Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...
's tenure as the 30th
president of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
began on August 2, 1923, when Coolidge became president upon
Warren G. Harding's death, and ended on March 4, 1929. A
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
from
, Coolidge had been
vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
for when he succeeded to the presidency upon the sudden death of Harding. Elected to a full four–year term in
1924
Events
January
* January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after.
* January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...
, Coolidge gained a reputation as a
small-government conservative
Libertarian conservatism, also referred to as conservative libertarianism and conservatarianism, is a political and social philosophy that combines conservatism and libertarianism, representing the libertarian wing of conservatism and vice ve ...
. Coolidge was succeeded by former Secretary of Commerce
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...
after the
1928 presidential election.
Coolidge adeptly handled the aftermath of several Harding administration scandals, and by the end of 1924 he had dismissed most officials implicated in the scandals. He presided over a strong economy and sought to shrink the regulatory role of the federal government. Along with Secretary of the Treasury
Andrew Mellon
Andrew William Mellon (; March 24, 1855 – August 26, 1937), sometimes A. W. Mellon, was an American banker, businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector, and politician. From the wealthy Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylva ...
, Coolidge won the passage of three major tax cuts. Using powers delegated to him by the 1922
Fordney–McCumber Tariff
The Fordney–McCumber Tariff of 1922 was a law that raised American tariffs on many imported goods to protect factories and farms. The US Congress displayed a pro-business attitude in passing the tariff and in promoting foreign trade by providin ...
, Coolidge kept
tariff
A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and poli ...
rates high in order to
protect American manufacturing. He blocked passage of the
McNary–Haugen Farm Relief Bill
The McNary–Haugen Farm Relief Act, which never became law, was a controversial plan in the 1920s to subsidize American agriculture by raising the domestic prices of five crops. The plan was for the government to buy each crop and then store it o ...
, which would have involved the federal government in the persistent
farm crisis
A farm crisis describes times of agricultural recession, low crop prices and low farm incomes. The most recent US farm crisis occurred during the 1980s.
Crisis of the 1920s and 1930s
A farm crisis began in the 1920s, commonly believed to be a ...
that affected many rural communities. The strong economy combined with restrained government spending to produce consistent government surpluses, and total federal debt shrank by one quarter during Coolidge's presidency. Coolidge also signed the
Immigration Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the Asian Exclusion Act and National Origins Act (), was a United States federal law that prevented immigration from Asia and set quotas on the number of immigrants from the Eastern ...
, which greatly restricted immigration into the United States. In foreign policy, Coolidge continued to keep the United States out of the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
, but he engaged with foreign leaders and sponsored the
Kellogg–Briand Pact
The Kellogg–Briand Pact or Pact of Paris – officially the General Treaty for Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy – is a 1928 international agreement on peace in which signatory states promised not to use war to ...
of 1928.
Coolidge was greatly admired during his time in office, and he surprised many by declining to seek another term. Public opinion on Coolidge soured shortly after he left office as the nation plunged into the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. Many linked the nation's economic collapse to Coolidge's policy decisions, which did nothing to discourage the wild speculation that was going on and rendered so many vulnerable to economic ruin. Though his reputation underwent a renaissance during the
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
administration,
modern assessments of Coolidge's presidency are divided. He is adulated among advocates of smaller government and ''
laissez-faire
''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups. ...
''; supporters of an active central government generally view him less favorably, while both sides praise his support of racial equality.
Accession
![CalvinCoolidgeimmigration3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/CalvinCoolidgeimmigration3.jpg)
Coolidge, who served as the
governor of Massachusetts
The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces.
Massachusetts ...
from 1919 through 1921 was nominated at the
1920 Republican National Convention
The 1920 Republican National Convention nominated Ohio Senator Warren G. Harding for president and Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge for vice president. The convention was held in Chicago, Illinois, at the Chicago Coliseum from June 8 to J ...
for the ticket of
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...
for president and Coolidge for vice president. Coolidge became the
Vice President of the United States
The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...
after the
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
ticket was victorious in the
1920 presidential election. On August 2, 1923, President Harding died unexpectedly while on a speaking tour of the Western United States. Vice President Coolidge was visiting his
family home in
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
when he received word by a messenger of Harding's death. Coolidge's father, a
notary public, administered the
oath of office
An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before assuming the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. Such ...
in the family parlor at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923. The following day, Coolidge traveled to
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, where he was sworn in again by Justice
Adolph A. Hoehling Jr. of the
Supreme Court of the District of Columbia
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District of ...
. Coolidge addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6, 1923, expressing support for many of Harding's policies, including Harding's formal budgeting process and the enforcement of immigration restrictions.
Administration
Although a few of Harding's cabinet appointees were scandal-tarred, Coolidge initially retained all of them out of an ardent conviction that, as successor to a deceased elected president, he was obligated to retain his predecessor's counselors and policies until the next election. He kept Harding's able speechwriter
Judson T. Welliver;
Stuart Crawford
Stuart Crawford, (born 13 February 1981) is a professional squash player who has represented Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the islan ...
replaced Welliver in November 1925. Coolidge appointed
C. Bascom Slemp
Campbell Bascom Slemp (September 4, 1870 – August 7, 1943) was an American Republican politician. He was a six-time United States congressman from Virginia's 9th congressional district from 1907 to 1923 and served as the presidential sec ...
, a
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
Congressman and experienced federal politician, to work jointly with
Edward T. Clark, a Massachusetts Republican organizer whom he retained from his vice-presidential staff, as
Secretaries to the President (a position equivalent to the modern
White House Chief of Staff).
Perhaps the most powerful person in Coolidge's Cabinet was Secretary of the Treasury
Andrew Mellon
Andrew William Mellon (; March 24, 1855 – August 26, 1937), sometimes A. W. Mellon, was an American banker, businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector, and politician. From the wealthy Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylva ...
, who controlled the administration's financial policies and was regarded by many, including House Minority Leader
John Nance Garner
John Nance Garner III (November 22, 1868 – November 7, 1967), known among his contemporaries as "Cactus Jack", was an American History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician and lawyer from History of Texas, Texas who ...
, as more powerful than Coolidge himself. Secretary of Commerce
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...
also held a prominent place in Coolidge's Cabinet, in part because Coolidge found value in Hoover's ability to win positive publicity with his pro-business proposals. Secretary of State
Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...
directed Coolidge's foreign policy until he resigned in 1925 following Coolidge's re-election. He was replaced by
Frank B. Kellogg
Frank Billings Kellogg (December 22, 1856December 21, 1937) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served in the U.S. Senate and as U.S. Secretary of State. He co-authored the Kellogg–Briand Pact, for which he was awarded the ...
, who had previously served as a senator and as the ambassador to Great Britain. Coolidge made two other appointments following his re-election, with
William M. Jardine
William Marion Jardine (January 16, 1879January 17, 1955) was a U.S. administrator and educator. He served as the United States Secretary of Agriculture from 1925 to 1929 and as the U.S. Minister to Egypt from 1930 to 1933.
Early life and educ ...
taking the position of Secretary of Agriculture and
John G. Sargent becoming Attorney General. Coolidge appointed Sargent only after the Senate rejected his first choice,
Charles B. Warren
Charles Beecher Warren (April 10, 1870 – February 3, 1936) was an American diplomat and politician. He was United States Ambassador to Japan 1921 to 1923, United States Ambassador to Mexico in 1924, and was an unsuccessful nominee for United St ...
, who was the first Cabinet nominee to be
rejected by the Senate since 1868. Coolidge did not have a vice president during his first term, but
Charles Dawes
Charles Gates Dawes (August 27, 1865 – April 23, 1951) was an American banker, general, diplomat, composer, and Republican politician who was the 30th vice president of the United States from 1925 to 1929 under Calvin Coolidge. He was a co-reci ...
became vice president at the start of Coolidge's second term. Dawes and Coolidge clashed over farm policy and other issues.
