John Calvin Coolidge Jr. ( ; July 4, 1872 - January 5, 1933) was an American politician and 30th President of the United States (1923-1929). A Republican lawyer from New England, born in Vermont, Coolidge worked up the political ladder of the state of Massachusetts, who eventually became governor. His response to the Boston Police Strike of 1919 pushed him into the national spotlight and gave him a reputation as the one who determined the action. Soon after, he was elected Vice-President of the United States in 1920, and succeeded in becoming president of the sudden death of Warren G. Harding in 1923. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a conservative little government and also a man who says very little, despite having a rather dry sense of humor.
Coolidge restored public confidence in the White House after his predecessor's administration scandal, and left the office with considerable popularity. As Coolidge's biographer wrote: "He embodies the spirit and hope of the middle class, can interpret their longings and express their opinions, that he represents the average genius is the most convincing evidence of his power." Coolidge's pension was shortened by his death in January 1933, at the age of 60 - less than two months before his immediate successor, Herbert Hoover, left his post.
From 1948-2018, scholars have put Coolidge as president below average. He was praised by smaller government supporters and laissez-faire, while supporters of the active central government generally viewed him poorly, although most praised his strong support of racial equality.
Video Calvin Coolidge
Birth and family history
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. born in Plymouth Notch, Windsor County, Vermont, on July 4, 1872, the only US president born on Independence Day. He is the elder of two sons of John Calvin Coolidge Sr. (1845-1926) and Victoria Josephine Moor (1846-85). Coolidge Senior is involved in many jobs and develops a state reputation as a prosperous farmer, shopkeeper, and public servant. He holds various local offices, including peace justice and tax collectors and serves in the Vermont House of Representatives as well as the Vermont Senate. Mrs. Coolidge is the daughter of a Plymouth Notch farmer. He was chronically ill and died, possibly due to tuberculosis, when Coolidge was twelve years old. His younger sister, Abigail Grace Coolidge (1875-1890), died at the age of fifteen, possibly due to appendicitis, when Coolidge was eighteen. Coolidge's father married a Plymouth school teacher in 1891, and lived to the age of eighty.
The Coolidge family has strong roots in New England; his earliest ancestor in America, John Coolidge, emigrated from Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, England, circa 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Another ancestor, Edmund Rice, arrived in Watertown in 1638. Coolidge's great-grandfather, also called John Coolidge, was an American military officer in the Revolutionary War and one of the first voters in the city of Plymouth Notch. Her grandfather Calvin Galusha Coolidge serves in the Vermont House of Representatives. Coolidge is also a descendant of Samuel Appleton, who settled in Ipswich and led the Colonies during the War of King Philip.
Maps Calvin Coolidge
Early career and marriage
Education and legal practice
Coolidge attended the Black River Academy and then St. Johnsbury Academy, before enrolling at Amherst College, where he distinguished himself in the debating class. As a senior he joined Phi Phi Delta and graduated cum laude. While in Amherst Coolidge is strongly influenced by the philosophy of professor Charles Edward Garman, a Congregational mystic, with neo-Hegelian philosophy.
Coolidge explains Ethics Garman forty years later:
[T] here is a truth standard that may not be true, that the objective does not justify the means, and the wisdom as a working principle must fail. The only hope for perfecting human relationships is in accordance with the law of service where men are not so concerned about what they will get because of what they will give. Yet people are entitled to their industry rewards. What they produce is theirs, no matter how small or how great. But property ownership carries the obligation to use them in larger services...
At the urging of his father after graduation, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts to become a lawyer. To avoid law school fees, Coolidge follows a general practice internship with a local law firm, Hammond & Field, and read the law with them. John C. Hammond and Henry P. Field, both graduates of Amherst, introduced Coolidge to the practice of law in the county district of Hampshire County. In 1897, Coolidge was accepted in the Massachusetts bar, becoming a state lawyer. With his savings and a small heritage from his grandfather, Coolidge opened his own law firm in Northampton in 1898. He practiced commercial law, believing that he served his clients in the best way out of court. As his reputation as a hard-working and diligent lawyer grows, local banks and other businesses begin to defend his services.
