REMEMBERING "SILENT CAL" COOLIDGE

Calvin Coolidge, our 30th President, was famous for being a man of few words.  This was as much a function of his personal philosophy as it was of his personality.  Many people have heard of the story regarding an encounter between Coolidge and Dorothy Parker in which the latter teasingly informed him that she had a bet going with another gentleman that she could get Coolidge to say more than three words.  His response? "You lose."

"The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately."  Nevertheless, during his time in office, from August of 1923 to March of 1929, Coolidge gave a then-record number of press conferences, 520 in all.  He felt that it was his duty to make himself available for questions from the press.

In stark contrast to the Democrat and progressive "hero" Woodrow Wilson, who was a flaming racist and anti-Catholic bigot, Coolidge spoke in favor of the civil rights of blacks and Catholics. He appointed no known members of the Ku Klux Klan to office; indeed the Klan lost most of its influence during his term. 

In 1924, Coolidge responded to a letter that claimed the United States was a "white man's country":

...I was amazed to receive such a letter. During the war 500,000 colored men and boys were called up under the draft, not one of whom sought to evade it. [As president, I am] one who feels a responsibility for living up to the traditions and maintaining the principles of the Republican Party. Our Constitution guarantees equal rights to all our citizens, without discrimination on account of race or color. I have taken my oath to support that Constitution...

On June 2, 1924, Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act, which granted full U.S. citizenship to all American Indians, while permitting them to retain tribal land and cultural rights.

Coolidge repeatedly called for anti-lynching laws to be enacted, but most Congressional attempts to pass this legislation were filibustered by Southern Democrats. Coolidge appointed some blacks to federal office. He retained Harding's choice of Walter L. Cohen of New Orleans, Louisiana, as the comptroller of customs and offered Cohen the post of minister to Liberia, which the businessman declined. 

Amity Shlaes has written a biography of Calvin Coolidge.  She discusses it and Coolidge with Ed Driscoll for PJ Media. The highlights include:

• Coolidge restoring a sense of traditional America after Woodrow Wilson's oppressive administration and collectivism during WWI.

• The real version of Coolidge's "the business of America is business" quote.

• The surprising modernity of the 1920s and Coolidge himself.

• The tragic and untimely death of Coolidge's son, and how it impacted Coolidge himself.

• Coolidge's fear of where the unending expansion of government could lead.

• Who best fits the model of Coolidge today.

In my opinion, we as Conservatives should look to Coolidge as a role model for staying true to our principles.  We don't live in a 1920s world anymore and so it's not possible to duplicate his way of governing.  But reducing the size of government bureaucracy should always be our goal.  It is possible.  And it will always be useful to stop and ask ourselves, "What would Coolidge do?"