Judicial appointments
Coolidge appointed only
Harlan Fiske Stone
Harlan is a given name and a surname which may refer to:
Surname
*Bob Harlan (born 1936 Robert E. Harlan), American football executive
*Bruce Harlan (1926–1959), American Olympic diver
*Byron B. Harlan (1886–1949), American politician
*Byron G ...
to the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
. Stone was Coolidge's fellow
Amherst Amherst may refer to:
People
* Amherst (surname), including a list of people with the name
* Earl Amherst of Arracan in the East Indies, a title in the British Peerage; formerly ''Baron Amherst''
* Baron Amherst of Hackney of the City of London, ...
alumnus, a
Wall Street
Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...
lawyer, and a conservative Republican. Stone was serving as dean of
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...
when Coolidge appointed him to be attorney general in 1924 to restore the reputation tarnished by Harding's Attorney General,
Harry M. Daugherty
Harry Micajah Daugherty (; January 26, 1860 – October 12, 1941) was an American politician. A key Ohio Republican political insider, he is best remembered for his service as Attorney General of the United States under Presidents Warren G. Hardin ...
. Stone proved to be a firm believer in
judicial restraint
Judicial restraint is a judicial interpretation that recommends favoring the status quo in judicial activities; it is the opposite of judicial activism. Aspects of judicial restraint include the principle of stare decisis (that new decisions s ...
and was regarded as one of the court's
three liberal justices who would often vote to uphold New Deal legislation.
Coolidge nominated 17 judges to the
United States Courts of Appeals
The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal judiciary. The courts of appeals are divided into 11 numbered circuits that cover geographic areas of the United States and hear appeals fr ...
, and 61 judges to the
United States district courts
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...
. He appointed
Genevieve R. Cline
Genevieve Rose Cline (July 27, 1877 – October 25, 1959) was a judge of the United States Customs Court and the first woman to serve in the United States federal judiciary, serving as an Article I federal judge.
Education and career
Born on Ju ...
to the
United States Customs Court
The United States Court of International Trade (case citations: Int'l Trade or Intl. Trade) is a U.S. federal court that adjudicates civil actions arising out of U.S. customs and international trade laws. Seated in New York City, it exercises ...
, making Cline the first woman to serve in the federal judiciary. Coolidge also signed the
Judiciary Act of 1925
The Judiciary Act of 1925 (43 Stat. 936), also known as the Judge's Bill or Certiorari Act, was an act of the United States Congress that sought to reduce the workload of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Background
Although the Judiciary Ac ...
into law, allowing the Supreme Court more discretion over its workload.
Domestic affairs
Harding administration scandals
In the waning days of Harding's administration, several scandals had begun to emerge into public view. Though Coolidge was not implicated in any corrupt dealings, he faced with the fallout of the scandals in the early days of his presidency. The
Teapot Dome Scandal
The Teapot Dome scandal was a bribery scandal involving the administration of United States President Warren G. Harding from 1921 to 1923. Secretary of the Interior Albert Bacon Fall had leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyomin ...
tainted the careers of former Secretary of the Interior
Albert B. Fall
Albert Bacon Fall (November 26, 1861November 30, 1944) was a United States senator from New Mexico and the Secretary of the Interior under President Warren G. Harding, infamous for his involvement in the Teapot Dome scandal; he was the only pers ...
(who had resigned in March 1923) and Secretary of the Navy
Edwin Denby, and additional scandals implicated Attorney General
Harry M. Daugherty
Harry Micajah Daugherty (; January 26, 1860 – October 12, 1941) was an American politician. A key Ohio Republican political insider, he is best remembered for his service as Attorney General of the United States under Presidents Warren G. Hardin ...
and former Veterans Bureau director
Charles R. Forbes. A bipartisan Senate investigation led by
Thomas J. Walsh
Thomas James Walsh (June 12, 1859March 2, 1933) was an American lawyer and Democratic Party politician from Helena, Montana who represented Montana in the US Senate from 1913 to 1933. He was initially elected by the state legislature, and from 1 ...
and
Robert LaFolette began just weeks into Coolidge's presidency. As the investigation uncovered further misconduct, Coolidge appointed
Atlee Pomerene
Atlee Pomerene (December 6, 1863November 12, 1937) was an American Democratic Party politician from Ohio. He represented Ohio in the United States Senate from 1911 until 1923.
Biography
Pomerene was born on December 6, 1863, in Berlin, Holmes C ...
and
Owen Roberts
Owen Josephus Roberts (May 2, 1875 – May 17, 1955) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1930 to 1945. He also led two Roberts Commissions, the first of which investigated the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the seco ...
as
special prosecutor
In the United States, a special counsel (formerly called special prosecutor or independent counsel) is a lawyer appointed to investigate, and potentially prosecute, a particular case of suspected wrongdoing for which a conflict of interest exis ...
s, but he remained personally unconvinced as to the guilt of Harding's appointees. Despite congressional pressure, he refused to dismiss Denby, who instead resigned of his own accord in March 1924. That same month, after Daugherty refused to resign, Coolidge fired him. Coolidge also replaced the
Director of the Bureau of Investigation,
William J. Burns, with
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation ...
. The investigation by Pomerene and Roberts, combined with the departure of the scandal-tarred Harding appointees, served to disassociate Coolidge from the Harding administration's misdeeds. By May 1924, Harding's scandals had largely receded from public attention, though a separate scandal involving former Postmaster General
Will H. Hays
William Harrison Hays Sr. (; November 5, 1879 – March 7, 1954) was an American Republican politician.
As chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1918–1921, Hays managed the successful 1920 presidential campaign of Warren G. Ha ...
would briefly garner headlines in 1928.
Election of 1924
The nation initially did not know what to make of Coolidge, who had maintained a low profile in the Harding administration; many even expected him to be replaced on the ballot in the
1924 presidential election. The 1923
United Mine Workers
The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the Unit ...
coal strike presented an immediate challenge to Coolidge, who avoided becoming closely involved in the strike. Pennsylvania Governor
Gifford Pinchot
Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865October 4, 1946) was an American forester and politician. He served as the fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, as the first head of the United States Forest Service, and as the 28th governor of Pennsy ...
, a progressive Republican and potential rival for the 1924 presidential nomination, quickly settled the strike with little input from the federal government. Pinchot's settlement of the strike backfired, as he took the blame for rising coal prices, and Coolidge quickly consolidated his power among Republican elites. Potential opponents like Governor
Frank Lowden
Frank Orren Lowden (January 26, 1861 – March 20, 1943) was an American Republican Party politician who served as the 25th Governor of Illinois and as a United States Representative from Illinois. He was also a candidate for the Republican pre ...
of Illinois and General
Leonard Wood
Leonard Wood (October 9, 1860 – August 7, 1927) was a United States Army major general, physician, and public official. He served as the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Military Governor of Cuba, and Governor-General of the Philippi ...
failed to generate support for a challenge to Coolidge, while automobile magnate
Henry Ford
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...
endorsed Coolidge for president in December 1923.
The
Republican Convention
The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of U.S. presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican N ...
was held on June 10–12, 1924, in
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
; Coolidge was nominated on the first ballot. Coolidge's nomination made him the second unelected president to win his party's nomination for another term, after
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
. Prior to the convention, Coolidge courted progressive Senator
William Borah
William Edgar Borah (June 29, 1865 – January 19, 1940) was an outspoken History of the United States Republican Party, Republican United States Senator, one of the best-known figures in History of Idaho, Idaho's history. A Progressivism ...
to join the ticket, but Borah refused to relinquish his Senate seat. Republicans then nominated Lowden for vice president on the second ballot, but he also declined. Finally diplomat and banker
Charles G. Dawes
Charles Gates Dawes (August 27, 1865 – April 23, 1951) was an American banker, general, diplomat, composer, and Republican politician who was the 30th vice president of the United States from 1925 to 1929 under Calvin Coolidge. He was a co-reci ...
was nominated on the third ballot.
