Coolidge: an American enigma

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 delves into the record to show how Coolidge cut taxes four times, had a budget surplus every year in office, and cut the national debt by a third in a period of unprecedented economic growth. Though his list of accomplishments is impressive, Calvin Coolidge was perhaps best known and most respected by his contemporaries for his character. Americans in the 1920s embraced Coolidge for his upstanding character, which came as a breath of fresh air after the scandal-ridden administration of Warren G. Harding. Through research and analysis, Sobel reveals Coolidge's clear record of political successes and delivers the message that Coolidge had for our time - a message that speaks directly to our most important political debates. Coolidge's legacy is his deeds, not his words - which is exactly how he would have chosen to be remembered by history.