Marriage and family
In 1903, Coolidge met Grace Anna Goodhue, a graduate of Vermont University and a teacher at Northampton's Clarke School for the Deaf. They were married on October 4, 1905 at 2:30 am. in a small ceremony that took place in the living room of Grace's home, after a vain attempt at the delay of Grace's mother; he's never fascinated with Coolidge, or he's with him. The new bride went to a honeymoon trip to Montreal, originally planned for two weeks but cut short a week on Coolidge's request. After 25 years he wrote about Grace, "for almost a quarter of a century he has borne my weaknesses and I rejoice in his mercy."
The Coolidges has two sons: John (7 September 1906 - May 31, 2000) and Calvin Jr. (April 13, 1908 - July 7, 1924). Death of Calvin Jr. at the age of 16 due to blood poisoning caused by infected blisters "hurt [Coolidge]," according to John's son. John became a railroad executive, helped start the Coolidge Foundation, and was instrumental in creating President Calvin Coolidge's Historical Site.
Coolidge is frugal, and when it comes to securing a home, he insists on renting. Henry Field has a bench at Edwards Congregational Church, and Grace is a member, but Coolidge never officially joins the congregation.
Local political office
City office
Republicans were dominant in New England at the time, and Coolidge followed Hammond and Field's example by being active in local politics. In 1896, Coolidge campaigned for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley, and the following year he was elected to become a member of the Republican City Committee. In 1898, he won the election to the Northampton City Council, taking second place in a ward where the top three candidates were elected. The position does not offer a salary but provides an invaluable experience of Coolidge politics. In 1899, he rejected the nomination again, instead for City Solicitor, a position chosen by the City Council. He was elected for a one-year term in 1900, and was re-elected in 1901. This position gave Coolidge more experience as a lawyer and paid a salary of $ 600. In 1902, the city council chose a Democrat for a city lawyer, and Coolidge returned to private practice. Soon after, however, the court clerk for the area died, and Coolidge was chosen to succeed him. The position is well paid, but that prevents him from practicing law, so he keeps working for only one year. In 1904, Coolidge suffered the only defeat in the ballot box, losing the Northampton school board election. When told that some of his neighbors were against him because he had no children at the school he was going to lead, Coolidge replied, "Maybe give me time!"
State and state legislators and mayors
In 1906, local Republican committees nominated Coolidge for election to the State Representative Council. He won a close victory over the ruling Democrats, and was reported to Boston for a 1907 trial at the Massachusetts General Court. In his first tenure, Coolidge served on a small committee and, although he usually voted with the party, was known as the Progressive Republic, a vote that supported such measures as women's suffrage and direct election of the Senator. While in Boston, Coolidge became an ally, and then a liegeman, from US Senator Winthrop Murray Crane who ruled the western faction of the Republican Party of Massachusetts; Crane's rival to the east of the Commonwealth is US Senator Henry Cabot Lodge. Coolidge has established another key strategic alliance with Guy Currier, who has served in both country houses and has social differences, wealth, personal charm and a wide circle of friends who do not have Coolidge, and who will have a lasting impact on his political career. In 1907, he was elected for a second term, and in 1908, Coolidge was more open, though not in a leadership position.
Instead of competing for other terms in the State Building, Coolidge returned home to his growing family and ran for the mayor of Northampton when the Democrats retired. He was favored in the city, and defeated his challenger with 1,597 votes to 1,409. During his first term (1910 to 1911), he increased teacher salaries and withdrew a portion of municipal debt while still managing to influence a small drop in taxes. He was renominated in 1911, and defeated the same opponent with a slightly larger margin.
In 1911, State Senators for the Hampshire County region retired and managed to encourage Coolidge to run for the 1912 session; Coolidge defeated his Democratic opponent by a big margin. At the beginning of that period, he became chairman of the committee to mediate the "Bread and Roses" strike by the American Woolen Company workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts. After two tense months, the company approved the workers' request, in the settlement proposed by the committee. A major problem affecting the Republican of Massachusetts that year was the party that separated the progressive wing, which Theodore Roosevelt favored, and the conservative wing, which William Howard Taft favored. Though he likes some progressive moves, Coolidge refuses to leave the Republican party. When the new Progressive Party refuses to run a candidate in his country's senate district, Coolidge wins the re-election against his Democratic opponent with an increase in margins.