The Democrats held their
convention the next month in New York City. Wilson's Treasury Secretary
William Gibbs McAdoo
William Gibbs McAdoo Jr.McAdoo is variously differentiated from family members of the same name:
* Dr. William Gibbs McAdoo (1820–1894) – sometimes called "I" or "Senior"
* William Gibbs McAdoo (1863–1941) – sometimes called "II" or "Ju ...
had been regarded by many as the front-runner, but his candidacy was damaged by his connection to the Teapot Dome Scandal. Nonetheless, he entered the convention as one of the two strongest candidates, alongside Governor
Al Smith
Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928.
The son of an Irish-American mother and a C ...
of New York. Smith and McAdoo epitomized the divide in the Democratic Party; Smith drew support from Northeastern cities, with their large ethnic populations of Catholics and Jews. McAdoo's base was in the Protestant strongholds of the rural South and West. The convention deadlocked over the presidential nominee, and after 103 ballots, the delegates finally agreed on a little-known compromise candidate,
John W. Davis
John William Davis (April 13, 1873 – March 24, 1955) was an American politician, diplomat and lawyer. He served under President Woodrow Wilson as the Solicitor General of the United States and the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom ...
, who picked the brother of
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...
. The Democrats' hopes were buoyed when
Robert LaFollette, a Republican senator from Wisconsin,
split from the GOP to form a new
Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to:
Active parties
* Progressive Party, Brazil
* Progressive Party (Chile)
* Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus
* Dominica Progressive Party
* Progressive Party (Iceland)
* Progressive Party (Sardinia), Italy
...
. La Follette's Progressives were hostile to the conservatism of both major party candidates, and energized by the ongoing farm crisis. They hoped to throw the election to the House by denying the Republican ticket an electoral vote majority, and some Progressives hoped to permanently disrupt the two-party system. On the other hand, many believed that the split in the Republican party, like the one in 1912, would allow a Democrat to win the presidency.
![ElectoralCollege1924](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/ElectoralCollege1924.svg)
After the conventions and the death of his younger son Calvin, Coolidge became withdrawn; he later said that "when he
he son
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
died, the power and glory of the Presidency went with him." It was the most subdued Republican campaign in memory, partly because of Coolidge's grief, but also because of his naturally non-confrontational style. Coolidge relied on advertising executive
Bruce Barton
Bruce Fairchild Barton (August 5, 1886 – July 5, 1967) was an American author, advertising executive, and Republican politician. He represented Manhattan in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1937 to 1941. In 1940, he ran for election to th ...
to lead his messaging campaign, and Barton's ads depicted Coolidge as a symbol of solidity in an era of speculation. Although the Republicans had been tarred by several scandals, by 1924 several Democrats had also been implicated and the partisan responsibility of the issue had been muddled. Coolidge and Dawes won every state outside the South except Wisconsin, La Follette's home state. Coolidge won 54 percent of the popular vote, while Davis took just 28.8 percent and La Follette won 16.6 percent, one of the strongest
third-party presidential showings in U.S. history. In the concurrent
congressional elections, Republicans increased their majorities in the House and Senate.
Economy and regulation
During Coolidge's presidency, the United States experienced a period of rapid economic growth known as the "
Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties, sometimes stylized as Roaring '20s, refers to the 1920s decade in music and fashion, as it happened in Western society and Western culture. It was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultural edge in the U ...
." Unemployment remained low while the country's
gross domestic product
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a money, monetary Measurement in economics, measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjec ...
rose from $85.2 billion in 1924 to $101.4 in 1929. According to Nathan Miller, "the postwar years ushered in an age of consumerism with a broader base of participation than had ever existed before in America or anywhere else." The number of automobiles in the United States increased from 7 million in 1919 to 23 million in 1929, while the percentage of households with electricity rose from 16 percent in 1912 to 60 percent in the mid-1920s.
The regulatory state under Coolidge was, as one biographer described it, "thin to the point of invisibility." Coolidge believed that promoting the interests of manufacturers was good for society as a whole, and he sought to reduce taxes and regulations on businesses while imposing
tariffs
A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and polic ...
to
protect those interests against foreign competition. Coolidge demonstrated his disdain for regulation by appointing commissioners to the
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...
(FTC) and the
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...
who did little to restrict the activities of businesses under their jurisdiction. Under leadership of Chairman
William E. Humphrey
William Ewart Humphrey (March 31, 1862 – February 14, 1934), an American politician, served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1903 to 1917. He represented the state of Washington at large from 1903 to 1909 and ...
, a Coolidge appointee, the FTC largely stopped prosecuting anti-trust cases, allowing companies like
Alcoa
Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary ...
to dominate entire industries. Coolidge also avoided interfering with the workings of the
Federal Reserve
The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...
, which kept interest rates low and allowed for the expansion of
margin trading
In finance, margin is the collateral that a holder of a financial instrument has to deposit with a counterparty (most often their broker or an exchange) to cover some or all of the credit risk the holder poses for the counterparty. This risk ...
in the stock market. The 1922
Fordney–McCumber Tariff
The Fordney–McCumber Tariff of 1922 was a law that raised American tariffs on many imported goods to protect factories and farms. The US Congress displayed a pro-business attitude in passing the tariff and in promoting foreign trade by providin ...
allowed the president some leeway in determining tariff rates, and Coolidge used his power to raise the already-high rates set by Fordney–McCumber. He also staffed the
United States Tariff Commission
The United States International Trade Commission (USITC or I.T.C.) is an agency of the United States federal government that advises the legislative and executive branches on matters of trade. It is an independent, bipartisan entity that analyze ...
, a board that advised the president on tariff rates, with businessmen who favored high tariffs.
Secretary of Commerce Hoover energetically used government auspices to promote business efficiency and develop new industries like air travel and radio. Hoover was a strong proponent of cooperation between government and business, and he organized numerous conferences of intellectuals and businessmen which made various recommendations. Relatively few reforms were passed, but the proposals created the image of an active administration. Between 1923 and 1929, the number of families with radios grew from 300,000 to 10 million. The
Radio Act of 1927
The Radio Act of 1927 (United States Public Law 632, 69th Congress) was signed into law on February 23, 1927. It replaced the Radio Act of 1912, increasing the federal government's regulatory powers over radio communication, with oversight vested ...
established the
Federal Radio Commission
The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was a government agency that regulated United States radio communication from its creation in 1927 until 1934, when it was succeeded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FRC was established by t ...
under the auspices of the Commerce Department, and the commission granted numerous licenses to large, commercial radio stations. At Hoover's request, Congress passed the
Air Commerce Act
The Air Commerce Act of 1926 created an Aeronautic Branch of the United States Department of Commerce. Its functions included testing and licensing of pilots, certification of aircraft and investigation of accidents.
In 1934, the Aeronautics Branc ...
, which granted the Commerce Department the authority to regulate air travel. The Coolidge administration provided matching funds for roads under the authorization of the
Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921
The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921, also called the Phipps Act (, ), sponsored by Sen. Lawrence C. Phipps (R) of Colorado, defined the Federal Aid Road program to develop an immense national highway system. The plan was crafted by the head of th ...
. The total mileage of highways doubled in the 1920s, and the administration helped establish the
United States Numbered Highway System
The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these hi ...
, which provided for orderly designation of highways and uniform signage on those highways.
Some have labeled Coolidge as an adherent of the
laissez-faire
''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups. ...
ideology, which some critics claim led to the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. Historian
Robert Sobel
Robert Sobel (February 19, 1931 – June 2, 1999) was an American professor of history at Hofstra University and a well-known and prolific writer of business histories.
