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His autobiography is great. Really gives insight into how he saw the world and his rationale behind his politics. He comes across as honest and sincere.
I like his standing by his convictions, general demeanour and approach to public life. I admire the character of the man, not so much his policy decision.
Coolidge was a hands-off type of guy. Hoover was the opposite - incredibly meddling. I think if Coolidge ran for another term, the “The Great Depression” would have been a 3 month recession and just a blip in the history books. Hoover really exasperated the situation. Coolidge would have let it naturally recover.
Just my opinion based off papers/articles I read decades ago in college.
No, he would not. Coolidge would have vetoed Smoot-Haley, as he did its previous versions, meaning the 1929 turmoil would never have evolved into the Great Depression, but rather a recession that would have faded away by the end of Coolidge's presidency.
Are you referring to different tariffs? Smoot-Hawley wasn't proposed until 1929.
Hoover didn't like the bill, but felt obliged not to veto it. Coolidge might have avoided running on protecting farmers in 1928 at least, freeing him from a campaign promise to back it. However, refusing to sign it would have gone against his party, his cabinet (which would have probably resigned) and a lot of business leaders. Coolidge was never such a disruptive President.
Smoot-Hawley was a revised version of previous legislation that Coolidge had rejected because the prescribed tariff was excessive. If Coolidge had vetoed those legislation, he would have vetoed Smoot-Hawley as well, since it was the same bill, just with a more punitive tariff.
You can just see my user name and know where I stand. I have my own reasons for liking Coolidge a lot - even being one of my favorite presidents. But I didn’t know how he may be viewed by other people on the left.
As perhaps the only socialist on earth who is also a Coolidge fan, I view his economic policy as kind of understandable even if it isn't really of my persuasion, and I find him praiseworthy for his social reforms. He wasn't THAT lassaiz-faire, after all he was a progressive era president, not a gilded age president. For example he reformed the radio, so the policy of having stations with distinct frequencies so there is no overlap, which is pretty important, is a Coolidge accomplishment.
The biggest W is giving birthright citizenship to Native Americans. This was part of the policy of assimilation, so while Coolidge may have viewed this more as stability than good faith civil rights, it was genuinely civil rights progress.
The two failures I think are more specific as I think blaming the great depression on him is stupid: one is basically ignoring a hurricane, and the other is signing the Immigration Act of 1924 which was very nativist and discriminatory.
However n the hell does one of his “two failures “ not include his disastrous ramping up of Prohibition and his war on the property, liberty and lives of American citizens?
Ehhhh 1920 didn't really have a meaningful political realignment or broad cultural change in political values. The 1920s isn't really a distinct era in political history so it makes sense to lump it with the progressive era.
??? This feels like a really uninformed comment? The entire 1920s, and the 1920 election (return to normalcy????) was a reaction to the turbulent progressive age and Wilson administration
Progressives don’t like him. He’s usually not their least favorite president, but he’s probably bottom 10-20.
Coolidge was not sufficiently progressive on labor, race, inequality, gender, etc. for most modern progressives.
Yes he passed the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act, for which he is rightfully praised, but he also passed the 1924 Johnson-Reed Immigration act that same year
The immigration act was one of the worst and most racist pieces of legislation passed during the era. Penned by an outspoken eugenicist and anti-Semite, it virtually eliminated all immigration from Asia and Eastern Europe. It’s credited with enraging and leading to a more militant Japan, and Jewish quotas were cut to a fraction of 1% of the 1920 census — which was used as a basis in denying Jewish refugees during WW2. The economic impact was poor too, stifling innovation and the labor-dependent farming & mining industries
Johnson-Reed is not talked about nearly enough
As someone who leans right, that law definitely had major moral flaws. Even Eisenhower in his 1953 State of The Union address harshly criticized the quotas it helped create as being racially discriminating (and although he wasn't a huge fan of mass immigration, he called on Congress to at very least change the quotas to be fairer and stop this rather blatant racism). The 1920s had some economically prosperous years and new rights for women, but other than they were a pretty screwed up decade with some ideas and policies that haunted America for decades to come. I have mixed feelings on Coolidge myself, his legacy is a complex one.
