Calvin Coolidge, a laconic conservative and former governor of Massachusetts, called for limited government, an isolationist foreign policy, tax cuts, and reduced spending. He signed restrictive immigration laws, decreased income tax rates, and vetoed farm relief bills. Coolidge was popular and served during a time of economic prosperity.
Though immensely popular at the time of his presidency, Coolidge’s reputation suffers when linked to the Great Depression. His refusal to act during a Midwestern bank failure, coupled with his inaction to aid the agricultural sector and the growing disparity between rich and poor are seen as paving the ground for the eventual collapse of the stock market and spread of the depression throughout the entire country.
The ‘Roaring Twenties’ and Coolidge are inexorably linked. Coolidge’s support of business allowed the American economy to boom, which impacted and was impacted by the cultural, social, and artistic explosion of the same decade. Coolidge, however, was out of office for less than eight months before the Wall Street collapse occurred, and though Herbert Hoover is often blamed for the Depression, under Coolidge the stage for the collapse was set.
I disagree with your assessment of our 30th President. I would urge you and your readers to check out Dr. Robert Sobel’s COOLIDGE: AN AMERICAN ENIGMA, for a balanced, positive account of the man and his era.
You are going to be hearing more of Coolidge in the months ahead as the nation looks for someone with his skills at reducing debt and cutting taxes and making the Federal establishment work efficiently, effectively, and economically. Mr. Coolidge gave the people, as Will Rogers observed, the government they wanted. His era was one of peace, prosperity, and plenty. What more could you ask?
An economic recession begin in October of 1929. It was the policies followed by President Hoover and the Federal Reserve Board that turned that ordinary recession into the Great Depression. And it was the policies of Franklin Roosevelt that continue it until WWII brought the slump to an end.