Biography
Sobel was born in the Bronx, in New York City, New York. He c ...
argues instead that Coolidge's belief in
federalism
Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments (Province, provincial, State (sub-national), state, Canton (administrative division), can ...
guided his economic policy, writing, "as
Governor of Massachusetts
The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces.
Massachusetts ...
, Coolidge supported wages and hours legislation, opposed
child labor
Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such e ...
, imposed economic controls during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, favored safety measures in factories, and even worker representation on corporate boards...such matters were considered the responsibilities of state and local governments." Historian David Greenberg argues that Coolidge's economic policies, designed primarily to bolster American industry, are best described as
Hamiltonian
Hamiltonian may refer to:
* Hamiltonian mechanics, a function that represents the total energy of a system
* Hamiltonian (quantum mechanics), an operator corresponding to the total energy of that system
** Dyall Hamiltonian, a modified Hamiltonian ...
rather than laissez-faire.
Taxation and government spending
Coolidge took office in the aftermath of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, during which the United States had raised taxes to unprecedented rates. Coolidge's taxation policy was largely set by Treasury Secretary Mellon, who held that "scientific taxation"—lower taxes—would actually increase rather than decrease government receipts. The
Revenue Act of 1921 The United States Revenue Act of 1921 (ch. 136, , November 23, 1921) was the first Republican Party of the United States, Republican tax reduction following their landslide victory in the U.S. House election, 1920, 1920 federal elections. New Secret ...
, which had been proposed by Mellon, had reduced the top marginal tax rate from 71 percent to 58 percent, and Mellon sought to further reduce rates and abolish other taxes during Coolidge's presidency.
Coolidge spent early 1924 opposing the
World War Adjusted Compensation Act
The World War Adjusted Compensation Act, or Bonus Act,Red Cross, 363 was a United States federal law passed on May 19, 1924, that granted a benefit to veterans of American military service in World War I.
Provisions
The act awarded veterans addit ...
or "Bonus Bill," which he believed would be a fiscally irresponsible expenditure. With a budget surplus, many legislators wanted to reward the veterans of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
with extra compensation, arguing that the soldiers had been paid poorly during the war. Coolidge and Mellon preferred to use the budget surplus to cut taxes, and they did not believe that the country could pass the Bonus Bill, cut taxes, and maintain a balanced budget. However, the Bonus Bill gained wide support and was endorsed by several prominent Republicans, including
Henry Cabot Lodge
Henry Cabot Lodge (May 12, 1850 November 9, 1924) was an American Republican politician, historian, and statesman from Massachusetts. He served in the United States Senate from 1893 to 1924 and is best known for his positions on foreign policy. ...
and
Charles Curtis
Charles Curtis (January 25, 1860 – February 8, 1936) was an American attorney and Republican politician from Kansas who served as the 31st vice president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 under Herbert Hoover. He had served as the Sena ...
. Congress overrode Coolidge's veto of the Bonus Bill, handing the president a defeat in his first major legislative battle.
With his legislative priorities in jeopardy following the debate over the Bonus Bill, Coolidge backed off on his goal of lowering the top tax rate down to 25 percent. After much legislative haggling, Congress passed the
Revenue Act of 1924
The United States Revenue Act of 1924 () (June 2, 1924), also known as the Mellon tax bill (after U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon) cut Federal Government of the United States, federal tax rates for 1924 income. The bottom rate, on inc ...
, which reduced income tax rates and eliminated all income taxation for some two million people. The act reduced the top marginal tax rate from 58 percent to 46 percent, but increased the
estate tax
An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died.
International tax law distinguishes between an es ...
and bolstered it with a new
gift tax
In economics, a gift tax is the tax on money or property that one living person or corporate entity gives to another. A gift tax is a type of transfer tax that is imposed when someone gives something of value to someone else. The transfer must ...
. After his re-election in 1924, Coolidge sought further tax reductions, and Congress cut taxes with the Revenue Acts of
1926
Events January
* January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece.
* January 8
**Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz.
** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...
and
1928
Events January
* January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA.
* January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...
. Congress abolished the gift tax in 1926, but Mellon was unable to win repeal of the
estate tax
An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died.
International tax law distinguishes between an es ...
, which had been established by the
Revenue Act of 1916 The United States Revenue Act of 1916, (ch. 463, , September 8, 1916) raised the lowest income tax rate from 1% to 2% and raised the top rate to 15% on taxpayers with incomes above $2 million ($ in dollars). Previously, the top rate had been 7% on ...
. In addition to cutting top rates, the tax acts also increased the amount of
income exempt from taxation, and by 1928 only 2 percent of taxpayers paid any federal income tax. By 1930, one-third of federal revenue came from income taxes, one-third from corporate taxes, and most of the remaining third came from the tariff and excise taxes on tobacco.
Coolidge inherited a budget surplus of $700 million, but also a federal debt of $22.3 billion, with most of that debt having been accumulated in World War I. Federal spending remained flat during Coolidge's administration, contributing to the retirement of about one-fourth of the federal debt. Coolidge would be the last president to significantly reduce the total amount of federal debt until
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
's tenure in the 1990s, although intervening presidents would preside over a reduction of debt in proportion to the country's gross domestic product.
Immigration
A strong
nativist movement had arisen in the years prior to Coolidge's presidency, with hostility focused on immigrants from Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...
.
A constituent writing to Senator
William Borah
William Edgar Borah (June 29, 1865 – January 19, 1940) was an outspoken History of the United States Republican Party, Republican United States Senator, one of the best-known figures in History of Idaho, Idaho's history. A Progressivism ...
reflected the opinion of many who favored immigration restriction, stating "immigration should be completely stopped for at least one generation until we can assimilate and Americanize the millions who are in our midst." Prior to Coolidge's presidency, Congress had passed the
Immigration Act of 1917
The Immigration Act of 1917 (also known as the Literacy Act and less often as the Asiatic Barred Zone Act) was a United States Act that aimed to restrict immigration by imposing literacy tests on immigrants, creating new categories of inadmissib ...
, which imposed a literacy test on immigrants, and the
Emergency Quota Act
__NOTOC__
The Emergency Quota Act, also known as the Emergency Immigration Act of 1921, the Immigration Restriction Act of 1921, the Per Centum Law, and the Johnson Quota Act (ch. 8, of May 19, 1921), was formulated mainly in response to the larg ...
of 1921, which put a temporary cap on the number of immigrants accepted into the country. In the years after the passage of the Emergency Quota Act, members of Congress debated the substance of a permanent immigration bill. Most leaders of both parties favored a permanent bill that would greatly restrict immigration, with the major exception being
Al Smith
Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928.
The son of an Irish-American mother and a C ...
and other urban Democrats. Business leaders had previously favored unlimited immigration to the United States, but mechanization, the entrance of women into the labor force, and the migration of Southern blacks into the North had all contributed to reduced demand for foreign-born labor.
Coolidge endorsed an extension of the cap on immigration in his 1923 State of the Union, but his administration was less supportive of the continuation of the
National Origins Formula
National Origins Formula is an umbrella term for a series of qualitative immigration quotas in America used from 1921 to 1965, which restricted immigration from the Eastern Hemisphere on the basis of national origin. These restrictions included l ...
, which effectively restricted immigration from countries outside of
Northwestern Europe
Northwestern Europe, or Northwest Europe, is a loosely defined subregion of Europe, overlapping Northern and Western Europe. The region can be defined both geographically and ethnographically.
Geographic definitions
Geographically, Northw ...
