At the last Republican presidential debate, the candidates were asked which former president they would draw inspiration from if elected themselves. For my money, Nikki Haley had the only correct answer when she said George Washington. Vivek Ramaswamy picked Thomas Jefferson, Chris Christie chose Ronald Reagan, and then Ron DeSantis had his turn.
Dynamite.
No, Coolidge was no George Washington, but who was? Besides, Washington is the right answer, but it's also an easy one. But Calvin Coolidge? He was a rockstar, and we would be well served as a country if we could have someone lead us who would follow his example.
Not that everyone would agree, of course. Democrats everywhere panned the response, with DeSantis critics like Florida State Senator Lori Berman writing,
Coolidge is considered to have been a terrible president whose hands-off policies plunged the nation into the Great Depression, and whose tax cuts contributed to uneven wealth distribution. He offered no sweeping vision for the country. Foreshadowing?
Considered to be a terrible president? By whom? I'd say by political activists who don't know history, a group that disappointingly includes figures on the Right.
For the uninitiated, here's the record on the Coolidge presidency:
- The national debt was cut by almost 50%
- The federal government's total budget shrank, but education spending grew and illiteracy plummeted
- Unemployment dropped to 3.6%
- An unprecedented 17.5% increase in the nation's wealth
And all the unhelpful divisiveness of our modern politics? Calvin Coolidge had no part in any of it, having once explained his philosophy on leadership by saying he wanted to "walk humbly and discharge my obligations."
Coolidge rose to prominence when he was mayor of Boston and faced a dangerous police strike. He was warned by his own Republican Party leaders that his bold decision to mobilize the National Guard to put down the strike (Coolidge had argued that no one had a right to strike against the public safety) would wreck the Republican Party and Coolidge's own political career would die. His response was a monument in courage, as he picked up the pen, signed the order and said, "Perhaps you're right."
But perhaps the most impressive thing about this country's 30th president was that despite presiding during a golden age of prosperity and material success, the Roaring ‘20s, Coolidge was keenly aware of the origin of the country's good fortune. Speaking in 1926 to commemorate the 150th birthday of the Declaration of Independence, Coolidge reminded Americans,
The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country…
It is the product of the spiritual insight of the people. We live in an age of science and of abounding accumulation of material things. These did not create our Declaration. Our Declaration created them. The things of the spirit come first. Unless we cling to that, all our material prosperity, overwhelming though it may appear, will turn to a barren scepter in our grasp. If we are to maintain the great heritage which has been bequeathed to us, we must be like-minded as the fathers who created it. We must not sink into pagan materialism. We must cultivate the reverence which they had for the things which are holy. We must follow the spiritual and moral leadership which they showed.