At session 1913, Coolidge enjoyed a famous success in navigating to the Western Trolley Act, connecting Northampton with a dozen similar industrial communities in western Massachusetts. Coolidge intends to retire after his second term as a custom, but when President of the State Senate, Levi H. Greenwood, is considered to run for Lieutenant Governor Coolidge decides to run again for the Senate in the hope of being elected chief of officers. Although Greenwood then decided to run again to the Senate, he was defeated mainly because of his opposition to women's suffrage; Coolidge supported the women's vote, won his own election and with the help of Crane, took over the divided Senate presidency. After his election in January 1914, Coolidge delivered a publicly quoted and often-cited speech called Have Faith in Massachusetts, which summarized his philosophy of government.
Coolidge's speech was well received, and he attracted some admirers in his account; towards the end of the term, many of them are proposing his name for nomination to be lieutenant governor. After winning re-election to the Senate with an increase in margins in the 1914 elections, Coolidge was re-elected unanimously to become President of the Senate. Coolidge's supporters, led by fellow Amherst alumnus Frank Stearns, pushed him again to run for governor lieutenant. Stearns, an executive with department store Boston R. H. Stearns, became another key ally, and started a publicity campaign on Coolidge's behalf before he announced his candidacy at the end of the 1915 legislative session.
Lt. Governor and Governor of Massachusetts
Coolidge entered the main election for the governor's lieutenant and was nominated to run with governor Samuel W. McCall. Coolidge is the leading Republican leading ballot, and balances Republican tickets by adding a western presence to McCall's east support base. McCall and Coolidge won the 1915 election for their respective one-year period, with Coolidge defeating his opponent with more than 50,000 votes.
In Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor does not lead the state Senate, as it does in many other countries; Nevertheless, as lieutenant governor, Coolidge was a deputy governor who served as an administrative inspector and was a member of the board of governors. He is also chairman of the finance committee and the pardon committee. As a full-time elected official, Coolidge halted his legal practice in 1916, although his family continued to live in Northampton. McCall and Coolidge were both re-elected in 1916 and again in 1917. When McCall decided that he would not run for a fourth term, Coolidge announced his intention to run for governor.
election 1918
Coolidge was unaffected for the Republican nomination for the Governor of Massachusetts in 1918. He and his partner, Channing Cox, Boston lawyer and Chairman of the Massachusetts Council of Representatives, ran on previous government records: fiscal conservatism, vocal opposition to the Prohibition, support for women's suffrage, and support for American involvement in World War I. The issue of war proved to be divisive, especially among the Irish and Germans. Coolidge was voted 16,773 votes from his opponent, Richard H. Long, in the smallest margin of victory of any campaign across his state.
Boston Police Attack
In 1919, in reaction to a police plan from the Boston Police Department to register with the union, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis announced that such an action would not be tolerated. In August of that year, the Federation of Laborers of America issued a charter to the Boston Police Union. Curtis said the union leader was guilty of insubordination and would be released from duty, but indicated he would drop the suspension if the union was dissolved on September 4. Boston mayor Andrew Peters convinced Curtis to postpone his actions for several days. , but without results, and Curtis suspended trade union leaders on 8 September. The next day, about three quarters of the police in Boston went on strike. Coolidge, quietly but fully supports Curtis's position, closely monitor the situation but initially suspended to the local authorities. He anticipates that only the size of the resulting lawlessness can encourage the public to understand and respect the principle of control - that a police officer does not attack. That night and the following night, there was sporadic violence and unruly city unrest. Peters, concerned with the sympathy of strikes by firefighters and others, summoned several units of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in the Boston area under the old and unclear legal authority, and freed Curtis from duty.
Coolidge, sensing the severity of circumstances then required intervention, was awarded with Crane operations, William Butler, and then acted. He called more units of the National Guard, returned Curtis to the office, and took personal control of the police. Curtis stated that all the strikers were fired from their jobs, and Coolidge asked for a new police force to be recruited. That night Coolidge received a telegram from the AFL leader, Samuel Gompers. "Whatever disturbance has happened," Gompers wrote, "is because of Curtis's orders in which the police have been denied right..." Coolidge openly answered Gompers's telegram, denying any justification for the strike - and his response launched him into national consciousness (cited , above left). Newspapers across the country took Coolidge's remarks and he became the latest hero to the opponents of the strike. In the midst of First Red Scare, many Americans fear the spread of the communist revolution, as it did in Russia, Hungary, and Germany. While Coolidge lost several friends among organized workers, conservatives across the country have seen a new star. Although he usually acts with consideration, Boston police strikes give him a national reputation as a decisive leader, and as strict enforcement of law and order.
