.6%), and First Nations (3.4%); 40% of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian." Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the Canadian average. In 2001, 13.4% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.
In 2001, 49% of the Vancouver population and 42.8% of Toronto's population were visible minorities. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that people of non-European origins will constitute a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012. Canadian People - Learn About Canada's People According to Statistics Canada's forecasts, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to double by 2017. Roughly one out of every five people in Canada could be a member of a visible minority by 2017. Visible majority by 2017
Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification; Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. Newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. By the 1990s and 2000s, almost all of Canadaâs immigrants came from Asia. Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year
Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada; about 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam numbering 1.9%, followed by Judaism: 1.1%.
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar while reflecting regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age ranges between 5â7 to 16â18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate that is 99%. Postsecondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, who provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 had post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34 the post-secondary attainment reaches 51%.
A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional "big house" in Victoria, BC.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions. It has also been influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. American media and entertainment are popular if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide. Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market.
The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. There are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism, and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, seen here at Expo 67, are the federal and national police force of Canada and an international icon.
National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. Particularly, the use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, and on the coat of arms. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, the Crown, and the RCMP.
Canada's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is the most popular sport Canadians play, with 1.65 million active participants in 2004. Canada's six largest metropolitan areas - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton - have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the league than from all other countries combined. After hockey, other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread.
Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada will be the host country for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.
The population of Montreal, Quebec is mainly Francophone, with a significant Anglophone community.
Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official Bilingualism in Canada is law, defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.
English and French are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively, and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3% and 22.3% of the population respectively. 98.5% of Canadians speak English or French (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%). English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0% and 23.6% of the population.
Although 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta and southern Manitoba, with an Acadian population in the northern and southeastern parts of New Brunswick constituting 35% of that province's population as well as concentrations in Southwestern Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. The Charter of the French Language in Quebec makes French the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province to have a statement of official bilingualism in the constitution. Other provinces have no official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official. Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.
Non-official languages are important in Canada, with 5,202,245 people listing one as a first language. Some significant non-official first languages include Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).
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Canada | What was the Consitution Act formerly called? | British North America Act | data/set2/a8 | Canada
Canada ( ) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal, semi-autonomous polity. This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon tradeâparticularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.
Jacques Cartier
The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word 'Canada' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.
The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later, it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted for the entire country, and it was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The fur trade was Canada's most important industry until the 1800s
Aboriginal and Inuit tradition holds that the First Peoples inhabited parts of Canada prehistorically. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 for England and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France ; seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.
The Death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, part of the Seven Years' War.
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years' War.
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada. New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.
Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.
Robert Harris's painting of the Fathers of Confederation. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.
The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel, and paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.
An animated map, exhibiting the growth and refactoring of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation.
Following several constitutional conferences, the British North America Act brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government decided to create the Yukon territory as a separate territory in the region to better control the situation. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
Canadian soldiers would win the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.
The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, and the Battle of the Scheldt during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's 10th province. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.
Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy. The separatist Parti Québécois first came to power in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population, and a second referendum in 1995 was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional; Quebec's sovereignty movement has continued nonetheless.
The Queen and the Registrar General signing the Constitution Act, 1982.
Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982.
Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (or Auto Pact) in 1965 and the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1987 were defining moments in integrating the two economies. Canadian nationalists continued to worry about their cultural autonomy as American television shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent. However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.
Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state; the Canadian monarch also serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting Canada in a personal union relationship with those other states. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.
Canada's constitution consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act) established governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Constitution Act, 1982 added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that generally cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. However, a notwithstanding clause, allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.
The Chamber of the House of Commons.
The monarch is represented by a viceroy, the Governor General, who is empowered to exercise almost all of the constitutional duties of the sovereign, though wielding these powers almost always on the advice of the appointed Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice, the only body to direct the use of the executive powers is the Cabinet a committee of the Privy Council made up of Ministers of the Crown, all of whom are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who holds the conventional position of head of government; to ensure the stability of government, the Governor General will usually appoint the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has been her Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.
The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a riding or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.
Four parties have substantial representation in the federal parliament: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill.
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining participation in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.
Lester B. Pearson with 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.
Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.
Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989
and has since maintained forces in international missions in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in three major relief efforts in the past two years; the two-hundred member team has been deployed in relief operations after the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. " Rich Nations Launch Vaccine Pact". Reuters. February 10, 2007. In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged following a Russian expedition which planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.
A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories.
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into numerous regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba). Eastern Canada consists of Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) and Atlantic Canada (comprised of the three Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland and Labrador). Three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) comprise Northern Canada. Provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.
All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.
A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield. Ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains. Flat and fertile Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, and largest on the continent. By land area it ranks fourth, after Russia, China, and the United States. World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada and in the world is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Islandâlatitude 82.5°Nâjust 817 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole. Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres.