. Secretary of State Hughes strongly opposed the quotas, particularly the total ban on Japanese immigration, which violated the
Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907
The was an informal agreement between the United States of America and the Empire of Japan whereby Japan would not allow further emigration to the United States and the United States would not impose restrictions on Japanese immigrants already ...
with Japan. Despite his own reservations, Coolidge chose to sign the restrictive
Immigration Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the Asian Exclusion Act and National Origins Act (), was a United States federal law that prevented immigration from Asia and set quotas on the number of immigrants from the Eastern ...
. The Emergency Quota Act had limited annual immigration from any given country to 3% of the immigrant population from that country living in the United States in 1920; the Immigration Act of 1924 changed this to 2% percent of the immigrant population from a given country living in the United States in 1890. As the Immigration Act of 1924 remained in force until the passage of the
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart–Celler Act and more recently as the 1965 Immigration Act, is a federal law passed by the 89th United States Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The l ...
, it greatly affected the demographics of immigration for several decades.
Opposition to farm subsidies
![Coolidge-Dawes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Coolidge-Dawes.jpg)
Perhaps the most contentious issue of Coolidge's presidency was relief for farmers, whose incomes had collapsed after World War I. Many farmers were unable to sell their crops, in a phenomenon known as
overproduction
In economics, overproduction, oversupply, excess of supply or glut refers to excess of supply over demand of products being offered to the market. This leads to lower prices and/or unsold goods along with the possibility of unemployment.
The de ...
. Contributing factors to agricultural overproduction included increasing competition on world markets and the introduction of
tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...
s, which increased the productivity of individual farmers and opened up farmland that had previously been devoted to growing crops used to feed farm animals. Overproduction led to an ongoing
farm crisis
A farm crisis describes times of agricultural recession, low crop prices and low farm incomes. The most recent US farm crisis occurred during the 1980s.
Crisis of the 1920s and 1930s
A farm crisis began in the 1920s, commonly believed to be a ...
that proved devastating to many rural areas. The farm crisis was a major political issue throughout the 1920s as farmers remained a powerful voting bloc despite the rising tide of urbanization.
Secretary of Agriculture
Henry Cantwell Wallace
Henry Cantwell "Harry" Wallace (May 11, 1866 – October 25, 1924) was an American farmer, journalist, and political activist who served as the Secretary of Agriculture from 1921 to 1924 under Republican presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvi ...
floated the possibility of restricting the number of acres that each farmer would be allowed to farm, but the unpopularity of this proposal among farmers made it politically infeasible. After the 1924 elections, the Coolidge administration introduced an agricultural plan that emphasized
agricultural cooperative
An agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a cooperative in which farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activity.
A broad typology of agricultural cooperatives distinguishes between agricultural service cooperati ...
s to help control prices, but it found little favor among farmers. The farm bloc instead coalesced behind the ideas of
George Peek
George Nelson Peek (November 19, 1873 – December 17, 1943) was an American agricultural economist, business executive, and civil servant. He was the first administrator of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) and the first preside ...
, whose proposals to raise farm prices inspired the
McNary–Haugen Farm Relief Bill
The McNary–Haugen Farm Relief Act, which never became law, was a controversial plan in the 1920s to subsidize American agriculture by raising the domestic prices of five crops. The plan was for the government to buy each crop and then store it o ...
. McNary–Haugen proposed the establishment of a federal farm board that would purchase surplus production in high-yield years and hold it for later sale or sell it abroad. The government would lose money in selling the crops abroad, but would recoup some of that loss through fees on farmers who benefited from the program. Proponents of the bill argued that the program was little different from protective tariffs, which they argued were used to disproportionately benefit industrial concerns. Coolidge opposed McNary-Haugen, declaring that agriculture must stand "on an independent business basis," and said that "government control cannot be divorced from political control." The first and second incarnations of the McNary-Haugen bill were defeated in 1924 and 1925, but the bill remained popular as the farm crisis continued.
A decline in cotton prices in 1925 raised the possibility that Southern congressmen would join with Western congressmen in supporting a major agricultural bill. Seeking to prevent the creation of a major new government program, Coolidge sought to peel away potential supporters of McNary-Haugen and mobilized businessmen and other groups in opposition to the bill. He supported the Curtis-Crisp Act, which would have created a federal board to lend money to farm co-operatives in times of surplus, but the bill floundered in Congress. In February 1927, Congress took up the McNary-Haugen bill again, this time narrowly passing it, and Coolidge vetoed it. In his veto message, Coolidge expressed the belief that the bill would do nothing to help farmers, benefiting only exporters and expanding the federal bureaucracy. Congress did not override the veto, but it passed the bill again in May 1928 by an increased majority; again, Coolidge vetoed it. "Farmers never have made much money," said Coolidge, adding, "I do not believe we can do much about it." Secretary Jardine developed his own plan to address the farm crisis that established a
Federal Farm Board The Federal Farm Board was established by the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1929 from the Federal Farm Loan Board established by the Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916, with a revolving fund of half a billion dollarsAgricultural Marketing Act of 1929
The Agricultural Marketing Act of 1929, under the administration of Herbert Hoover, established the Federal Farm Board from the Federal Farm Loan Board established by the Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916 with a revolving fund of half a billion dolla ...
, which was passed months after Coolidge left office.
Great Mississippi Flood
Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States, with inundated in depths of up to over the course of several months in early 1927. The uninflated cost of the damage has been estimat ...
, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
in 2005. He initially declined the request of six governors to provide federal assistance and visit the site of the flooding. Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a head a federal commission in charge of flood relief, scholars argue that Coolidge overall showed a lack of interest in federal flood control. Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything, and that it would be seen as mere political grandstanding. He also did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require; he believed property owners should bear much of the cost. Congress, meanwhile, favored a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation. When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928, Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the
Flood Control Act of 1928
The Flood Control Act of 1928 (FCA 1928) ( 70th United States Congress, Sess. 1. Ch. 569, enacted May 15, 1928) authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to design and construct projects for the control of floods on the Mississippi River and it ...
in private on May 15.
Labor
Union membership declined during the 1920s, partly because of consistently rising wages and the declining length of the average work week. Compared to previous years, Coolidge's tenure saw relatively few strikes, and the only major labor disturbance Coolidge faced was the 1923 anthracite coal strike. Coolidge generally avoided labor issues, leaving the administration's response to unrest in the mines to Hoover. Hoover produced the Jacksonville agreement, a voluntary compact between miners and mining companies, but the agreement had little effect. During the 1920s, the conservative
Taft Court
The Taft Court refers to the Supreme Court of the United States from 1921 to 1930, when William Howard Taft served as Chief Justice of the United States. Taft succeeded Edward Douglass White as Chief Justice after the latter's death, and Taft s ...
issued several holdings that damaged labor unions and allowed federal courts to use injunctions to end strikes. The Supreme Court was also hostile to federal regulations designed to ensure minimal working conditions, and it declared
minimum wage laws unconstitutional in the 1923 case of ''
Adkins v. Children's Hospital
''Adkins v. Children's Hospital'', 261 U.S. 525 (1923), is a United States Supreme Court opinion that federal minimum wage legislation for women was an unconstitutional infringement of liberty of contract, as protected by the due process clause ...
''.
In June 1924, after the Supreme Court twice struck down federal laws regulating and taxing goods produced by employees under the ages of 14 and 16, Congress approved an amendment to the
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
that would specifically authorize Congress to regulate
"labor of persons under eighteen years of age". Coolidge expressed support for the amendment in his first State of the Union. The amendment, commonly known as the
Child Labor Amendment
The Child Labor Amendment is a proposed and still-pending amendment to the United States Constitution that would specifically authorize Congress to regulate "labor of persons under eighteen years of age". The amendment was proposed on June 2, 1 ...
, was never ratified by the requisite number of states, and, as there was no time limit set for its ratification, is still pending before the states. However, the Supreme Court made the Child Labor Amendment a
moot
Moot may refer to:
* Mootness, in American law: a point where further proceedings have lost practical significance; whereas in British law: the issue remains debatable
* Moot court, an activity in many law schools where participants take part in s ...
issue with its ruling in the 1941 case of ''
United States v. Darby Lumber Co.