election 1919
Coolidge and Cox were renominated for their respective offices in 1919. At this time Coolidge's supporters (notably Stearns) have publicized their actions in Police Strike across states and nations and some of Coolidge's speeches were published in book form. He faced the same opponent as in 1918, Richard Long, but this time Coolidge beat him with 125,101 votes, more than seven times his winning margin from a year earlier. His actions in a police strike, combined with massive electoral victories, led to the notion that Coolidge was running for president in 1920.
Legislation and veto as governor
By the time Coolidge was inaugurated on January 2, 1919, the First World War was over, and Coolidge encouraged the legislature to give a $ 100 bonus to Massachusetts veterans. He also signed a bill that reduced the working week for women and children from fifty-four hours to forty-eight, saying, "We have to humanize the industry, or the system will break down." He signed a budget law that kept the tax rate the same, while cutting $ 4 million from spending, allowing the state to withdraw some of its debts.
Coolidge also holds a veto as governor. His most publicized veto prevented the 50% increase in legislators' wages. Although Coolidge personally opposed the Prohibition, he vetoed the bill in May 1920 that would allow the sale of beer or wine 2.75% alcohol or less, in Massachusetts violating the US Constitution's Eighteenth Amendment. "Opinions and instructions do not outweigh the Constitution," he said in his veto message. "Against them, they are void."
Vice presidency
election 1920
At the 1920 National Convention of Republicans, most delegates were elected by state convention, not a preliminary election. Thus, the field is divided among many local favorites. Coolidge is one such candidate, and while he occupies the sixth highest position in voting, strong party bosses running the convention, especially the US Senator, have never taken him seriously. After ten ballots, the bosses and then the delegates selected Senator Warren G. Harding from Ohio as a presidential candidate. When the time comes to elect a vice-presidential candidate, the bosses also make and declare their decision on who they want - Senator Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin - and then prematurely departs after his name is filed, depending on the rank and file to confirm. their decision. A delegate from Oregon, Wallace McCamant, after reading Having Faith in Massachusetts , proposed Coolidge to a vice president instead. The proposal was soon caught with a starving mass for independence from bosses that did not exist, and Coolidge was unexpectedly nominated.
Democrats nominate another Ohioan, James M. Cox, for president and Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, for vice president. The question of the United States joining the League of Nations is a major issue in the campaign, such as the unfinished legacy of Progresivism. Harding runs a "front porch" campaign from his home in Marion, Ohio, but Coolidge follows the campaign trail in Upper South, New York and New England - his audience is cautiously limited to those who are familiar with Coolidge and those who put premium on short speeches and short. On November 2, 1920, Harding and Coolidge won a landslide victory, winning over 60 percent of popular votes, including every state outside the South. They also won in Tennessee, the first time a Republican ticket had won the Southern state since the Reconstruction.
"Silent Cal"
The US vice president did not carry many official duties, but Coolidge was invited by President Harding to attend a cabinet meeting, making him the first vice president to do so. He gave a number of unusual speeches across the country.
As vice-president of the United States, Coolidge and his loving wife, Grace was invited to several parties, where the legend of "Silent Cal" was born. It is from this point that most of the jokes and anecdotes involving Coolidge come from. Although Coolidge is known as a skilled and effective public speaker, he is personally a little word and is often referred to as "Silent Cal". A possible apocryphal story says that a warden, sitting next to him at dinner, said to him, "I bet today that I can get more than two words from you." He replied, "You lost." Dorothy Parker, upon learning that Coolidge had died, reportedly commented, "How did they know?" Coolidge often seemed uncomfortable among the fashionable Washington community; when asked why he kept attending so many of their dinner parties, he replied, "Must eat somewhere." Alice Roosevelt Longworth, a leading Republican, highlighted Coolidge's silence and his somber personality: "When he wished he was elsewhere, he pursed his lips, folded his arms, and said nothing.He looked exactly as if he has been weaned on the pickle. "
As president, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet person continues. "The President's words are very heavy," he wrote later, "and should not be used indiscriminately." Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivates it. "I think the Americans want a serious ass as President," he told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I'll come with them." Some historians later suggested that Coolidge's image was deliberately created as a campaign tactic, while others believed that his attractive and reserved behavior was natural, deepening after his son's death in 1924.