The population density, , is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River in the southeast.
To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers. Canada by far has more lakes than any other country and has a large amount of the world's freshwater.
The Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls, a major source of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.
In eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary, that contains the island of Newfoundland. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern New England and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada. West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.
In western Canada, the Mackenzie River flows from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. A tributary of a tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls.
Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near â15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below â40 °C (â40 °F) with severe wind chills. In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year, (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate climate with a mild and rainy winter.
On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (75 to 85 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). For a more complete description of climate across Canada see Environment Canada's Website.
Canadian banknotes depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.
Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. Canada has traditionally had a lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP) than its southern neighbour (whereas wealth has been more equally divided), but higher than the large western European economies . Since the early 1990's, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. Today Canada closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. While as of October 2007, Canada's national unemployment rate of 5.9% is its lowest in 33 years. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 3.6% in Alberta to a high of 14.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important.
Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas and large oil and gas resources are centred in Alberta. The vast Athabasca Tar Sands give Canada the world's second largest reserves of oil behind Saudi Arabia. In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba, hydroelectric power is a cheap and clean source of renewable energy.
Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies one of the most important suppliers of wheat, canola and other grains. Canada is the world's largest producer of zinc and uranium and a world leader in many other natural resources such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; many, if not most, towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.
Canada is highly dependent on international trade, especially trade with the United States. The 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Since the mid 1990s, Canada's federal government has posted annual budgetary surpluses and has steadily paid down the national debt.
Toronto, Ontario skyline with the CN tower. Toronto is Canada's most populous metropolitan area with 5,113,149 people.
Canada's 2006 census counted 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population lives within 150 kilometres (90 mi) of the US border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably: the Greater Golden Horseshoe anchored around Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and their environs), the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and environs), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.
According to the 2001 census, it has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, with 83% of the total population claiming they are white. Ethnic diversity of Canada
The largest ethnic group is English (20.2%), followed by French (15.8%), Scottish (14.0%), Irish (12.9%), German (9.3%), Italian (4.3%), Chinese (3.7%), Ukrainian (3.6%), and First Nations (3.4%); 40% of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian." Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the Canadian average. In 2001, 13.4% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.
In 2001, 49% of the Vancouver population and 42.8% of Toronto's population were visible minorities. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that people of non-European origins will constitute a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012. Canadian People - Learn About Canada's People According to Statistics Canada's forecasts, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to double by 2017. Roughly one out of every five people in Canada could be a member of a visible minority by 2017. Visible majority by 2017
Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification; Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. Newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. By the 1990s and 2000s, almost all of Canadaâs immigrants came from Asia. Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year
Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada; about 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam numbering 1.9%, followed by Judaism: 1.1%.
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar while reflecting regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age ranges between 5â7 to 16â18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate that is 99%. Postsecondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, who provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 had post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34 the post-secondary attainment reaches 51%.
A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional "big house" in Victoria, BC.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions. It has also been influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. American media and entertainment are popular if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide. Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market.
The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. There are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism, and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, seen here at Expo 67, are the federal and national police force of Canada and an international icon.
National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. Particularly, the use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, and on the coat of arms. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, the Crown, and the RCMP.
Canada's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is the most popular sport Canadians play, with 1.65 million active participants in 2004. Canada's six largest metropolitan areas - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton - have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the league than from all other countries combined. After hockey, other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread.
Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada will be the host country for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.
The population of Montreal, Quebec is mainly Francophone, with a significant Anglophone community.
Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official Bilingualism in Canada is law, defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.
English and French are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively, and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3% and 22.3% of the population respectively. 98.5% of Canadians speak English or French (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%). English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0% and 23.6% of the population.
Although 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta and southern Manitoba, with an Acadian population in the northern and southeastern parts of New Brunswick constituting 35% of that province's population as well as concentrations in Southwestern Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. The Charter of the French Language in Quebec makes French the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province to have a statement of official bilingualism in the constitution. Other provinces have no official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official. Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.
Non-official languages are important in Canada, with 5,202,245 people listing one as a first language. Some significant non-official first languages include Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).
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United States
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Maritimes
Province of Quebec (1763-1791)
Constitutional Act of 1791
Lower Canada
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War of 1812
timber industry
fur trade
Robert Harris (painter)
Fathers of Confederation
Responsible Government
Rebellions of 1837
Report on the Affairs of British North America (1839)
Act of Union (1840)
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Statute of Westminster 1931
Great Depression of 1929
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2005-12-06
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February 6
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2006-12-19
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2004-04-05
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2004-02-25
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2006-08-04
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logging
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2006-03-10
hydroelectric power
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2005-01-25
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2001-01-21
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2004-10-31
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2005-01-25
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2005-11-14
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2005-01-27
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2005-01-27
2005-01-27
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2005-01-27
The World Factbook
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Canada | What was the Consitution Act formerly called? | null | data/set2/a8 | Canada
Canada ( ) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal, semi-autonomous polity. This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon tradeâparticularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.