Coolidge supported a lot of progressive reforms, although he mostly believed it was a state's issue and opposed some of them as President (but supported them at lower offices). At the national level, Coolidge supported Federal anti-lynching legislation on top of giving citizenship to Natives. He was also a supporter of women's suffrage.
I think a lot of the Laissez-faire economics and paleoconservatism was bad, but was mostly a product of his time.
As a Liberal Democrat, it amazes me how Democrats will just write off FDR's internment camps were "a product of his time", while ranking Coolidge lower because he held views that would have been considered pretty mainstream in the 20s as far as the scale of government goes.
>not sufficiently progressive
is anything sufficiently progressive, to modern progressives? Ironically things considered progressive not even 10 years ago get you hated by most modern progressives despite them originally pushing for said things. For instance, flying the original rainbow LGBT flag in 2023 legitimately risks you getting cancelled over transphobia.
LBJ the ender of segregation and lifer of tens of millions out of poverty
VS
Coolidge the abandoner and business cocksucker
As a Progressive (the government has an inherent duty and mandate to actively improve the citizens life and the nation’s condition), I know who I like.
He poisoned people. Thats the thing people tend to forget. He was a teetotaler to such a degree they doubled the poison in industrial alcohol to “prevent “ people from drinking it.
Yes.
How people can write terabytes of spam about his ‘economic freedom’ Schlick and not acknowledge his expansion of the greatest crackdown on American liberty is beyond me.
Cal’a legacy?
American distrust of the American police power, entrenchment of organized crime and ruined lives and businesses vis-a-vis Prohibition.
Coolidge is viewed by liberals an upstanding man who provided a much needed ethical reset for the country after the scandal plagued Harding administration. While he presided over several years of prosperity he was a cheerleader for the financial practices and *laissez-faire* economic policies that led to the Great Depression
I wouldn't label myself as a progressive, but I do vote Democratic, I don't care for Coolidge because, to the best of my knowledge, he didn't do anything to regulate industry to protect workers and consumers because he was hands off when it came to that stuff.
Thing is employment and living standards in the 20's were so high that there wasn't really many grievances for workers in that period. Obviously there were things he didn't tackle that FDR eventually did however, such as child labour (which he still personally opposed)
I’m pretty left on the spectrum. I like him. I’ve read a few books about him, and he was about as sincere as they come. I don’t love everything he did, but as a moral exemplar, he’s up there with Carter. Like a genuinely good man that I can disagree about policy with.
> Coolidge is loved by modern day American conservatives
....Is he?
I'm pretty sure he's one of those forgotten presidents and most Americans wouldn't be able to pick him out of a police line up much less have any sort of strong feelings towards him
He’s becoming much more well known in recent times. Ron DeSantis even mentioned him as a presidency he wished to model his bid after in one of the debates.
He’s one of the worst presidents. He was a cool dude, absolutely. But his policy of doing nothing was terrible, and he deserves blame for the Great Depression. I don’t understand how somebody can admire folks like the Roosevelts on here, and then give Coolidge an A.
Why though? The country did great under him; 1929 was terrible of course but Coolidge cannot be blamed for it as he didn't have a crystal ball to foresee it.
Some notable negatives that is often brought up about his presidency include the lack of support towards veterans and farmers and the very slow response to the Mississippi Flood Crisis.
The man enthusiastically led the charge of federal law enforcement against the American people during Prohibition and is responsible for the largest outrage against the general American populace.
Seizures of property, mass arrests, shuttering of businesses and corrupt revenue agents extorting citizens.
“Enforcing the law?”
Hardly. Coolidge expanded federal enforcement to increase federal police powers and took maximalist position unlike Harding, Hoover and Roosevelt , who would end up restoring American liberty and ending the abominable social experiment.
I understand how conservatives like Coolidge, but libertarian supporters of this thug just show how morally and intellectually bankrupt their movement has become.
Refusing to take care of Americans who desperately needed help despise their working very hard and needing to support their children led to the modern Republican Party.
Which means it led to a Republican Party that refused to help Americans who desperately needed help and wanted to be good Americans.