Presidency
On August 2, 1923, President Harding died unexpectedly in San Francisco while on a tour of the western United States. Vice President Coolidge is in Vermont visiting his family's home, which has no electricity or telephone, when he receives news of the death messenger of Harding. The new president dressed, said a prayer, and went downstairs to greet the journalists who had gathered. His father, a public notary and peace justice, arranged an oath of office in the living room with kerosene lamps at 2:47 am on August 3, 1923; President Coolidge then returned to bed.
Coolidge returned to Washington the following day, and was sworn again by Judge Adolph A. Hoehling Jr. from the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, to prevent any questions about the authority of state officials to administer federal oaths. This second oath taking remained secret until expressed by Harry M. Daugherty in 1932, and confirmed by Hoehling.CITEREF "Confirms_Daugherty's_Story_of_Coolidge's_Second_Oath" When Hoehling confirmed Daugherty's story, he pointed out that Daugherty, then serving as US Attorney General , asking him to arrange an oath without fanfare at Willard Hotel. According to Hoehling, he did not question Daugherty's reason for requesting a second swearing vow but assumed it was to resolve any doubt as to whether the first vow was valid.
This nation initially did not know what to do Coolidge, who had maintained a low profile in the Harding administration; many even thought he would be replaced at a vote in 1924. Coolidge believed that people from Harding who were suspected of being entitled to any presumption of innocence, took a methodical approach to the scandal, especially the Teapot Dome scandal, while others demanded a quick punishment from them which they consider guilty. Coolidge thought the Senate's investigation of the scandal was enough; this is confirmed by the resignation resulting from those involved. He personally intervened in demanding the resignation of Attorney General Harry M. Daugherty after he refused to cooperate with the congressional inquiry. He then arranges to confirm that no part is left in the administration, set for a full briefing on the error. Harry A. Slattery reviewed the facts with him, Harlan F. Stone analyzed his legal aspects and Senator William E. Borah assessed and presented political factors.
Coolidge addressed Congress when he reunited on December 6, 1923, giving a speech in support of many Harding policies, including the formal budgeting process of Harding, the enforcement of immigration restrictions and the ongoing arbitration of coal strikes in Pennsylvania. Coolidge's speech was the first presidential speech broadcast on radio. The Washington Naval Agreement is proclaimed only one month into Coolidge's time, and is generally well-received in the country. In May 1924, the World War I World War Compensation Or "Bonus Bill" bill passed from his veto. Coolidge signed the Immigration Act later that year, aimed at restricting southern and eastern European immigration, but added a signatory statement that expressed his unhappiness with the special exception of Japanese immigrants. Just before the Republican Convention began, Coolidge signed the Revenue Act Act of 1924, which reduced the upper marginal tax rate from 58% to 46%, as well as personal income tax rates across the board, increasing the real estate tax and supporting it with new gift taxes.
On June 2, 1924, Coolidge signed the act of granting citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States. At that time, two-thirds of the population had become citizens, having obtained it through marriage, military service (World War I veterans granted citizenship in 1919), or previous land sharing.
election 1924
The Republican Convention was held on 10-12 June 1924, in Cleveland, Ohio; Coolidge was nominated for the first vote. The convention nominated Frank Lowden of Illinois for the vice-president at the second vote, but he refused; former Brigadier General Charles G. Dawes was nominated at the third vote and accepted.
The Democrats hold their convention next month in New York City. The service soon came to a dead end, and after 103 votes, the delegates finally approved a compromise candidate, John W. Davis, with Charles W. Bryan nominated as vice president. The Democratic Party's hope lifted as Robert M. La Follette Sr., a Republican senator from Wisconsin, broke away from the GOP to form a new Progressive Party. Many believe that a Republican split, like a party in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the presidency.