Jacques Cartier
The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word 'Canada' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.
The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later, it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted for the entire country, and it was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The fur trade was Canada's most important industry until the 1800s
Aboriginal and Inuit tradition holds that the First Peoples inhabited parts of Canada prehistorically. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 for England and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France ; seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.
The Death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, part of the Seven Years' War.
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years' War.
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada. New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.
Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.
Robert Harris's painting of the Fathers of Confederation. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.
The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel, and paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.
An animated map, exhibiting the growth and refactoring of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation.
Following several constitutional conferences, the British North America Act brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government decided to create the Yukon territory as a separate territory in the region to better control the situation. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
Canadian soldiers would win the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.
The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, and the Battle of the Scheldt during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's 10th province. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.
Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy. The separatist Parti Québécois first came to power in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population, and a second referendum in 1995 was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional; Quebec's sovereignty movement has continued nonetheless.
The Queen and the Registrar General signing the Constitution Act, 1982.
Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982.
Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (or Auto Pact) in 1965 and the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1987 were defining moments in integrating the two economies. Canadian nationalists continued to worry about their cultural autonomy as American television shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent. However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.
Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state; the Canadian monarch also serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting Canada in a personal union relationship with those other states. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.
Canada's constitution consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act) established governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Constitution Act, 1982 added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that generally cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. However, a notwithstanding clause, allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.
The Chamber of the House of Commons.
The monarch is represented by a viceroy, the Governor General, who is empowered to exercise almost all of the constitutional duties of the sovereign, though wielding these powers almost always on the advice of the appointed Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice, the only body to direct the use of the executive powers is the Cabinet a committee of the Privy Council made up of Ministers of the Crown, all of whom are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who holds the conventional position of head of government; to ensure the stability of government, the Governor General will usually appoint the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has been her Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.
The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a riding or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.
Four parties have substantial representation in the federal parliament: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill.
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining participation in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.
Lester B. Pearson with 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.
Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.
Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989
and has since maintained forces in international missions in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in three major relief efforts in the past two years; the two-hundred member team has been deployed in relief operations after the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. " Rich Nations Launch Vaccine Pact". Reuters. February 10, 2007. In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged following a Russian expedition which planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.
A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories.
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into numerous regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba). Eastern Canada consists of Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) and Atlantic Canada (comprised of the three Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland and Labrador). Three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) comprise Northern Canada. Provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.
All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.
A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield. Ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains. Flat and fertile Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, and largest on the continent. By land area it ranks fourth, after Russia, China, and the United States. World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada and in the world is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Islandâlatitude 82.5°Nâjust 817 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole. Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres.
The population density, , is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River in the southeast.
To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers. Canada by far has more lakes than any other country and has a large amount of the world's freshwater.
The Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls, a major source of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.
In eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary, that contains the island of Newfoundland. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern New England and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada. West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.
In western Canada, the Mackenzie River flows from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. A tributary of a tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls.
Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near â15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below â40 °C (â40 °F) with severe wind chills. In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year, (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate climate with a mild and rainy winter.
On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (75 to 85 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). For a more complete description of climate across Canada see Environment Canada's Website.
Canadian banknotes depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.
Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. Canada has traditionally had a lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP) than its southern neighbour (whereas wealth has been more equally divided), but higher than the large western European economies . Since the early 1990's, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. Today Canada closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. While as of October 2007, Canada's national unemployment rate of 5.9% is its lowest in 33 years. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 3.6% in Alberta to a high of 14.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important.
Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas and large oil and gas resources are centred in Alberta. The vast Athabasca Tar Sands give Canada the world's second largest reserves of oil behind Saudi Arabia. In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba, hydroelectric power is a cheap and clean source of renewable energy.
Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies one of the most important suppliers of wheat, canola and other grains. Canada is the world's largest producer of zinc and uranium and a world leader in many other natural resources such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; many, if not most, towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.
Canada is highly dependent on international trade, especially trade with the United States. The 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Since the mid 1990s, Canada's federal government has posted annual budgetary surpluses and has steadily paid down the national debt.
Toronto, Ontario skyline with the CN tower. Toronto is Canada's most populous metropolitan area with 5,113,149 people.
Canada's 2006 census counted 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population lives within 150 kilometres (90 mi) of the US border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably: the Greater Golden Horseshoe anchored around Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and their environs), the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and environs), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.