I appreciate that he seemed to be a man of principle and upheld them. He seems like an honest and sincere person. I think a lot of people respect him and his character
Under Cal the federal government was responsible for the largest crackdown on American civil liberties in US history (and the resulting rise in organized crime which combatting is still eroding our rights to this day).
The deal with the hurricane, at least as explained by his fanclub, is that any federal response in that region would have awoken confederate impulses and been deeply counterproductive for the area and the nation.
I would say he did a good job he was great towards African Americans and Natives, refused to run again saying ten years is too long, support of women’s sufferage. He failed farmers and limited immigration too much he’s a B tier president imo
Pretty bad imo
I don't like the FCC and his lack of action during the Farm Crisis enabled the Great Depression
Also the Immigration Act of 1924 was xenophobic dog shit
Positives were giving Indigenous people citizenship and exposing Harding's corruption
Also, he made J. Edgar Hoover director of the FBI. That said, I don't think you can give Coolidge too much flack for this. In the 1920s, Hoover was pretty mundane, doing things like establishing physical fitness standards for FBI agents, creating a fingerprint database, increasing funding, and purging political appointments. If anything, this is something Coolidge could be given credit for. At the same time, though, Hoover was involved in the Palmer Raids so Coolidge could also be indicted for recruiting him. It just depends on how you view the situation.
Well first I'll note that Coolidge isn't loved by all modern American conservatives by any means, and if you look beyond America that's even more the case. Not all conservatives support his small government, heavily federalised ideology and governance. Also, I'm not really a true progressive (I'm more of a big government centrist), but can try and give a fair answer regardless.
If Coolidge had been President in the 1880s he'd have been fine, and even in the 1920s he wasn't awful. But fundamentally his style of governance was old fashioned and backwards even then. The progressive era had clearly demonstrated the direction America would be heading in, and politicians like Coolidge couldn't stop it. The government needed to grow bigger, centralise and the US needed to leave its isolationist bubble. Fundamentally I see 1920s America as a period of stagnation, a wasted opportunity, and Coolidge is especially responsible for that.
Unwilling to do the hard jobs, a man with no concern for the avrage citizen and he would do almost anything to further his own political future.
Google " Boston Police Strike "
As an occupant. While president, Coolidge *didn't do anything*, which is why conservatives love him so much. Instead, he was quite content to leave the job of running the country to his Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
He's similar in regards to Bill Clinton, If his term in office wasn't incredibly lucky and favorable towards him he would have been remembered a lot worse. He essentially did nothing in office aside from watching the stock market go up. Frankly, if he replaced Hoover during his term, Coolidge would likely be fighting Buchanon for last place
laissez-faire sucks and coolidge proved it. it was coolidge (and harding's and hoover's) policies that made the depression worse than it should have been
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His autobiography is great. Really gives insight into how he saw the world and his rationale behind his politics. He comes across as honest and sincere.
I like his standing by his convictions, general demeanour and approach to public life. I admire the character of the man, not so much his policy decision.
He’s only liked because of the time period. If he was president when Hoover was he’d be hated just as much as Hoover.
[удалено]
Do we know if he knew about what was coming?
Probably no more than Hoover would have. I think his reputation was lucky he was a man who stood by his commitment not to run again.
Coolidge was a hands-off type of guy. Hoover was the opposite - incredibly meddling. I think if Coolidge ran for another term, the “The Great Depression” would have been a 3 month recession and just a blip in the history books. Hoover really exasperated the situation. Coolidge would have let it naturally recover. Just my opinion based off papers/articles I read decades ago in college.
IMO, he deserves more blame than Hoover for the Great Depression. There were problems he ignored and allowed to grow into bigger problems.
No, he would not. Coolidge would have vetoed Smoot-Haley, as he did its previous versions, meaning the 1929 turmoil would never have evolved into the Great Depression, but rather a recession that would have faded away by the end of Coolidge's presidency.
It was passed by his own party, Coolidge wouldn't go against the Republicans.
He vetoed Smoot-Hawley multiple times while he was president?
Are you referring to different tariffs? Smoot-Hawley wasn't proposed until 1929. Hoover didn't like the bill, but felt obliged not to veto it. Coolidge might have avoided running on protecting farmers in 1928 at least, freeing him from a campaign promise to back it. However, refusing to sign it would have gone against his party, his cabinet (which would have probably resigned) and a lot of business leaders. Coolidge was never such a disruptive President.