After the service and death of his younger son, Calvin, Coolidge became withdrawn; he later said that "when he [his son] died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." Even when he mourns, Coolidge runs his standard campaign, not naming his opponents by name or slandering them, and delivering a speech about his government theory, including some that are broadcast by radio. It was the quietest campaign since 1896, partly due to Coolidge's sadness, but also because of his non-confrontational natural style. The other candidates campaigned in a more modern way, but although parted in the Republican party, the results were similar to those of 1920. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except Wisconsin, the state of La Follette. Coolidge won elections with 382 electoral votes and a popular vote of 2.5 million more than the combined total of his opponents.
Industry and commerce
During Coolidge's presidency, the United States experienced a period of rapid economic growth known as "Roaring Twenties." He abandoned government industry policy at the hands of his activist Trade Minister, Herbert Hoover, who eagerly used government assistance to improve business efficiency and develop airlines and radios. Coolidge underestimated the regulation, and pointed this out by appointing the commissioner to the Federal Trade Commission and the Interstate Commerce Commission that did little to limit business activities under their jurisdiction. The regulating state under Coolidge is, as described by a biographer, "thin to impenetrable."
Historian Robert Sobel offers several contexts of Coolidge's laissez-faire ideology, based on a prevailing understanding of federalism during his presidency: "As the Massachusetts Governor, Coolidge supported hour wage and laws, against child labor, imposed economic control during World War I, security measures in factories, and even representatives of workers on the company's board.Would he support these steps while the president? No, because in the 1920s, such matters were considered the responsibility of state and local governments. "
Taxation and government expenditure
Coolidge adopted the tax policy of the Minister of Finance, Andrew Mellon, who advocated "scientific taxation" - the notion that lowering taxes would increase, rather than degrade, government revenues. Congress agrees, and tax rates are reduced in Coolidge's time. In addition to federal tax cuts, Coolidge proposes a reduction in federal spending and pensions from federal debt. Coolidge's ideas were shared by Republicans in Congress, and in 1924, Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1924, which reduced the income tax rate and abolished all income taxes to about two million people. They reduced their taxes again by passing the Revenue Acts of 1926 and 1928, while continuing to reduce spending so as to reduce federal debt overall. In 1927, only 2% of taxpayers paid a federal income tax. Federal spending remained flat during Coolidge's administration, allowing a quarter of the federal debt to retire in total. State and local governments saw considerable growth, however, exceeding the federal budget in 1927.
Opposition to agricultural subsidies
Perhaps the most controversial issue of Coolidge's presidency was the relief of the peasants. Some in Congress proposed a bill designed to combat the fall in agricultural prices by allowing the federal government to buy plants for sale abroad for a lower price. Agriculture Minister Henry C. Wallace and other government officials favored the bill when it was introduced in 1924, but price increases convinced many people in Congress that the bill was unnecessary, and it was defeated before the election that year. In 1926, with agricultural prices falling once again, Senator Charles L. McNary and Representative Gilbert N. Haugen - both Republicans - filed the Farm Relief Bill McMinn-Haugen. The bill proposes a federal farming council that will buy a surplus of production in the high yielding year and hold it (if possible) for sale later or sell it abroad. Coolidge opposes McNary-Haugen, stating that agriculture should stand "on the basis of independent business," and says that "government control can not be separated from political control." Instead of manipulating the price, he prefers Herbert Hoover's proposal to make a profit by modernizing agriculture. Mellon's secretary wrote a letter denouncing McNary-Haugen's move as unhealthy and likely to cause inflation, and it was defeated.
After McNary-Haugen's defeat, Coolidge supported a less radical measure, the Curtis-Crisp Act, which would create a federal council to lend money to agricultural cooperatives in surplus moments; The bill did not pass. In February 1927, Congress took the McNary-Haugen bill again, this time narrowly passing it, and Coolidge vetoed. In his veto message, he expressed confidence that the bill would not help farmers, only benefit exporters and expand the federal bureaucracy. The Congress did not rule out the veto, but passed the bill again in May 1928 by an increasing majority; Once again, Coolidge vetoed it. "Farmers never make a lot of money," said Coolidge, son of a Vermont farmer. "I can not believe we can do much about it."
Flood control
Coolidge was often criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to strike the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Although he eventually appointed Secretary Hoover to the commission responsible for flood relief, experts argued that Overall Coolidge showed a lack of interest in federal flood control. Coolidge does not believe that personally visiting the region after the flood will achieve anything, and it will be seen as a mere political prank. He also does not want to spend federal spending that needs to be controlled by the flood; he believes property owners have to bear many costs. On the other hand, Congress wants a bill that will put the federal government fully responsible for flood mitigation. When Congress passed a compromise step in 1928, Coolidge refused to take credit for it and signed the bill privately on May 15.