According to the 2001 census, it has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, with 83% of the total population claiming they are white. Ethnic diversity of Canada
The largest ethnic group is English (20.2%), followed by French (15.8%), Scottish (14.0%), Irish (12.9%), German (9.3%), Italian (4.3%), Chinese (3.7%), Ukrainian (3.6%), and First Nations (3.4%); 40% of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian." Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the Canadian average. In 2001, 13.4% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.
In 2001, 49% of the Vancouver population and 42.8% of Toronto's population were visible minorities. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that people of non-European origins will constitute a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012. Canadian People - Learn About Canada's People According to Statistics Canada's forecasts, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to double by 2017. Roughly one out of every five people in Canada could be a member of a visible minority by 2017. Visible majority by 2017
Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification; Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. Newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. By the 1990s and 2000s, almost all of Canadaâs immigrants came from Asia. Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year
Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada; about 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam numbering 1.9%, followed by Judaism: 1.1%.
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar while reflecting regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age ranges between 5â7 to 16â18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate that is 99%. Postsecondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, who provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 had post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34 the post-secondary attainment reaches 51%.
A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional "big house" in Victoria, BC.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions. It has also been influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. American media and entertainment are popular if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide. Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market.
The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. There are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism, and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, seen here at Expo 67, are the federal and national police force of Canada and an international icon.
National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. Particularly, the use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, and on the coat of arms. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, the Crown, and the RCMP.
Canada's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is the most popular sport Canadians play, with 1.65 million active participants in 2004. Canada's six largest metropolitan areas - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton - have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the league than from all other countries combined. After hockey, other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread.
Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada will be the host country for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.
The population of Montreal, Quebec is mainly Francophone, with a significant Anglophone community.
Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official Bilingualism in Canada is law, defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.
English and French are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively, and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3% and 22.3% of the population respectively. 98.5% of Canadians speak English or French (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%). English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0% and 23.6% of the population.
Although 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta and southern Manitoba, with an Acadian population in the northern and southeastern parts of New Brunswick constituting 35% of that province's population as well as concentrations in Southwestern Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. The Charter of the French Language in Quebec makes French the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province to have a statement of official bilingualism in the constitution. Other provinces have no official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official. Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.
Non-official languages are important in Canada, with 5,202,245 people listing one as a first language. Some significant non-official first languages include Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).
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Canada | Which countries established colonies in Canada? | France and Britain. | data/set2/a8 | Canada
Canada ( ) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal, semi-autonomous polity. This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon tradeâparticularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.
Jacques Cartier
The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word 'Canada' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.
The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later, it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted for the entire country, and it was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The fur trade was Canada's most important industry until the 1800s
Aboriginal and Inuit tradition holds that the First Peoples inhabited parts of Canada prehistorically. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 for England and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France ; seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.
The Death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, part of the Seven Years' War.
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years' War.
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada. New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.
Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.
Robert Harris's painting of the Fathers of Confederation. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.
The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel, and paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.
An animated map, exhibiting the growth and refactoring of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation.
Following several constitutional conferences, the British North America Act brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government decided to create the Yukon territory as a separate territory in the region to better control the situation. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
Canadian soldiers would win the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.
The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, and the Battle of the Scheldt during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's 10th province. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.
Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy. The separatist Parti Québécois first came to power in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population, and a second referendum in 1995 was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional; Quebec's sovereignty movement has continued nonetheless.
The Queen and the Registrar General signing the Constitution Act, 1982.
Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982.
Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (or Auto Pact) in 1965 and the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1987 were defining moments in integrating the two economies. Canadian nationalists continued to worry about their cultural autonomy as American television shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent. However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.
Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state; the Canadian monarch also serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting Canada in a personal union relationship with those other states. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.
Canada's constitution consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act) established governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Constitution Act, 1982 added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that generally cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. However, a notwithstanding clause, allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.
The Chamber of the House of Commons.
The monarch is represented by a viceroy, the Governor General, who is empowered to exercise almost all of the constitutional duties of the sovereign, though wielding these powers almost always on the advice of the appointed Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice, the only body to direct the use of the executive powers is the Cabinet a committee of the Privy Council made up of Ministers of the Crown, all of whom are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who holds the conventional position of head of government; to ensure the stability of government, the Governor General will usually appoint the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has been her Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.
The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a riding or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.
Four parties have substantial representation in the federal parliament: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill.
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining participation in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.
Lester B. Pearson with 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.
Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.
Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989
and has since maintained forces in international missions in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in three major relief efforts in the past two years; the two-hundred member team has been deployed in relief operations after the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. " Rich Nations Launch Vaccine Pact". Reuters. February 10, 2007. In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged following a Russian expedition which planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.
A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories.
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into numerous regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba). Eastern Canada consists of Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) and Atlantic Canada (comprised of the three Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland and Labrador). Three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) comprise Northern Canada. Provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.