''United States v. Darby Lumber Co.'', 312 U.S. 100 (1941), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court upheld the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, holding that the U.S. Congress had the power under the Commerce Clause to regulate emplo ...
''.
Other issues
The
Eighteenth Amendment, ratified in 1920, had effectively established the prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the United States, and the
Volstead Act
The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was an act of the 66th United States Congress, designed to carry out the intent of the 18th Amendment (ratified January 1919), which established the prohibition of alcoholic d ...
had established penalties for violating the amendment. Coolidge personally opposed Prohibition, but sought to enforce federal law and refrained from serving liquor in the White House. Though Congress had established the
Bureau of Prohibition
The Bureau of Prohibition (or Prohibition Unit) was the United States federal law enforcement agency formed to enforce the National Prohibition Act of 1919, commonly known as the Volstead Act, which enforced the 18th Amendment to the United St ...
to enforce the Volstead Act, federal enforcement of Prohibition was lax. As most states left enforcement of Prohibition to the federal government, the illegal production of alcoholic beverages flourished. Leaders of
organized crime
Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
like
Arnold Rothstein
Arnold Rothstein (January 17, 1882 – November 4, 1928), nicknamed "The Brain", was an American racketeer, crime boss, businessman, and gambler in New York City. Rothstein was widely reputed to have organized corruption in professional athleti ...
and
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...
arranged for the importation of alcohol from
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and other locations, and the profitability of
bootlegging contributed to the rising influence of organized crime. Nonetheless, alcohol consumption fell dramatically during the 1920s, in part due to the high price of alcoholic drinks.
![1924 Indian Citizenship Act](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/1924_Indian_Citizenship_Act.jpg)
Coolidge spoke in favor of the civil rights of
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
s, saying in his first
State of the Union address
The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning of each calendar year on the current conditio ...
that their rights were "just as sacred as those of any other citizen" under the U.S. Constitution and that it was a "public and a private duty to protect those rights."
[ s:Calvin Coolidge's First State of the Union Address] He appointed no known members of the
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...
to office; indeed, the Klan lost most of its influence during his term. He also repeatedly called for laws to prohibit
lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...
, saying in his 1923 State of the Union address that it was a "hideous crime" of which African-Americans were "by no means the sole sufferers" but made up the "majority of the victims."
However, congressional attempts to pass anti-lynching legislation were blocked by Southern Democrats. Coolidge did not emphasize the appointment of African-Americans to federal positions, and he did not appoint any prominent blacks during his tenure as president.
On June 2, 1924, Coolidge signed the
Indian Citizenship Act
The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, (, enacted June 2, 1924) was an Act of the United States Congress that granted US citizenship to the indigenous peoples of the United States. While the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ...
, which granted U.S. citizenship to all
American Indians, while permitting them to retain tribal land and cultural rights. By that time, two-thirds of Native Americans were already citizens, having gained citizenship through marriage, military service, or the land allotments that had earlier taken place.
[Alysa Landry, "Calvin Coolidge: First Sitting Prez Adopted by Tribe Starts Desecration of Mount Rushmore"](_blank)
, ''Indian Country Today,'' 26 July 2016; accessed same day The act was unclear on whether the federal government or the tribal leaders retained tribal sovereignty. Coolidge also appointed the Committee of One Hundred, a reform panel to examine federal institutions and programs dealing with Indian nations. This committee recommended that the government conduct an in-depth investigation into reservation life, resulting in the ''
Meriam Report The Meriam Report (1928) (official title: ''The Problem of Indian Administration'') was commissioned by the Institute for Government Research (IGR, better known later as the Brookings Institution) and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. The IGR ap ...
'' of 1928.
In 1925, President Coolidge received the
Armenian Orphan Rug, also known as the Ghazir Orphans' Rug, as a gift. It is an
Armenian styled carpet woven by orphans of the
Armenian genocide
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...
in
Ghazir
Ghazir ( ar, غزير) is a town and municipality in the Keserwan District of the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is located north of Beirut. It has an average elevation of 380 meters above sea level and a total land area of . The tow ...
,
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
. The carpet took eighteen months to make and was eventually shipped to the United States where it was given to President Coolidge as a gift in 1925. It was returned by the Coolidge family to the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
in 1982. Its most recent public display was in November 2014 at the
White House Visitors' Center as part of the exhibition "Thank you to the United States: Three Gifts to Presidents in Gratitude for American Generosity Abroad".
Foreign affairs
League of Nations and World Court
Although not an isolationist, Coolidge was reluctant to enter into foreign alliances. He considered the 1920 Republican victory as a rejection of the
Wilsonian
Wilsonianism, or Wilsonian idealism, is a certain type of foreign policy advice. The term comes from the ideas and proposals of President Woodrow Wilson. He issued his famous Fourteen Points in January 1918 as a basis for ending World War I and pr ...
position that the United States should join the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
. 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. He spoke in favor of the United States joining the
Permanent Court of International Justice
The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, existed from 1922 to 1946. It was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1920 (although the idea of an international court was several cen ...
(World Court), provided that the nation would not be bound by advisory decisions. In 1926, the Senate eventually approved joining the Court (with reservations). The League of Nations accepted the reservations, but it suggested some modifications of its own. The Senate failed to act on the modifications, and the United States never joined the World Court.
Reparations and war debts
In the
aftermath of World War I
The aftermath of World War I saw drastic political, cultural, economic, and social change across Eurasia, Africa, and even in areas outside those that were directly involved. Four empires collapsed due to the war, old countries were abolished, ne ...
, several European nations struggled with debt, much of which was owed to the United States. These European nations were in turn owed an enormous sum from Germany in the form of
World War I reparations
Following the ratification of article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles at the conclusion of World War I, the Central Powers were made to give war reparations to the Allied Powers. Each of the defeated powers was required to make payments in eith ...
, and the German economy buckled under the weight of these reparations. Coolidge rejected calls to forgive Europe's debt or lower tariffs on European goods, but the
Occupation of the Ruhr
The Occupation of the Ruhr (german: link=no, Ruhrbesetzung) was a period of military occupation of the Ruhr region of Germany by France and Belgium between 11 January 1923 and 25 August 1925.
France and Belgium occupied the heavily industria ...
in 1923 stirred him to action. On Secretary of State Hughes's initiative, Coolidge appointed Charles Dawes to lead an international commission to reach an agreement on Germany's reparations. The resulting
Dawes Plan
The Dawes Plan (as proposed by the Dawes Committee, chaired by Charles G. Dawes) was a plan in 1924 that successfully resolved the issue of World War I reparations that Germany had to pay. It ended a crisis in European diplomacy following Wor ...
provided for restructuring of the German debt, and the United States loaned money to Germany to help it repay its debt to other countries. The Dawes Plan led to a boom in the German economy, as well as a sentiment of international cooperation.
Building on the success of the Dawes Plan, U.S. ambassador
Alanson B. Houghton
Alanson Bigelow Houghton (October 10, 1863 – September 15, 1941) was an American businessman, politician, and diplomat who served as a U.S. Congressional Delegations from New York, Congressman and Ambassador. He was a member of the Republica ...
helped organize the Locarno Conference in October 1925. The conference was designed to ease tensions between Germany and France, the latter of which feared a German rearmament. In the
Locarno Treaties
The Locarno Treaties were seven agreements negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland, during 5 to 16 October 1925 and formally signed in London on 1 December, in which the First World War Western European Allied powers and the new states of Central an ...
, France, Belgium, and Germany each agreed to respect the borders established by the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
and pledged not to attack each other. Germany also agreed to arbitrate its eastern boundaries with the states created in the Treaty of Versailles.
