Calvin Coolidge was the 30th President of the United States, famous for his calm personality, which earned him the nickname “Silent Cal”. He was born John Calvin Coolidge Jr. on July 4, 1872, in Plymouth Notch, Vermont, to John Calvin Coolidge Sr. and Victoria Josephine Moor. His father was a farmer and merchant as well as a civil servant, and his mother, who was often ill, died when he was only twelve years old. Calvin Coolidge attended Amherst College in Massachusetts. , trained in a law firm and opened his own law firm in 1898 after being admitted to the bar in 1897. Calvin had a political career and in 1921 became Vice President of President Harding. When Harding died in 1923, Coolidge became President of the United States. He was elected as President of the United States in 1924.
Calvin Coolidge is considered a good president who cleaned up the scandals and mess left behind by Warren G. Harding’s administration.
Calvin Coolidge’s father taught him about hard work and honesty, and he grew up with puritan values.
As a boy, Calvin helped around the farm and the store.
As a child Calvin was known to be quiet, but hard working.
He was a member of the Republican Club and won prizes for both public speaking and essay-writing.
Calvin graduated from Amherst College and then went to Northampton to apprentice as a lawyer. It was cheaper to apprentice than to pay for law school and Calvin had learned the value of saving money at a young age.
Calvin Coolidge served on the city council and was a city solicitor, county clerk, and chairman of the local Republican Party.
Calvin Coolidge was admitted to the bar in 1897.
He was elected to the state legislature, became the mayor of Northampton, was elected to the Massachusetts Senate, and then served as Senate president.
Calvin Coolidge opened his own law firm in Northampton in 1898, with a small inheritance from his grandpa and his own savings. That same year Calvin ran for Northampton City Council and won.
Coolidge later became the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts and then, in 1918, was elected the state’s governor.
Calvin met Grace Anna Goodhue, a teacher at Clarke School for the Deaf in 1905. They married after a brief engagement.
When the Boston police force went on strike (refusing to work) and riots broke out, Coolidge gained national attention. Declaring, “There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, anytime,” Coolidge sent in the state guard to restore order. He then refused to rehire the striking police officers.
In 1906 Calvin Coolidge was elected as a Progressive Republican in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
At the 1920 Republican National Convention, Coolidge was chosen as the vice-presidential candidate on Warren G. Harding’s ticket. Harding and Coolidge won.
Calvin Coolidge also served as Northampton’s mayor.
Due to Coolidge’s reputation for honesty, public faith in the government was restored.
Calvin Coolidge was elected lieutenant governor in Massachusetts, and then governor, in 1918.
Coolidge was also supportive of business, and the U.S. economy thrived. This period of prosperity was known as “the Roaring Twenties.”
In 1921 Calvin Coolidge became Warren G. Harding’s Vice President.
After completing Harding’s term, Coolidge was re-elected under the campaign slogan “Keep Cool with Coolidge.”
In 1923 President Harding became ill and died, leaving Coolidge to serve as U.S. President.
Coolidge cut taxes and limited government spending.
In 1924 Calvin Coolidge was nominated to be the 30th U.S. President.
He set high tariffs on imported goods and rejected U.S. membership in the League of Nations.
Calvin and Grace had two sons, John and Calvin. Calvin died when he was only 16, after a blister caused blood poisoning. He died shortly after the convention that nominated his father to run for presidency.
He remained extremely popular throughout his presidency. Although most believe that Coolidge could have won re-election in 1928, he declined to run again.
Distraught over his son’s death, Calvin Coolidge was depressed. However he still won the election.
Coolidge returned to Northampton, Massachusetts after leaving the White House.
The ‘Roaring Twenties’ occurred while Calvin Coolidge was president. This era was a time of rapid growth economically.
Soon after Coolidge left office, the stock market crashed. The U.S. entered an economic period known as the Great Depression.
Calvin Coolidge supported civil rights and gave government positions to African-Americans. He refused to appoint any KKK members to any position in office, and supported anti-lynching laws.
Coolidge was also the only U.S. president to be sworn in by his own father.
In 1924 Calvin Coolidge gave Native Americans full citizenship. He also allowed them to keep their tribal land rights.
His father, a notary public, administered the oath for his presidency.
In 1927 Calvin Coolidge announced that he would not be running for a second full term as the U.S. President.
Coolidge’s first and only political loss was when he ran for a seat on the Northampton School Board in 1905.
Calvin Coolidge was the only president to be born on Independence Day in the U.S. – July 4th.
He was also nicknamed “Red” for his red hair.
Calvin Coolidge died suddenly on January 5th, 1933, from heart issues.
He was the first president to appear in a movie with sound, called a “talkie.”
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