All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.
A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield. Ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains. Flat and fertile Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, and largest on the continent. By land area it ranks fourth, after Russia, China, and the United States. World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada and in the world is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Islandâlatitude 82.5°Nâjust 817 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole. Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres.
The population density, , is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River in the southeast.
To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers. Canada by far has more lakes than any other country and has a large amount of the world's freshwater.
The Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls, a major source of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.
In eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary, that contains the island of Newfoundland. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern New England and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada. West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.
In western Canada, the Mackenzie River flows from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. A tributary of a tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls.
Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near â15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below â40 °C (â40 °F) with severe wind chills. In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year, (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate climate with a mild and rainy winter.
On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (75 to 85 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). For a more complete description of climate across Canada see Environment Canada's Website.
Canadian banknotes depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.
Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. Canada has traditionally had a lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP) than its southern neighbour (whereas wealth has been more equally divided), but higher than the large western European economies . Since the early 1990's, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. Today Canada closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. While as of October 2007, Canada's national unemployment rate of 5.9% is its lowest in 33 years. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 3.6% in Alberta to a high of 14.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important.
Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas and large oil and gas resources are centred in Alberta. The vast Athabasca Tar Sands give Canada the world's second largest reserves of oil behind Saudi Arabia. In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba, hydroelectric power is a cheap and clean source of renewable energy.
Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies one of the most important suppliers of wheat, canola and other grains. Canada is the world's largest producer of zinc and uranium and a world leader in many other natural resources such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; many, if not most, towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.
Canada is highly dependent on international trade, especially trade with the United States. The 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Since the mid 1990s, Canada's federal government has posted annual budgetary surpluses and has steadily paid down the national debt.
Toronto, Ontario skyline with the CN tower. Toronto is Canada's most populous metropolitan area with 5,113,149 people.
Canada's 2006 census counted 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population lives within 150 kilometres (90 mi) of the US border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably: the Greater Golden Horseshoe anchored around Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and their environs), the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and environs), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.
According to the 2001 census, it has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, with 83% of the total population claiming they are white. Ethnic diversity of Canada
The largest ethnic group is English (20.2%), followed by French (15.8%), Scottish (14.0%), Irish (12.9%), German (9.3%), Italian (4.3%), Chinese (3.7%), Ukrainian (3.6%), and First Nations (3.4%); 40% of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian." Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the Canadian average. In 2001, 13.4% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.
In 2001, 49% of the Vancouver population and 42.8% of Toronto's population were visible minorities. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that people of non-European origins will constitute a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012. Canadian People - Learn About Canada's People According to Statistics Canada's forecasts, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to double by 2017. Roughly one out of every five people in Canada could be a member of a visible minority by 2017. Visible majority by 2017
Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification; Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. Newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. By the 1990s and 2000s, almost all of Canadaâs immigrants came from Asia. Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year
Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada; about 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam numbering 1.9%, followed by Judaism: 1.1%.
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar while reflecting regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age ranges between 5â7 to 16â18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate that is 99%. Postsecondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, who provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 had post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34 the post-secondary attainment reaches 51%.
A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional "big house" in Victoria, BC.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions. It has also been influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. American media and entertainment are popular if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide. Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market.
The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. There are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism, and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, seen here at Expo 67, are the federal and national police force of Canada and an international icon.
National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. Particularly, the use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, and on the coat of arms. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, the Crown, and the RCMP.
Canada's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is the most popular sport Canadians play, with 1.65 million active participants in 2004. Canada's six largest metropolitan areas - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton - have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the league than from all other countries combined. After hockey, other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread.
Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada will be the host country for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.
The population of Montreal, Quebec is mainly Francophone, with a significant Anglophone community.
Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official Bilingualism in Canada is law, defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.
English and French are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively, and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3% and 22.3% of the population respectively. 98.5% of Canadians speak English or French (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%). English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0% and 23.6% of the population.
Although 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta and southern Manitoba, with an Acadian population in the northern and southeastern parts of New Brunswick constituting 35% of that province's population as well as concentrations in Southwestern Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. The Charter of the French Language in Quebec makes French the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province to have a statement of official bilingualism in the constitution. Other provinces have no official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official. Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.
Non-official languages are important in Canada, with 5,202,245 people listing one as a first language. Some significant non-official first languages include Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).