Disarmament and renunciation of war
Coolidge's primary foreign policy initiative was the
Kellogg–Briand Pact
The Kellogg–Briand Pact or Pact of Paris – officially the General Treaty for Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy – is a 1928 international agreement on peace in which signatory states promised not to use war to ...
of 1928, named for Secretary of State Kellogg and French foreign minister
Aristide Briand
Aristide Pierre Henri Briand (; 28 March 18627 March 1932) was a French statesman who served eleven terms as Prime Minister of France during the French Third Republic. He is mainly remembered for his focus on international issues and reconciliat ...
. The treaty, ratified in 1929, committed signatories—the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan—to "renounce war, as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another." The treaty did not achieve its intended result—the outlawry of war—but it did provide the founding principle for international law after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Coolidge's policy of international disarmament allowed the administration to decrease military spending, a part of Coolidge's broader policy of decreasing government spending. Coolidge also favored an extension of the Washington Naval Treaty to cover
cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles.
The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...
s, but the U.S., Britain, and Japan were unable to come to an agreement at the
Geneva Naval Conference
The Geneva Naval Conference was a conference held to discuss naval arms limitation, held in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1927. The aim of the conference was to extend the existing limits on naval construction which had been agreed in the Washington Na ...
.
Coolidge was impressed with the success of the
Washington Naval Conference
The Washington Naval Conference was a disarmament conference called by the United States and held in Washington, DC from November 12, 1921 to February 6, 1922. It was conducted outside the auspices of the League of Nations. It was attended by nine ...
of 1921–22, and called a second international conference in 1927 to deal with related naval issues, especially putting limits on the number of warships under 10,000 tons. The
Geneva Naval Conference
The Geneva Naval Conference was a conference held to discuss naval arms limitation, held in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1927. The aim of the conference was to extend the existing limits on naval construction which had been agreed in the Washington Na ...
failed because France refused to participate, and also because most of the delegates were admirals who did not want to limit their fleets.
Latin America
After the
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
, the U.S. had refused to recognize the government of
Álvaro Obregón
Álvaro Obregón Salido (; 17 February 1880 – 17 July 1928) better known as Álvaro Obregón was a Sonoran-born general in the Mexican Revolution. A pragmatic centrist, natural soldier, and able politician, he became the 46th President of Me ...
, one of the revolution's leaders. Secretary of State Hughes had worked with Mexico to normalize relations during the Harding administration, and President Coolidge recognized the Mexican government in 1923. To help Obregón defeat a rebellion, Coolidge also lifted an embargo on Mexico and encouraged U.S. banks to loan money to the Mexican government. In 1924,
Plutarco Elías Calles
Plutarco Elías Calles (25 September 1877 – 19 October 1945) was a general in the Mexican Revolution and a Sonoran politician, serving as President of Mexico from 1924 to 1928.
The 1924 Calles presidential campaign was the first populist ...
took office as President of Mexico, and Calles sought to limit American property claims and take control of the holdings of the Catholic Church. However, Ambassador
Dwight Morrow
Dwight Whitney Morrow (January 11, 1873October 5, 1931) was an American businessman, diplomat, and politician, best known as the U.S. ambassador who improved U.S.-Mexican relations, mediating the religious conflict in Mexico known as the Cristero ...
convinced Calles to allow Americans to retain their rights to property purchased before 1917, and Mexico and the United States enjoyed good relations for the remainder of Coolidge's presidency. With the aid of a Catholic priest from the U.S., Morrow also helped bring an end to the
Cristero War
The Cristero War ( es, Guerra Cristera), also known as the Cristero Rebellion or es, La Cristiada, label=none, italics=no , was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 1 August 1926 to 21 June 1929 in response to the implementa ...
, a Catholic revolt against Calles's government.
The United States' occupation of
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
and
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
continued under Coolidge's administration, though Coolidge withdrew American troops from the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
in 1924. The U.S. established a domestic constabulary in the Dominican Republic to promote internal order without the need for U.S. intervention, but the constabulary's leader,
Rafael Trujillo
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina ( , ; 24 October 189130 May 1961), nicknamed ''El Jefe'' (, "The Chief" or "The Boss"), was a Dominican dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic from February 1930 until his assassination in May 1961. He ser ...
, eventually seized power. Coolidge led the U.S. delegation to the
Sixth International Conference of American States, January 15–17, 1928, in
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. ,
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
. This was the only international trip Coolidge made during his presidency. There, he extended an
olive branch
The olive branch is a symbol of peace and victory associated with customs of ancient Greece and connected with supplication to gods and persons in power. It is found in most cultures of the Mediterranean basin and became associated with peace ...
to Latin American leaders embittered over America's
interventionist policies in
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
and the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
. For 88 years he was the only sitting president to have visited Cuba, until
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
did so in 2016.
Under the leadership of economist
Edwin W. Kemmerer
Edwin Walter Kemmerer (June 29, 1875 – December 16, 1945) was an American economist, who became famous as an economic adviser to foreign governments in many countries (Philippines, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Germany, Chile, South Africa, Po ...
, the U.S. extended its influence in Latin America through financial advisers. With the support of the State Department, Kemmerer negotiated agreements with
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
, and other countries in which the countries received loans and agreed to follow the advice of U.S. financial advisers. These "Kemmerized" countries received substantial investments and became increasingly dependent on trade with the United States. While the countries enjoyed good economic conditions in the 1920s, many would struggle in the 1930s.
East Asia
Relations with Japan had warmed with the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty and were further bolstered by U.S. aid in the aftermath of the
1923 Great Kantō earthquake
The struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshū at 11:58:44 JST (02:58:44 UTC) on Saturday, September 1, 1923. Varied accounts indicate the duration of the earthquake was between four and ten minutes. Extensive firestorms an ...
, which killed as many as 200,000 Japanese and left another 2 million homeless. However, relations soured with the passage of the Immigration Act of 1924, which banned immigration from Japan to the United States. U.S. officials encouraged Japan to protest the ban while the legislation was drafted, but Japanese threats backfired as supporters of the legislation used the threats to galvanize opposition to Japanese immigration. The immigration legislation sparked a major backlash in Japan, strengthening the position of those in Japan who favored expansionism over cooperation with Western powers.
The Coolidge administration at first avoided engagement with the
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
, which was led by
Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...
and his successor,
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
. The administration protested the
Northern Expedition
The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the "Chinese Nationalist Party", against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The ...
when it resulted in attacks on foreigners, and refused to consider renegotiating treaties reached with China when it had been under the rule of the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
. In 1927, Chiang purged his government of Communists and began to seek U.S. support. Seeking closer relations with China, Secretary of State Kellogg agreed to grant tariff autonomy, meaning that China would have the right to set import duties on American goods.
Election of 1928
![ElectoralCollege1928](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/ElectoralCollege1928.svg)
After the 1924 election, many pundits assumed that Coolidge would seek another term in 1928, but Coolidge had other plans. While on vacation in mid-1927, Coolidge issued a terse statement that he would not seek a second full term as president. 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." With Coolidge's retirement, speculation on the 1928 Republican presidential nominee focused on Senator Charles Curtis, Senator William Borah, former Governor Frank Lowden, Vice President Dawes, former Secretary of State Hughes, and, especially, Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover.
Coolidge was reluctant to endorse Hoover as his successor; on one occasion he remarked that "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice—all of it bad." Hoover also faced opposition from Mellon and other conservatives due to Hoover's progressive stance on some issues. Nonetheless, Hoover's standing at the head of the party was solidified by his handling of the Great Mississippi Flood, and he faced little opposition at the
1928 Republican National Convention
The 1928 Republican National Convention was held at Convention Hall in Kansas City, Missouri, from June 12 to June 15, 1928.