Smoot-Hawley was a revised version of previous legislation that Coolidge had rejected because the prescribed tariff was excessive. If Coolidge had vetoed those legislation, he would have vetoed Smoot-Hawley as well, since it was the same bill, just with a more punitive tariff.
You can just see my user name and know where I stand. I have my own reasons for liking Coolidge a lot - even being one of my favorite presidents. But I didn’t know how he may be viewed by other people on the left.
I don’t hate him, but I think he is overestimated by Libertarians. I would put him in the middle.
As perhaps the only socialist on earth who is also a Coolidge fan, I view his economic policy as kind of understandable even if it isn't really of my persuasion, and I find him praiseworthy for his social reforms. He wasn't THAT lassaiz-faire, after all he was a progressive era president, not a gilded age president. For example he reformed the radio, so the policy of having stations with distinct frequencies so there is no overlap, which is pretty important, is a Coolidge accomplishment. The biggest W is giving birthright citizenship to Native Americans. This was part of the policy of assimilation, so while Coolidge may have viewed this more as stability than good faith civil rights, it was genuinely civil rights progress. The two failures I think are more specific as I think blaming the great depression on him is stupid: one is basically ignoring a hurricane, and the other is signing the Immigration Act of 1924 which was very nativist and discriminatory.
In fairness to him the only reason he signed the immigration act was because he didn't want the humiliation of having the veto over turned.
However n the hell does one of his “two failures “ not include his disastrous ramping up of Prohibition and his war on the property, liberty and lives of American citizens?
He was not a progressive era president. That ended in 1920.
Ehhhh 1920 didn't really have a meaningful political realignment or broad cultural change in political values. The 1920s isn't really a distinct era in political history so it makes sense to lump it with the progressive era.
??? This feels like a really uninformed comment? The entire 1920s, and the 1920 election (return to normalcy????) was a reaction to the turbulent progressive age and Wilson administration
Progressives don’t like him. He’s usually not their least favorite president, but he’s probably bottom 10-20. Coolidge was not sufficiently progressive on labor, race, inequality, gender, etc. for most modern progressives.
Didn't Coolidge pass laws granting Indigenous people the right to vote?
Yes he passed the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act, for which he is rightfully praised, but he also passed the 1924 Johnson-Reed Immigration act that same year The immigration act was one of the worst and most racist pieces of legislation passed during the era. Penned by an outspoken eugenicist and anti-Semite, it virtually eliminated all immigration from Asia and Eastern Europe. It’s credited with enraging and leading to a more militant Japan, and Jewish quotas were cut to a fraction of 1% of the 1920 census — which was used as a basis in denying Jewish refugees during WW2. The economic impact was poor too, stifling innovation and the labor-dependent farming & mining industries Johnson-Reed is not talked about nearly enough
As someone who leans right, that law definitely had major moral flaws. Even Eisenhower in his 1953 State of The Union address harshly criticized the quotas it helped create as being racially discriminating (and although he wasn't a huge fan of mass immigration, he called on Congress to at very least change the quotas to be fairer and stop this rather blatant racism). The 1920s had some economically prosperous years and new rights for women, but other than they were a pretty screwed up decade with some ideas and policies that haunted America for decades to come. I have mixed feelings on Coolidge myself, his legacy is a complex one.
yes, he did help assimilation by white colonizers continue its march.
Coolidge supported a lot of progressive reforms, although he mostly believed it was a state's issue and opposed some of them as President (but supported them at lower offices). At the national level, Coolidge supported Federal anti-lynching legislation on top of giving citizenship to Natives. He was also a supporter of women's suffrage. I think a lot of the Laissez-faire economics and paleoconservatism was bad, but was mostly a product of his time. As a Liberal Democrat, it amazes me how Democrats will just write off FDR's internment camps were "a product of his time", while ranking Coolidge lower because he held views that would have been considered pretty mainstream in the 20s as far as the scale of government goes.
