I am a longtime “Coolidgean.” That is, Calvin Coolidge is one of my favorite U.S. presidents.
It turns out that January 5 was the 76th anniversary of Calvin Coolidge’s death. Marking this date and looking ahead to the inauguration of our next president, Ryan L. Cole wrote an excellent piece for the American Spectator titled “Keeping Cool with Coolidge.”
The article provides an interesting contrast between Coolidge’s politics and the politics of the early 21st century, and most importantly, differences in the philosophy of governing.
Cole summed up Coolidge’s policy agenda this way: “…when asked for his thoughts on assuming the presidency, Coolidge simply replied, ‘I think I can swing it.’ And despite the opinions of New Deal historians, swing it he did. A year after Harding's death Coolidge was elected president in his own right by a landslide. He spent the next four years fulfilling his duty as he believed the founders had envisioned -- cutting taxes, resisting and vetoing new spending, and generally minding his own business while presiding over a time of great prosperity.”
That is why I am a Coolidgean.
And we desperately need some Coolidge-like common sense today.
Raymond J. Keating
Chief Economist
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council
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