Coolidge, John Calvin

Coolidge, John Calvin (b. 4 July 1872, d. 5 Jan. 1933). 30th US President 1923–9 He was born to a middle-class family in Plymouth, Vermont, studied at Amherst, Massachusetts, graduated with a BA in 1895, and became a Massachusetts barrister in 1897. Active in municipal politics in Northampton, he became Mayor in 1909. He was elected as a Republican to the State House in 1906, to the State Senate in 1911, and to the Lieutenant-Governorship in 1915. He became Governor after the election of 1915. Tough action in response to a police strike in Boston in 1919 made him a national figure, and he won election as Vice-President on his law-and-order credentials in 1920. Following the death of President Harding in 1923, he became President.

His integrity in office and firm action against corrupt officers of the Harding administration, combined with national prosperity, caused him to be re-elected in 1924. The national debt fell and taxes were cut whilst relations were re-established with Mexico and improved with Latin America. However, Coolidge's laissez-faire attitude to governance—his hands-off approach earned him the nickname ‘Silent Cal’—frustrated many who wanted a more activist Presidency. In particular, this approach was supportive of the speculation and amassing of debt that marked the economic boom of the 1920s. Although he was believed to be a certain candidate for President in 1928, Coolidge refused to run for the nomination and left office—and public life—in early 1929. At a personal level he was deeply affected by the death of his youngest son, Calvin Jr, in 1924, an event which caused recurrent attacks of depression.