Calvin Coolidge

John Calvin Coolidge Jr.
30th President of the United States
Term of office August 2, 1923 - March 4, 1929
Political party	Democratic
Vice Presidents	None (1923-1925) Charles G.Dawes (1925-1929)
Preceded by	Warren G. Harding
Succeeded by	Herbert Hoover
29th Vice-President of the United States
Term of office March 4, 1921 - August 2, 1923
President	Warren G. Harding
Preceded by	Thomas R. Marshall
Succeeded by	Charles G. Dawes
Born	July 4, 1872 Plymouth, Vermont
Died	January 5, 1933 Northampton, Massachusetts
Spouse	Grace Goodhue Coolidge
Religion	Congregationalist

Calvin Coolidge was the Vice President of the United States of America from July 4, 1921 to January 5, 1923 and was the 30th President of the United States of America from 1923 to 1929 (29th if Grover Cleveland is counted only once). He was famous for being a man of few words, leading to the nickname Silent Cal. He was a Republican throughout his political career.

Accession to the Presidency

Cal was at his father's house in Vermont when news arrived of President Warren G. Harding's death. His father, a notary public, administered the oath of office.

Distinguishing Features of Coolidge Presidency

Coolidge and Lyndon B. Johnson are the only two Presidents not to have been sworn in by the Chief Justice of the United States of America. Johnson was sworn in by Sarah T. Hughes on Air Force One prior to leaving Dallas, Texas for Washington, DC on November 22, 1963.

Coolidge shares with Johnson, Theodore Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman the distinction of having chosen not to run for re-election at a time when he could have done so without breaking the traditional two-term limit established by George Washington and later codified by the 22nd Amendment to the U. S. Constitution. They are the only four 20th century Presidents to do so, although this was a common choice of 19th century Presidents, whom Coolidge may have seen as his model. While Johnson and Truman bowed out because they could not win wars to which they had committed the United States, and Roosevelt because he had a hand-picked successor ready, Coolidge's wife is reputed to have said he had decided not to run because "Cal smells a depression coming." Depressions in the pre-New Deal era were less frequent, but more disruptive than our contemporary recessions. If genuine, this prediction was on the mark, as Coolidge's successor Herbert Hoover was unjustly blamed for the Great Depression and went down to defeat in the 1932 Presidential election, which inaugurated the Fifth Party System.

Coolidge was the last major party nominee besides Al Gore to fail to carry his own state in a Presidential election, and the last to win the presidency (in 1924) without a home state victory. Coolidge's defeat in Vermont was more remarkable than Gore's in Tennessee because while Tennessee was a rock-ribbed Republican state by 2000, Vermont was similarly rock-ribbed Republican throughout the era of the Fourth Party System and even voted for Alf Landen in 1936.

Coolidge is most famous for being pro-business, and famously said, "The business of America is business." Liberals attacked him for continuing what became known as Twenties Nullification of the Progressive reforms of Woodrow Wilson. However, some Federal government activity was congruent with this orientation, particularly the development of the U. S. highway system, a predecessor of the Interstate Highway System begun by Dwight Eisenhower. At the beginning of Coolidge's term railroads were the primary mode of moving goods and people between cities. By the end, it was at least theoretically possible to drive an automobile to most towns and villages. The modern road trip is therefore perhaps Coolidge's most significant legacy.