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United States
New Brunswick
Nova Scotia
Maritimes
Province of Quebec (1763-1791)
Constitutional Act of 1791
Lower Canada
Upper Canada
War of 1812
timber industry
fur trade
Robert Harris (painter)
Fathers of Confederation
Responsible Government
Rebellions of 1837
Report on the Affairs of British North America (1839)
Act of Union (1840)
The Canadas
United Province of Canada
Responsible government#British North America
Oregon Treaty
Oregon boundary dispute
49th parallel north
Colony of Vancouver Island
Colony of British Columbia
Rupert's Land
Arctic
New England
Territorial evolution of Canada
Constitution Act, 1867
Canadian Confederation
Canada's name#Adoption of Dominion
Ontario
Quebec
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
Rupert's Land
North-Western Territory
Northwest Territories
Métis people (Canada)
Red River Rebellion
Manitoba
United Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia
Prince Edward Island
Prime Minister of Canada
John A. Macdonald
Conservative Party of Canada (historical)
National Policy
tariffs
Canadian Pacific Railway
Dominion Lands Act
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Klondike Gold Rush
Yukon
Liberal Party of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
Wilfrid Laurier
Alberta
Saskatchewan
Battle of Vimy Ridge
First World War
Conscription Crisis of 1917
Conservative Party of Canada (historical)
Robert Borden
League of Nations
Statute of Westminster 1931
Great Depression of 1929
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Tommy Douglas
Military history of Canada during World War II
World War II
William Lyon Mackenzie King
Battle of the Atlantic
Dieppe Raid
Allied invasion of Italy
Battle of the Scheldt
Netherlands
materiel
Conscription Crisis of 1944
Newfoundland and Labrador
Post-World War II baby boom
Quebec
Quiet Revolution
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1980 Quebec referendum
1995 Quebec referendum
Reference re Secession of Quebec
Registrar General of Canada
Constitution Act, 1982
Liberal Party of Canada
Lester B. Pearson
Pierre Trudeau
Canadian identity
Flag of Canada
francophone
Quebec
Bilingualism in Canada
Official Languages Act (Canada)
Immigration to Canada
Multiculturalism#Origins in Canada
Social democratic
Medicare (Canada)
Canada Pension Plan
Canada Student Loans
Pierre Trudeau
patriation
Charter of Rights and Freedoms
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Constitution Act of 1982
Canada-United States Automotive Agreement
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Canadian nationalism
Health care in Canada
Parliament Hill
Ottawa
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Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Style of the Canadian sovereign
2005-04-21
2005-12-06
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List of Prime Ministers of Canada
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September 27
2005
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Conservative Party of Canada
February 6
2006
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List of political parties in Canada#Historical parties that have won seats in Parliament
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Canada in the Cold War
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Canada's role in the invasion of Afghanistan
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War in Afghanistan (2001âpresent)
International Security Assistance Force
Disaster Assistance Response Team
2004 tsunami
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2005 Kashmir earthquake
Reuters
February 10
2007
Territorial claims in the Arctic
Arktika 2007
Provinces and territories of Canada
federation
province
Territory (country subdivision)
region
Western Canada
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List of Canadian provincial and territorial symbols
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Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Boreal forest
Canadian Shield
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Prairies
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contiguous United States
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Alaska
Atlantic Ocean
Pacific Ocean
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Russia
continent
China
longitude
2004-04-06
CFS Alert
Ellesmere Island
nautical mile
2006-12-19
population density
Quebec City-Windsor Corridor
Canadian Shield
Wisconsin glaciation
2004-04-02
Horseshoe Falls (Canada)
Niagara Falls
2004-04-05
Gulf of Saint Lawrence
estuary
Newfoundland (island)
Canadian Maritimes
Appalachian Mountains
New England
Gaspé Peninsula
New Brunswick
Nova Scotia
Bay of Fundy
Ontario
Hudson Bay
Canadian Prairies
Rocky Mountains
British Columbia
Mackenzie River
Great Slave Lake
Arctic Ocean
South Nahanni River
Virginia Falls, Northwest Territories
Niagara Falls
Northern Canada
coniferous
tundra
Canadian Arctic Archipelago
List of islands by area
continental climate
Celsius
Fahrenheit
2004-02-25
Canadian banknotes
Wilfrid Laurier
John A. Macdonald
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
William Lyon Mackenzie King
Robert Borden
List of countries by GDP (nominal)
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Group of Eight
free market
gross domestic product
unemployment
Government of Canada
2006-08-04
first world nation
service industry
primary industry
logging
petroleum
Atlantic Canada
Alberta
Athabasca Tar Sands
Saudi Arabia
2006-03-10
hydroelectric power
wheat
canola
zinc
uranium
gold
nickel
aluminum
lead
automobiles
aeronautics
international trade
Canada-US Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
Toronto
Ontario
CN tower
2007-03-13
2007-03-13
Canada 2006 Census
2007-03-13
Immigration to Canada
mile
urban area
Quebec City-Windsor Corridor
Golden Horseshoe
Toronto
Montreal
National Capital Region (Canada)
Lower Mainland
Vancouver
Calgary-Edmonton Corridor
English-Canadian
French Canadian
Scottish-Canadian
Irish-Canadian
German-Canadian
Italian Canadian
Chinese Canadian
Ukrainian Canadian
First Nations
2005-01-25
Aboriginal peoples in Canada
visible minorities
2001-01-21
Vancouver
Toronto
visible minorities
Statistics Canada
Immigration to Canada#Immigration rate
2004-10-31
Economic impact of immigration to Canada
Immigration to Canada#Immigration categories
refugees
Asia
religious pluralism
Canada's political culture
2005-01-25
Christianity
Catholicism
Protestant
United Church of Canada
Islam
Judaism
2005-11-14
Kwakwaka'wakw
totem pole
Victoria, British Columbia
British Columbia
British people
French people
Aboriginal peoples in Canada
American culture
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
National Film Board of Canada
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
multiculturalism
Section Twenty-seven of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Expo 67
National symbols of Canada
First Nations
maple leaf
Flag of Canada
Canadian Red Ensign
penny (Canadian coin)
Coat of Arms of Canada
beaver
Canada goose
common loon
Monarchy in Canada
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Sport in Canada
ice hockey
lacrosse
Department of Justice (Canada)
