OPINION —
Calvin Coolidge served from 1923 to 1929 as the 30th U.S. president. He was a man of high principles, fiscal conservatism and few words. Two men bet they could get at least three words from the quiet Vermonter. They failed. Dorothy Parker, a New York writer, said she would win simply by being honest. She told the president, “I have a bet I can get three words from you.” Silent Cal said, “You lose.”
Just two and a half years into his term, President Warren Harding died from a heart attack. Vice President Coolidge did not know about the tragedy until a messenger told him. (He had neither electricity nor a telephone.) His father, a justice of the peace, administered the oath of office at home using a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. It has been a century and two months since Coolidge became president. Here we will assess how he kept his principles in a tough job and why he is so liked by libertarians and conservatives.
“What’s not to like about Calvin Coolidge, ‘Silent Cal,’ the anti-politician?” asked Mark Thornton, a senior fellow at the Mises Institute in Auburn. “He cut taxes, cut government spending on wasteful programs, reduced the national debt and didn’t get us into wars or ‘entangling alliances.’ Most politicians from both parties hate him and the elites hate him and or ignore him. What more can you ask for in a politician.”
Thornton continued: “One thing that libertarians would note is that he said and supported the idea that ‘ultimately, property rights and personal rights are the same thing.’” That is something Americans once understood and agreed with. He believed in hard work and I’m sure he would have loved the Auburn Creed, especially the parts that even Alabama alumni and fans would agree with.”
The Libertarian Republic published a piece that asked, “Who Were the Top 10 Most Libertarian Presidents?” Calvin Coolidge was the first for moves such as cutting taxes significantly, reducing by 25% at state and national governments, and vetoing farm subsidies.
Rounding out the top five were John Tyler (5), Thomas Jefferson (4), James Madison, (3), and Grover Cleveland (2). Holding the numbers 10-6 were Ronald Reagan (10), Zachary Taylor (9), Rutherford B. Hayes (8), George Washington (7), and Martin Van Buren (6).
“Not a chance,” that is Thornton’s crisp answer when asked how Coolidge would fare in an emergency like a pandemic or terrorist act. “He would not shut down the economy and he would not destroy the jobs, businesses and the inalienable rights of Americans with stray notions of small groups of terrorists on the other side of the world. He would only cut out such already existing nonsense and clear the path for good jobs and private profits.”
Thornton added: “Warren Harding, too, was a smart guardian of the people’s money. When the Depression of 1920 hit (right after WWI) Harding had the government budget cut, spending programs cut and interest rates raised. As a result, the Depression of 1920 was extremely short.”
President Reagan knew he would be called a “big spender” if he made large increases in military spending. But he knew the Soviet Union was in dire economic straights yet could possibly last 5 to 7 years, into the 1990s. I was a soldier-historian then and saw how bad the East was. Anti-regime people were gathering — 2,000 one or two nights — at a church in Leipzig, Germany.
After the Cold War, I lived in Berlin and saw how bad things had been — and to a lesser degree were still — in the former Czechoslovakia, in Poland and in the former East Berlin. Perhaps Libertarians would address the communist threat differently. They revealed the flaws and wasted money of the War on Drugs; that is why Reagan is not ranked higher in the Top 10 Libertarian presidents list.
Calvin Coolidge was the only president sworn in by his father, a Justice of the Peace. But the swearing-in of the only Vice President from Alabama was also unique. A former governor of Massachusetts, later William King was a U.S. senator representing Alabama. On the Democratic ticket with Franklin Pierce, King had big health problems even during the 1852 campaign.
When they were elected, King was in Cuba trying to regain his health. By a special Act of Congress passed on March 2, he was allowed to take the oath outside the United States and was sworn in on March 24, 1853, by the US consul to Cuba. King is the first and only of the 49 vice presidents of the United States to take the oath of office on foreign soil.
He died of tuberculosis five days after he took the oath of office in Cuba. Born in North Carolina, King was the only U.S. vice president claimed by Alabama. He is like Coolidge in deserving an asterisk after his name, for not taking the oath of office in the traditional way.
Greg Markley moved to Lee County in 1996. He has a master’s in education from AUM and a masters in history from Auburn University. He taught politics as an adjunct in Georgia and Alabama. An award-winning writer in the Army and civilian life, he has contributed to the Observer since 2011. He writes on politics, education and books. gm.markley@charter.net