Civil rights
According to a biographer, Coolidge "has no racial prejudices," but rarely leads to civil rights. Coolidge does not like the Ku Klux Klan and no clan is known to have received an appointment from him. In the 1924 presidential election, his opponents (Robert La Follette and John Davis), and his partner, Charles Dawes, often attacked the Clan, but Coolidge avoided the subject.
Coolidge spoke in support of African-American civil rights, saying in the first State the Union declared that their rights were "as holy as other citizens" under the US Constitution and that it was "public and private duty to protect those rights."
Coolidge repeatedly called for the law to make the death penalty of federal crime (already a state crime). Congress refused to pass such laws. On June 2, 1924, Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act, which granted US citizenship to all American Indians living on reservation (Indians are no longer citizens). On June 6, 1924, Coolidge delivered a speech at the historically black and discontinuous Howard University, where he thanked and praised African-Americans for the rapid advancement in education and their contributions to US society over the years, as well as the desire to provide their services as warriors in World War, all the time confronted with discrimination and prejudice at home.
In a speech in October 1924, Coolidge emphasized the tolerance of difference as an American value and thanked immigrants for their contribution to US society, saying that they have "contributed a lot to making our country as it is." He stated that although the diversity of the nation is a source of destructive and destructive tensions in Europe, it is strange for the United States that it is a "harmonious" benefit to the state. Coolidge further stated the United States should help and help immigrants come to the country, and urge immigrants to reject "race hatred" and "prejudice".
Foreign policy
Although not an isolationist, Coolidge is reluctant to enter into foreign alliances. He considers the 1920 Republic's victory as a rejection of the Wilsonian position that the United States should join the League of Nations. Though not entirely opposed to the idea, Coolidge believed that the League, as it was formed, did not serve American interests, and he did not advocate for membership. He spoke to support the United States joining the Permanent Court of Permanent Justice (World Court), provided that the country would not be bound by advisory decisions. In 1926, the Senate finally agreed to join the Court (with a reservation). The League of Nations accepted the reservation, but suggested some modifications of its own. The Senate failed to act; The United States has never joined the World Court.
Coolidge's main initiative was the 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact, named after Coolidge's Secretary of State, Frank B. Kellogg, and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. The treaty, ratified in 1929, signed the signing - the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan - to "abandon war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations to one another." The treaty did not achieve the desired result - the banning of war - but it provided the founding principle for international law after World War II.
Coolidge continued the previous government policy to withstand the recognition of the Soviet Union. He also continued US support for Mexico's elected government against the rebels there, lifting the arms embargo in the country. He sent Dwight Morrow to Mexico as the American ambassador.
The United States occupation of Nicaragua and Haiti continued under his rule, but Coolidge withdrew American troops from the Dominican Republic in 1924. Coolidge led a US delegation to the Sixth International Conference of American States, 15-17, 1928, in Havana, Cuba. This is the only Coolidge international trip made during his presidency. There, he extended the olive branch to Latin American leaders who were battered by American interventionist policies in Central America and the Caribbean. For 88 years he was the only president sitting to visit Cuba, until Barack Obama did so in 2016.
election 1928
In the summer of 1927, Coolidge was vacationing at the Black Hills in South Dakota, where he was involved in horseback riding and fishing and attending the rodeo. He made Custer State Park a "White House summer." While on holiday, Coolidge surprisingly issued a brief statement that he would not seek a second term as president: "I did not choose to run for President in 1928." After allowing journalists to take it, Coolidge details. "If I take another term, I'll be in the White House until 1933... Ten years in Washington longer than anyone else has it - too long!" In his memoirs, Coolidge explains his decision not to run: "The presidential office takes many casualties from the people who occupy it and their loved ones.While we should not refuse to spend and spend to serve our country, it is dangerous to try what we feel beyond our power to achieve it. "After leaving the office, he and Grace returned to Northampton, where he wrote his memoir. Republicans defended the White House in 1928 with a landslide by Herbert Hoover. Coolidge was reluctant to support Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he said that "for six years the man has given me unsolicited advice - everything is bad." However, Coolidge has no desire to divide the party by opposing the appointment of popular trade secretaries.