national pastime
National Hockey League
curling
Canadian football
Canadian Football League
Golf
baseball
skiing
Soccer in Canada
volleyball
basketball
1976 Summer Olympics
1988 Winter Olympics
2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup
2010 Winter Olympics
Vancouver
Whistler, British Columbia
British Columbia
Montreal
Quebec
French Canadian
English-speaking Quebecer
English language
French language
Bilingualism in Canada
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Official Languages Act (Canada)
Commissioner of Official Languages
mother tongue
2005-01-27
Statistics Canada
2005-01-27
2005-01-27
Franco-Ontarian
Franco-Albertan
Franco-Manitoban
Acadian
New Brunswick
Nova Scotia
Cape Breton Island
Charter of the French Language
Inuktitut
Chinese language
Italian language
German language
Punjabi
United Nations Development Programme
Human Development Index
A.T. Kearney
Foreign Policy
IMD International
The Economist
Yale University
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Reporters Without Borders
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Heritage Foundation
The Wall Street Journal
The Economist
Global Peace Index
Fund for Peace
sustainability
2003-09-01
2005-01-27
2005-01-27
The World Factbook
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Canada | Which countries established colonies in Canada? | Fance and Britain | data/set2/a8 | Canada
Canada ( ) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal, semi-autonomous polity. This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon tradeâparticularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.
Jacques Cartier
The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word 'Canada' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.
The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later, it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted for the entire country, and it was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The fur trade was Canada's most important industry until the 1800s
Aboriginal and Inuit tradition holds that the First Peoples inhabited parts of Canada prehistorically. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 for England and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France ; seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.
The Death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, part of the Seven Years' War.
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years' War.
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada. New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.
Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.
Robert Harris's painting of the Fathers of Confederation. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.
The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.
The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel, and paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.
An animated map, exhibiting the growth and refactoring of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation.
Following several constitutional conferences, the British North America Act brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government decided to create the Yukon territory as a separate territory in the region to better control the situation. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
Canadian soldiers would win the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.
The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, and the Battle of the Scheldt during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's 10th province. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.
Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy. The separatist Parti Québécois first came to power in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population, and a second referendum in 1995 was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional; Quebec's sovereignty movement has continued nonetheless.
The Queen and the Registrar General signing the Constitution Act, 1982.
Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982.
Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Canada-United States Automotive Agreement (or Auto Pact) in 1965 and the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1987 were defining moments in integrating the two economies. Canadian nationalists continued to worry about their cultural autonomy as American television shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent. However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.
Parliament Hill, Ottawa.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state; the Canadian monarch also serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting Canada in a personal union relationship with those other states. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.
Canada's constitution consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly the British North America Act) established governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Constitution Act, 1982 added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that generally cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. However, a notwithstanding clause, allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.
The Chamber of the House of Commons.
The monarch is represented by a viceroy, the Governor General, who is empowered to exercise almost all of the constitutional duties of the sovereign, though wielding these powers almost always on the advice of the appointed Queen's Privy Council for Canada. In practice, the only body to direct the use of the executive powers is the Cabinet a committee of the Privy Council made up of Ministers of the Crown, all of whom are responsible to the elected House of Commons. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who holds the conventional position of head of government; to ensure the stability of government, the Governor General will usually appoint the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has been her Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.
The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a riding or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.
Four parties have substantial representation in the federal parliament: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill.
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining participation in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.
Lester B. Pearson with 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.
Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.
Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989
and has since maintained forces in international missions in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in three major relief efforts in the past two years; the two-hundred member team has been deployed in relief operations after the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. " Rich Nations Launch Vaccine Pact". Reuters. February 10, 2007. In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged following a Russian expedition which planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.