Because President Coolidge had announced unexpectedly he would not run for re-election in 1928, Commerce Secretary Her ...
. Accepting the presidential nomination, Hoover stated, "we in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land...given the chance to go forward with the policies of the last eight years, we shall soon with the help of God be in sight of the day when poverty will be banished from this nation."
Having been badly defeated in the last two presidential elections, and still facing bitter divisions between the Southern and Northeastern wings of the party, few Democrats believed their party would win the 1928 presidential election. By the time of the
1928 Democratic National Convention
The 1928 Democratic National Convention was held at Sam Houston Hall in Houston, Texas, June 26–28, 1928. Keynote speaker was Claude G. Bowers. The convention resulted in the nomination of Governor Alfred E. Smith of New York for pre ...
, Al Smith had emerged as the prohibitive favorite for the presidential nomination. Like Hoover, Smith was nominated on the first ballot of his party's national convention. Smith's policies differed little from those of Hoover, and the 1928 presidential campaign instead centered on Smith's character, affiliation with the Catholic Church, and opposition to Prohibition. Hoover won a landslide victory, even taking Smith's home state of New York and several states in the
Solid South
The Solid South or Southern bloc was the electoral voting bloc of the states of the Southern United States for issues that were regarded as particularly important to the interests of Democrats in those states. The Southern bloc existed especial ...
.
Historical reputation
Jason Roberts in 2014 argues that Coolidge's legacy is still passionately debated by scholars and politicians. He writes:
:An introverted man, he nonetheless was a successful politician who won all but one election....He was perceived as a conservative yet supported many progressive issues at the state and local level. He was viewed as a traditionalist yet successfully exploited the new technologies of the day such as film and radio. This enigmatic man put his stamp on the policies of the 1920s.
Coolidge was generally popular with the American people. He inspired trust, especially for his quiet devotion to duty. Claude Feuss wrote in 1940:
:The qualities which Coolidge displayed as a young legislator were faithfulness to duty, reliability, discretion, tolerance, integrity, and common sense. The same qualities were his as president. "throughout his career we find in him a deep-seated regard for law, for authority, or tradition.
McCoy emphasizes Coolidge's efficiency as president:
:As chief executive, Coolidge was effective because of his simple, direct, and responsible style. He normally formulated his policies only after consultation and study. Coolidge expected his subordinates to do their jobs efficiently based on those policies and it was clear that if they could not do so, he might replace them. Consequently, the president generally received faithful service from his appointees. He reinforced this by effectively using the Bureau of the Budget to control executive expenditures and programs. If Coolidge did not have a lot to administer compared with later presidents, he administered what he did have exceptionally well. Coolidge was also an excellent spokesman for his administration. He held regular press conferences—his only innovation as president—which he handled like an affable though strict schoolmaster.
Critical commentary increased with the onset of the Great Depression shortly after he left office, when opponents linked the economic troubles to Coolidge's economic policies. Coolidge's reputation in foreign policy also suffered in the 1930s as it became clear that the Dawes Plan and other policies had come undone under pressure from Germany and Japan. In the 1980s,
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
and other conservatives looked to the Coolidge administration as a model of laissez-faire policy.
Ferrell praises Coolidge for avoiding major scandals and reducing the debt, but criticizes Coolidge's inactivity in foreign policy and his failure to respond to rising stock market speculation.
Polls of historians and political scientists have generally
ranked
A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second.
In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of ...
Coolidge as a below-average president. A 2018 poll of the
American Political Science Association
The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, ...
’s Presidents and Executive Politics section ranked Coolidge as the 28th best president. A 2017
C-SPAN
Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
poll of historians ranked Coolidge as the 27th best president.
Greenberg writes:
Scholarly opinion looks upon the Coolidge presidency with skepticism, ranking him relatively low among American chief executives in terms of his administration's positive impact and legacy. Despite his personal integrity, he offered no sweeping vision or program of action that the presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson had led the public to associate with presidential greatness.
References
Bibliography
Scholarly sources
* Adler, Selig. ''The Uncertain Giant, 1921–1941: American Foreign Policy Between the Wars'' (1965).
*
* Ciment, James. ''Encyclopedia of the Jazz Age: From the End of World War I to the Great Crash'' (2015)
Excerpt* Cohen, Warren I. ''Empire Without Tears: America’s Foreign Relations 1921–1933.'' (1987)
*
* Ellis, L. Ethan. ''Republican foreign policy, 1921–1933'' (1968)
* Ellis, L. Ethan. ''Frank B. Kellogg and American Foreign Relations, 1925–1929'' (1961).
*
*
*
* Graff, Henry F., ed. ''The Presidents: A Reference History'' (3rd ed. 2002)
online*
*
* Hicks, John D. ''Republican Ascendancy: 1921–1933'' (1960
Online scholarly survey focused on politics.
* Leuchtenburg, William. ''The Perils of Prosperity, 1914–32'' (1958) politics, econmomics & society
Online free to borrow* Louria, Margot. ''Triumph and Downfall: America’s Pursuit of Peace and Prosperity, 1921–1933'' (2001)
*
*
* Murray, Robert K. ''The Politics of Normalcy: Governmental Theory and Practice in the Harding-Coolidge Era'' (1973).
* Palmer, Niall. ''The 20s in America: Politics and History'' (Edinburgh University Press, 2006)
*
* Sibley, Katherine A.S., ed. ''A Companion to Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover'' (2014
Excerpt* Silver, Thomas B. ''Coolidge and the Historians'' (1982) 159 pages; favors Coolidge
*
*
Articles
*
* Blair, John L. "Coolidge the Image-Maker: The President and the Press, 1923–1929." ''New England Quarterly'' (1973) #4: 499–522.
Online*
* Clemens, Cyril, and Athern P. Daggett, "Coolidge's 'I Do Not Choose to Run': Granite or Putty?." ''New England Quarterly'' (1945) 19#2: 147–163
online* Cornwell Jr, Elmer E. "Coolidge and presidential leadership." ''Public Opinion Quarterly'' 21.2 (1957): 265–278
Online*
*
*
* Leffler, Melvyn P. "American Policy Making and European Stability, 1921–1933." ''Pacific Historical Review'' 46.2 (1977): 207–228
online* McKercher, Brian. "Reaching for the Brass Ring: The Recent Historiography of Interwar American Foreign Relations." ''Diplomatic History'' 15.4 (1991): 565–598
online*
* Roberts, Jason. "The Biographical Legacy of Calvin Coolidge and the 1924 Presidential Election." in Sibley, ed., ''A Companion to Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover'' (2014): 193–211.
*
*
* Sobel, Robert. "Coolidge and American Business" (Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation, 1988
online* Webster, Joel. "Coolidge against the world: Peace, prosperity, and foreign policy in the 1920s." (2017).(MA thesis, James madison U. 2017
online*
*
Williams, William Appleman. "The Legend of Isolationism in the 1920s." ''Science & Society'' (1954): 1–20. Highly influential article from the Wisconsin school argues. US foreign policy was not isolationist, but was economically very involved with the world
Online*
Primary sources
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External links
Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & MuseumCalvin Coolidge Presidential FoundationText of a number of Coolidge speeches Miller Center of Public Affairs
The Miller Center is a nonpartisan affiliate of the University of Virginia that specializes in United States presidential scholarship, public policy, and political history.
History
The Miller Center was founded in 1975 through the philanthrop ...
*
Calvin Coolidge: A Resource Guide Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
*
*
President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Ground', the first presidential film with sound recording
*
"Life Portrait of Calvin Coolidge" from
C-SPAN
Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
's ''
American Presidents: Life Portraits'', September 27, 1999
Calvin Coolidge Personal Manuscripts*
{{Authority control
1923 establishments in the United States
1929 disestablishments in the United States
Coolidge, Calvin
1920s in the United States