Cabinet
Although some of the Cabinet-appointed cabinists were scandalous, Coolidge initially defended them all, because of the firm belief that as a successor to a deceased elected president, he was obliged to retain Harding's advisors and policies until the next election. He made the author of Harding's speech, Judson T. Welliver; Stuart Crawford replaced Welliver in November 1925. Coolidge pointed to C. Bascom Slemp, a member of the Virginia Congress and experienced as a federal politician, to work with Edward T. Clark, a Massachusetts Republican organizer he holds from his vice presidential staff, as Secretary to the President (a position equivalent to the modern White House Chief of Staff).
Perhaps the most powerful man in the Coolidge Cabinet is Finance Minister Andrew Mellon, who controls the government's financial policy and is considered by many, including Home Minority Leader John Nance Garner, for being stronger than Coolidge himself. Trade Secretary Herbert Hoover also held a prominent place in the Coolidge Cabinet, in part because Coolidge found value in Hoover's ability to win positive publicity with his pro-business proposal. Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes directed Coolidge's foreign policy until he resigned in 1925 after Coolidge's election. He was replaced by Frank B. Kellogg, who previously served as Senator and as ambassador to England. Coolidge made two other appointments after his re-election, with William M. Jardine taking the position of the Secretary of Agriculture and John G. Sargent as Attorney General. Coolidge did not have a vice president during his first term, but Charles Dawes became vice president during Coolidge's second term, and Dawes and Coolidge disputed on agricultural policy and other issues.
Legal promise
Coolidge appointed a justice to the United States Supreme Court, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925. Stone is a colleague of Amherst Coolidge, a Wall Street lawyer and conservative Republican. Stone served as dean at Columbia Law School when Coolidge appointed him as the attorney general in 1924 to restore a reputation stained by Attorney General Harding, Harry M. Daugherty. It does not appear that Coolidge considers appointing anyone other than Stone, though Stone himself has urged Coolidge to appoint Benjamin N. Cardozo. Stone has proven to be very confident in legal control and is considered one of three liberal judges who often choose to enforce the New Deal law. President Franklin D. Roosevelt then raised Stone to be the supreme judge.
Coolidge nominated 17 judges to the US Court of Appeals, and 61 judges to the US district court. He appointed judges to special courts as well, including Genevieve R. Cline, who became the first woman to be named a federal judge when Coolidge placed him in the United States Customs Court in 1928. Coolidge also signed the Justice Act of 1925 into law, allowing The Supreme Court has more discretion over its workload.
Retirement and death
After his presidency, Coolidge retired to a modest rental house on Massasoit Street housing in Northampton before moving to a wider home, "The Beeches." He keeps a Hacker runner's boat on the Connecticut River and is often watched on the water by local boat enthusiasts. During this period he also served as chairman of the Non-Partisan Railway Commission, an entity created by several banks and companies to survey the country's long-term transportation needs and make recommendations for improvement. He is honorary president of the American Foundation for the Blind, director of the New York Life Insurance Company, president of the American Antiquarian Society, and an Amherst College administrator.
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929 and wrote a syndicated newspaper column, "Calvin Coolidge Says," from 1930 to 1931. Faced with a looming defeat in the 1932 presidential election, some Republicans spoke of Herbert Hoover's rejection as their party candidate, instead of designing Coolidge to run, but the former president explained that he was not interested in running again, and that he would openly refuse any attempt to compile it, if that happened. Hoover was re-nominated, and Coolidge made several radio addresses to support him. Hoover then lost an election to Coolidge Democratic Cooling's 1920 vice president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a landslide.
Coolidge died suddenly of coronary thrombosis at "The Beeches," at 12:45 pm, January 5, 1933. Shortly before his death, Coolidge told an old friend: " I feel I no longer fit in these times. "Coolidge is buried in Plymouth Notch Cemetery, Plymouth Notch, Vermont. The nearby family home is maintained as one of the original buildings on the Calvin Coolidge Homestead District site. The state of Vermont dedicated a new visitor center nearby to mark the 100th anniversary of Coolidge on 4 July 1972.
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Source of the article : Wikipedia
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