A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories.
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into numerous regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba). Eastern Canada consists of Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) and Atlantic Canada (comprised of the three Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland and Labrador). Three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) comprise Northern Canada. Provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.
All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.
A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield. Ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains. Flat and fertile Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, and largest on the continent. By land area it ranks fourth, after Russia, China, and the United States. World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada and in the world is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Islandâlatitude 82.5°Nâjust 817 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole. Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres.
The population density, , is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River in the southeast.
To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers. Canada by far has more lakes than any other country and has a large amount of the world's freshwater.
The Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls, a major source of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.
In eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary, that contains the island of Newfoundland. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern New England and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada. West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.
In western Canada, the Mackenzie River flows from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. A tributary of a tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls.
Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near â15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below â40 °C (â40 °F) with severe wind chills. In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year, (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate climate with a mild and rainy winter.
On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (75 to 85 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). For a more complete description of climate across Canada see Environment Canada's Website.
Canadian banknotes depicting, top to bottom, Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.
Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. Canada has traditionally had a lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP) than its southern neighbour (whereas wealth has been more equally divided), but higher than the large western European economies . Since the early 1990's, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. Today Canada closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. While as of October 2007, Canada's national unemployment rate of 5.9% is its lowest in 33 years. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 3.6% in Alberta to a high of 14.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important.
Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas and large oil and gas resources are centred in Alberta. The vast Athabasca Tar Sands give Canada the world's second largest reserves of oil behind Saudi Arabia. In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba, hydroelectric power is a cheap and clean source of renewable energy.
Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies one of the most important suppliers of wheat, canola and other grains. Canada is the world's largest producer of zinc and uranium and a world leader in many other natural resources such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; many, if not most, towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.
Canada is highly dependent on international trade, especially trade with the United States. The 1989 Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Since the mid 1990s, Canada's federal government has posted annual budgetary surpluses and has steadily paid down the national debt.
Toronto, Ontario skyline with the CN tower. Toronto is Canada's most populous metropolitan area with 5,113,149 people.
Canada's 2006 census counted 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population lives within 150 kilometres (90 mi) of the US border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably: the Greater Golden Horseshoe anchored around Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and their environs), the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and environs), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.
According to the 2001 census, it has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, with 83% of the total population claiming they are white. Ethnic diversity of Canada
The largest ethnic group is English (20.2%), followed by French (15.8%), Scottish (14.0%), Irish (12.9%), German (9.3%), Italian (4.3%), Chinese (3.7%), Ukrainian (3.6%), and First Nations (3.4%); 40% of respondents identified their ethnicity as "Canadian." Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the Canadian average. In 2001, 13.4% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.
In 2001, 49% of the Vancouver population and 42.8% of Toronto's population were visible minorities. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that people of non-European origins will constitute a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012. Canadian People - Learn About Canada's People According to Statistics Canada's forecasts, the number of visible minorities in Canada is expected to double by 2017. Roughly one out of every five people in Canada could be a member of a visible minority by 2017. Visible majority by 2017
Canada has the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification; Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. Newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. By the 1990s and 2000s, almost all of Canadaâs immigrants came from Asia. Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year
Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to 2001 census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada; about 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam numbering 1.9%, followed by Judaism: 1.1%.
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar while reflecting regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age ranges between 5â7 to 16â18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate that is 99%. Postsecondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, who provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 had post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34 the post-secondary attainment reaches 51%.
A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional "big house" in Victoria, BC.
Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions. It has also been influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries. American media and entertainment are popular if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide. Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market.
The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. There are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism, and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, seen here at Expo 67, are the federal and national police force of Canada and an international icon.
National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. Particularly, the use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, and on the coat of arms. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, the Crown, and the RCMP.
Canada's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is the most popular sport Canadians play, with 1.65 million active participants in 2004. Canada's six largest metropolitan areas - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton - have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the league than from all other countries combined. After hockey, other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread.
Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada will be the host country for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.
The population of Montreal, Quebec is mainly Francophone, with a significant Anglophone community.
Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official Bilingualism in Canada is law, defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.
English and French are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population respectively, and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3% and 22.3% of the population respectively. 98.5% of Canadians speak English or French (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%). English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0% and 23.6% of the population.
Although 85% of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta and southern Manitoba, with an Acadian population in the northern and southeastern parts of New Brunswick constituting 35% of that province's population as well as concentrations in Southwestern Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. The Charter of the French Language in Quebec makes French the official language in Quebec, and New Brunswick is the only province to have a statement of official bilingualism in the constitution. Other provinces have no official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official. Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.
Non-official languages are important in Canada, with 5,202,245 people listing one as a first language. Some significant non-official first languages include Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).
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