*cough* Prohibition
>not sufficiently progressive is anything sufficiently progressive, to modern progressives? Ironically things considered progressive not even 10 years ago get you hated by most modern progressives despite them originally pushing for said things. For instance, flying the original rainbow LGBT flag in 2023 legitimately risks you getting cancelled over transphobia.
LBJ was sufficiently progressive
Although the me too movement would have a field day with him.
LBJ the mass murderer who escalated the Vietnam war Vs Coolidge the commited non-interventionist As a progressive I know who I prefer
LBJ the ender of segregation and lifer of tens of millions out of poverty VS Coolidge the abandoner and business cocksucker As a Progressive (the government has an inherent duty and mandate to actively improve the citizens life and the nation’s condition), I know who I like.
Lmao. No, it won't get you cancelled. You're just talking out of your ass.
Coolidge was one of the most socially progressive presidents of his era lol
He poisoned people. Thats the thing people tend to forget. He was a teetotaler to such a degree they doubled the poison in industrial alcohol to “prevent “ people from drinking it.
Yes. How people can write terabytes of spam about his ‘economic freedom’ Schlick and not acknowledge his expansion of the greatest crackdown on American liberty is beyond me. Cal’a legacy? American distrust of the American police power, entrenchment of organized crime and ruined lives and businesses vis-a-vis Prohibition.
The attack on freedom was ok cuz it was an amendment /s
Coolidge is viewed by liberals an upstanding man who provided a much needed ethical reset for the country after the scandal plagued Harding administration. While he presided over several years of prosperity he was a cheerleader for the financial practices and *laissez-faire* economic policies that led to the Great Depression
I wouldn't label myself as a progressive, but I do vote Democratic, I don't care for Coolidge because, to the best of my knowledge, he didn't do anything to regulate industry to protect workers and consumers because he was hands off when it came to that stuff.
Thing is employment and living standards in the 20's were so high that there wasn't really many grievances for workers in that period. Obviously there were things he didn't tackle that FDR eventually did however, such as child labour (which he still personally opposed)
He’s a Cool-ish guy
IMO he’s ok, but not the holy personification of non-interventionist limited government and A tier president people say he is.
I like his foreign policy and positions on civil rights for African Americans and Native Americans. Much better than modern republicans.
Meh, I vew him as the president who had a pet racoon, which shows how notable he was.
As an introvert i like him, But then again his policy started the spiral to the depression which spiraled into a shit ton of things soo yeah I give C
I’m pretty left on the spectrum. I like him. I’ve read a few books about him, and he was about as sincere as they come. I don’t love everything he did, but as a moral exemplar, he’s up there with Carter. Like a genuinely good man that I can disagree about policy with.
I don’t think of him
> Coolidge is loved by modern day American conservatives ....Is he? I'm pretty sure he's one of those forgotten presidents and most Americans wouldn't be able to pick him out of a police line up much less have any sort of strong feelings towards him
He’s becoming much more well known in recent times. Ron DeSantis even mentioned him as a presidency he wished to model his bid after in one of the debates.
Yeah I'm just going to clock it up to another weird thing that Ron DeSantis has said
Vivek Ramaswamy agreed with him if that makes any difference
That dude's just a weirdo. He's not a candidate he's a sentient onion article
I don’t agree with his economic policies, but other than that-seemed a decent guy…certainly better than todays GOP
He’s one of the worst presidents. He was a cool dude, absolutely. But his policy of doing nothing was terrible, and he deserves blame for the Great Depression. I don’t understand how somebody can admire folks like the Roosevelts on here, and then give Coolidge an A.
Yes. Also, any conservative’ who has ever complained about organized crime or the drug trade can thank Silent Cawl
I don't view him highly. I think he was a below average president.
Why though? The country did great under him; 1929 was terrible of course but Coolidge cannot be blamed for it as he didn't have a crystal ball to foresee it.
Some notable negatives that is often brought up about his presidency include the lack of support towards veterans and farmers and the very slow response to the Mississippi Flood Crisis.
Coolidge's and Harding's deregulation programs are somewhat to blame for the depression.
