Calvin Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge was born John Calvin Coolidge Jr. on July 4, 1872, in Plymouth Notch, Vermont, the only U.S. president born on Independence Day. He became the 30th president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929, after serving as vice president under Warren G. Harding from 1921 to 1923. A Republican lawyer from Massachusetts, Coolidge entered national life from the world of local offices, state politics, and small-town law practice. His quiet manner, dry humor, and spare way with words earned him the nickname “Silent Cal.”

Coolidge came from a family rooted in public service and New England civic life. His father, John Calvin Coolidge Sr., was a farmer, storekeeper, justice of the peace, tax collector, and member of both houses of the Vermont General Assembly. Coolidge’s grandfather served in the Vermont House of Representatives, and his ancestry reached back to early settlers of Massachusetts. His childhood was marked by loss: his mother died when he was 12, and his younger sister died when he was 18. Those facts do not explain him completely, but they help frame the reserve, steadiness, and seriousness that people later saw in him.

After attending Black River Academy and St. Johnsbury Academy, Coolidge enrolled at Amherst College, where he stood out in debating and graduated cum laude. One of the strongest intellectual influences on him was philosophy professor Charles Edward Garman. Coolidge later described Garman’s ethics as a belief that “might does not make right,” that ends do not justify means, and that property carries an obligation to be used in larger service. After Amherst, Coolidge moved to Northampton, Massachusetts, read law with Hammond & Field, was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1897, and opened his own office in 1898. He practiced commercial law and built a reputation as a hard-working, diligent attorney.

Coolidge began his political career in the Massachusetts State House and rose through the ranks of state politics. Elected governor in 1918, he ran on fiscal conservatism, strong support for women’s suffrage, and vague opposition to Prohibition. His prompt response to the Boston police strike in 1919 brought him national attention as a man of decisive action. In 1920, Republicans nominated him as Warren G. Harding’s running mate, and the ticket won in a landslide. When Harding died in 1923, Coolidge became president.

As president, Coolidge restored public confidence in the White House after scandals in the Harding administration. He signed the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, granting U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans. He also signed the Immigration Act of 1924, which limited immigration from outside the Western Hemisphere and established the United States Border Patrol. His administration oversaw the rapid economic growth of the “Roaring Twenties,” and he left office with considerable popularity. He chose not to run again in 1928, saying that ten years as president would be “longer than any other man has had it—too long!”

Coolidge remains admired by supporters of smaller government and laissez-faire economics, and also for his support of racial equality during a time of heightened racial tension. Others judge him less favorably, arguing that he did not use the economic boom to help struggling farmers and workers in troubled industries. Historians still debate how much his economic policies contributed to the Great Depression, which began after he left office. His words still draw readers because they are plain, disciplined, and direct, much like the public figure himself. A line associated with him on persistence, “Persistence is incredibly powerful; keep at it,” fits the image of a reserved man who trusted work, restraint, and steady purpose.