The first book-length assessment of Coolidge's presidency in thirty years draws on the recently opened papers of his White House physician for hitherto unknown personal information. Ferrell (history, Indiana U.) exonerates Coolidge for the failures of his party's foreign policy, but holds him accountable for having had insufficient economic savvy to warn Wall Street against the overspeculation that caused the Depression. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Calvin Coolidge lived during a time of constitutional transformation – the Progressive Era and World War I – before serving as President of the United States from 1923-1929. Thomas J. Tacoma argues that Coolidge contended with this changing regime and world through as a Burkean conservative and an Americanist politician. In The Political Thought of Calvin Coolidge: Burkean Americanist, Tacoma contextualizes Coolidge’s thought in the Progressive milieu of the age and Coolidge’s own educational background in New England and then presents the core of Coolidge’s political thought: civilization. Tacoma maintains that Coolidge believed in civilization and that the traditional American political and economic order represented the highest achievements in western civilization. Coolidge’s speeches ranged across American history to defend the virtues of the American regime, and in his political career, he undertook to defend the constitutional regime he had inherited. Coolidge, famous for his emphasis on thrift, likewise situated his views on economy within his larger vision of civilization, and he mixed realism and idealism in his developed views on international relations. Through extensive research, Tacoma examines the way Coolidge responded to the challenge of upholding American civilization in the face of a changing world.

Although Calvin Coolidge is widely judged to have been a weak and even an incompetent president, this study concludes that he was a leader disabled by a crippling emotional breakdown. After an impressive early career, Coolidge assumed the presidency upon the death of Warren Harding. His promising political career suffered a major blow, however, with the death of his favorite child, 16-year-old Calvin Jr., in July 1924. Overwhelmed with grief, Coolidge showed distinct signs of clinical depression. Losing interest in politics, he served out his term as a broken man. This is the first account of Coolidge's life to compare his behavior before and after this tragedy, and the first to consider the importance of Coolidge's mental health in his presidential legacy. Gilbert carefully documents the dramatic change in Coolidge's leadership style, as well as the changes in his personal behavior. In his early career, Coolidge worked hard, was progressive, and politically astute. When he became Vice President in 1921, he impressed the Washington establishment by being strong and activist. After Harding's death, Coolidge took control of his party, dazzled the press, distanced himself from the Harding scandals, and showed ability in domestic and foreign policy. His son's death would destroy all of this. Gilbert documents Coolidge's subsequent dysfunctional behavior, including sadistic tendencies, rudeness and cruelty to family and aides, and odd interactions with the White House staff.

Coolidge is one of the nation's most underrated presidents. Coolidge's thought on topics like public sector unions, education, race, governance, immigration, and foreign policy requires restoration if the constitutional, industrial republic is to be preserved in the modern age.

In the first full-scale biography of Calvin Coolidge in a generation, Robert Sobel shatters the caricature of our thirtieth president as a silent, do-nothing leader. Sobel instead exposes the real Coolidge, whose legacy as the most Jeffersonian of all twentieth century presidents still reverberates today.

Calvin Coolidge: A Documentary Biography reveals the "album version" of President Calvin Coolidge, featuring extended excerpts and, indeed, often the entire texts of major Coolidge addresses-as well as presenting a host of other illuminating documents, authored both by or about America's vastly underrated thirtieth president. Calvin Coolidge: A Documentary Biography shines a searchlight on Silent Cal Coolidge's world and worldview as no previous book ever has. It's all here: * The opposites-attract love story of taciturn Cal Coolidge and his outgoing wife Grace Goodhue Coolidge. * Jack Kennedy had his Irish Mafia, Jimmy Carter had his Georgia Mafia. The story of Frank Stearns, Dwight Morrow, and Calvin Coolidge's "Amherst Mafia." * Phenomenal vote getter Coolidge won more offices than any other president. The secret of how this painfully shy man did it. His strong appeal to Democrats. * The 1919 Boston Police Strike. How a city under siege ultimately makes Calvin Coolidge president. * How a runaway 1920 GOP convention stampedes to nominate Coolidge for the vice-presidency. * Unbelievable tragedy visits in July 1924 as Calvin Coolidge stands to become president in his own right--the death of his son Cal Jr. * The Coolidge presidency: a partnership of three remarkable figures: Coolidge, Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon, and Budget Director Herbert Lord. * Coolidge vs. the Klan: reaching out to embattled minorities: Jews, blacks, Catholics. * The gutsy Coolidge vetoes.* How Coolidge chose "not to run" in 1928. Each entry also includes a revealing explanatory introduction by noted Coolidge scholar and award-winning author David Pietrusza. The book is further augmented by: * a Calvin Coolidge fact sheet. * a comprehensive Coolidge bibliography. * a detailed Coolidge time line. * a photo insert plus illustrations throughout the text. * an essay detailing recently discovered facts regarding the fabled Coolidge "Persistence" quote. In addition to numerous key speeches and texts from Coolidge himself, the volume includes contemporary readings from: * Bruce Barton * The Boston Herald * Marion Leroy Burton * First Lady Grace Goodhue Coolidge * Vice President Charles G. Dawes * Frederick H. Gillett * Al Jolson * Walter Lippmann * Judge Wallace McCamant * Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon * Dwight W. Morrow * Alexandra Carlisle Pfeiffer * H. I. Phillips * The Pittsburgh Courier * Theodore Roosevelt * C. Bascom Slemp * Frank W. Stearns * R. M. Washburn PRAISE FOR DAVID PIETRUSZA'S "SILENT CAL'S ALMANACK" "Calvin Coolidge was one of the greatest presidents of the 20th century and is certainly the most underrated. This book, compiled by one of my favorite historians, will give readers a full appreciation of why Silent Cal's wisdom shines like a beacon through the fog of historical amnesia." -Jonah Goldberg, author of Liberal Fascism "an authority on the 1920s and [Calvin] Coolidge . . . David Pietrusza has brought Coolidge back to life with his volumes about the president . . ." -Amity Shlaes