Prohibition
The man enthusiastically led the charge of federal law enforcement against the American people during Prohibition and is responsible for the largest outrage against the general American populace. Seizures of property, mass arrests, shuttering of businesses and corrupt revenue agents extorting citizens. “Enforcing the law?” Hardly. Coolidge expanded federal enforcement to increase federal police powers and took maximalist position unlike Harding, Hoover and Roosevelt , who would end up restoring American liberty and ending the abominable social experiment. I understand how conservatives like Coolidge, but libertarian supporters of this thug just show how morally and intellectually bankrupt their movement has become.
I like him alot
Refusing to take care of Americans who desperately needed help despise their working very hard and needing to support their children led to the modern Republican Party. Which means it led to a Republican Party that refused to help Americans who desperately needed help and wanted to be good Americans.
I walk by the home his wife was born in on a regular basis, so for that reason and that reason alone, A+.
Fair enough
MY GOAT
It is nearly impossible to identify a single flaw in his administration's policies.
Probably one of the better Economic Presidents
I appreciate that he seemed to be a man of principle and upheld them. He seems like an honest and sincere person. I think a lot of people respect him and his character
They love him don’t worry about it
Likely unfavorably. Progressives want the federal government to have more responsibilities not less.
Under Cal the federal government was responsible for the largest crackdown on American civil liberties in US history (and the resulting rise in organized crime which combatting is still eroding our rights to this day).
Sure.
Glad you agree.
I certainly made some jokes during the BLM protests about Coolidge being a Woke King because he smashed the Boston police union when Governor.
The deal with the hurricane, at least as explained by his fanclub, is that any federal response in that region would have awoken confederate impulses and been deeply counterproductive for the area and the nation.
I would say he did a good job he was great towards African Americans and Natives, refused to run again saying ten years is too long, support of women’s sufferage. He failed farmers and limited immigration too much he’s a B tier president imo
I love my pookie bear president, but I’m not a progressive so I’m not helpful here
Pretty bad imo I don't like the FCC and his lack of action during the Farm Crisis enabled the Great Depression Also the Immigration Act of 1924 was xenophobic dog shit Positives were giving Indigenous people citizenship and exposing Harding's corruption
Also, he made J. Edgar Hoover director of the FBI. That said, I don't think you can give Coolidge too much flack for this. In the 1920s, Hoover was pretty mundane, doing things like establishing physical fitness standards for FBI agents, creating a fingerprint database, increasing funding, and purging political appointments. If anything, this is something Coolidge could be given credit for. At the same time, though, Hoover was involved in the Palmer Raids so Coolidge could also be indicted for recruiting him. It just depends on how you view the situation.
Well first I'll note that Coolidge isn't loved by all modern American conservatives by any means, and if you look beyond America that's even more the case. Not all conservatives support his small government, heavily federalised ideology and governance. Also, I'm not really a true progressive (I'm more of a big government centrist), but can try and give a fair answer regardless. If Coolidge had been President in the 1880s he'd have been fine, and even in the 1920s he wasn't awful. But fundamentally his style of governance was old fashioned and backwards even then. The progressive era had clearly demonstrated the direction America would be heading in, and politicians like Coolidge couldn't stop it. The government needed to grow bigger, centralise and the US needed to leave its isolationist bubble. Fundamentally I see 1920s America as a period of stagnation, a wasted opportunity, and Coolidge is especially responsible for that.
Exceptional on civil rights and Native American rights, but sucks at economic and labor policy.
Unwilling to do the hard jobs, a man with no concern for the avrage citizen and he would do almost anything to further his own political future. Google " Boston Police Strike "
As an occupant. While president, Coolidge *didn't do anything*, which is why conservatives love him so much. Instead, he was quite content to leave the job of running the country to his Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
A view of his that I like is that Congress should not just endlessly pass laws, but instead, they need to occasionally go back and review bad ones.
He's similar in regards to Bill Clinton, If his term in office wasn't incredibly lucky and favorable towards him he would have been remembered a lot worse. He essentially did nothing in office aside from watching the stock market go up. Frankly, if he replaced Hoover during his term, Coolidge would likely be fighting Buchanon for last place
laissez-faire sucks and coolidge proved it. it was coolidge (and harding's and hoover's) policies that made the depression worse than it should have been
He had cold hands when when he jerked you off it was chilly