From Publishers Weekly
Thrust into office with the death of Warren Harding in August of 1923, Calvin Coolidge presided over a nation at play. With the taciturn New Englander in the White House, the country embarked upon the orgiastic decade of over-spending and speculation now known as the Roaring '20s. Indiana University's Robert Ferrell (American Diplomacy: A History and Harry S. Truman: A Life) sums all this up in his brief but useful study of Coolidge's lethargic presidencyAthe first to be published in more than 30 years. As Ferrell shows, Coolidge ignored an overheating economy and thus set the stage for the Depression. At the same time, he dealt methodically, if not energetically, with the Teapot Dome scandal and crises in Mexico, China and Nicaragua. A deep believer in laissez-faire economics, Coolidge was committed to small government. He reduced the national debt (most of it stemming from the expenses of World War I) by a third, but failed to cope with a highly leveraged stock market run-up that invited disaster. "The statistics of what was happening were at hand," writes Ferrell. "The market speculation was clearly under way, but just as clearly Coolidge did not understand it." As Ferrell demonstrates, this failure is the single most important shortcoming of the Coolidge presidency, and the least explicable. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
For decades, Calvin Coolidge has been rated by historians as one of the worst presidents of all time. Considered a passive, introspective, and uninterested person and administrator, Coolidge did nothing to control the economic forces that would lead to the Great Depression. But in this new biography, Ferrell (The Dying President, LJ 3/1/98) paints a more sympathetic portrait of our 30th president. Coolidge emerges as a somewhat more complex figure who actually sought out and enjoyed public service, though he didn't find campaigning appealing. But as much as readers will learn about Coolidge, they will also learn a great deal about the times and the major issues faced by his administration. From Coolidge's role in the development of U.S. military air power to his failure to engage actively in developing a coherent foreign policy, Ferrell's research is solid and his writing graceful, making this a very informative and accessible volume.AThomas J. Baldino, Wilkes Univ., Wilkes-Barre, PACopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


The Washington Post Book World, Alvin S. Felzenberg
The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge will likely become the definitive account of the Coolidge era.


From Kirkus Reviews
From presidential biographer and historian Ferrell (Indiana Univ.; The Dying President?, p. 168; Harry S. Truman, 1994; Ill-Advised, 1992), a thoughtful, suitably prosaic treatment of the life, career, and legacy, such as it is, of Silent Cal. Coolidges one enduring bon mot, ``the chief business of America is business,'' sums up his minimalist approach to managing the American economy. Ferrell tries hard to make this laconic son of Vermont an interesting figure and succeeds in showing him as honest and devoted to the public service. Neither in his hometown of Plymouth Notch, Vt., nor at Amherst College, nor in Northampton, Mass., where Coolidge settled down to become a lawyer, did he strike anyone as brilliant, but his honesty and work ethic impressed many, and he ascended quickly through local politics to the Massachusetts governorship. Coolidge's quick response to the Boston Police Strike of 1919, in which he put down the strike and sacked the striking officers, was an act of courage in the labor-dominated politics of Massachusetts and catapulted him to national prominence. He won the vice presidency on Warren Harding's ticket in 1920 and ascended to the presidency on Harding's death in 1923. Ferrell sketches the '20s as an economic boom time that concealed racial injustices, labor and farm unrest, and other problems. As Ferrell shows in some detail, Coolidge pursued a policy of nonintervention in both economic and foreign affairs, except in Latin America, where the US became bogged down in a guerrilla war in Nicaragua. Ferrell offers little insight into Coolidge's decision-making, because the president didnt often document his reasons for doing things, including his sudden announcement in 1927 that he did not ``choose'' to seek reelection in 1928. A well-researched account of American policy and society during the 1920s, which should become a standard reference, to the extent one is necessary, on this anything-but-visionary president. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
Perhaps no American president has seemed less suited to his office or his times than Calvin Coolidge. The taciturn New Englander became a vice presidential candidate by chance, then with the death of Warren G. Harding was thrust into the White House to preside dourly over the Roaring Twenties. Robert Ferrell, one of America's most distinguished historians, offers the first book-length account of the Coolidge presidency in thirty years, drawing on the recently opened papers of White House physician Joel T. Boone to provide a more personal appraisal of the thirtieth president than has previously been possible. Ferrell shows Coolidge to have been a hard-working, sensitive individual who was a canny politician and an astute judge of people. He reveals how after being dubbed the "odd little man from Vermont" by the press, Coolidge cultivated that image in order to win the 1924 election. Ferrell's analysis of the Coolidge years shows how the president represented the essence of 1920s Republicanism. A believer in laissez-faire economics and the separation of powers, he was committed to small government, and he and his predecessors reduced the national debt by a third. More a manager than a leader, he coped successfully with the Teapot Dome scandal and crises in Mexico, Nicaragua, and China, but ignored an overheating economy. Ferrell makes a persuasive case for not blaming Coolidge for the failures of his party's foreign policy; he does maintain that the president should have warned Wall Street about the dangers of overspeculating but lacked sufficient knowledge of economics to do so. Drawing on the most recent literature on the Coolidge era, Ferrell has constructed a meticulous and highly readable account of the president's domestic and foreign policy. His book illuminates this pre-Depression administration for historians and reveals to general readers a president who was stern in temperament and dedicated to public service. This book is part of the American Presidency Series.


From the Back Cover
"Robert Ferrell, one of America's most deservedly acclaimed presidential historians, continues his surprising work on the 1920s with a portrait of Calvin Coolidge that somehow manages to be both sympathetic and uncompromising. Coolidge here emerges for the first time as a three-dimensional figure, a man of genuine idealism, powerful emotions, and a coherent if limited philosophy of government. The title Calvin, We Hardly Knew Ye would more nearly do justice to this deeply researched, elegantly written reappraisal."--Richard Norton Smith, author of An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover "A welcome addition to a distinguished series and a delight to read. Robert Ferrell combines a persuasive portrait of Coolidge with a judicious assessment of his administration's performance and shrewd commentary on the polity, economy, society, and international outlook over which he presided. Ferrell underscores aspects of Coolidge's ambition, political savvy, and sense of service long obscured by historical caricature. This book can be read with interest and profit by anyone seeking a better understanding of a presidency condemned or dismissed in progressive historiography and idealized in conservative revisionism."--Ellis W. Hawley, author of The New Deal and the Problem of Monopoly


About the Author
Robert H. Ferrell is professor of history at Indiana University and the author of numerous other books, including American Diplomacy: A History and Harry S. Truman: A Life.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Robert Ferrell, one of America's most deservedly acclaimed presidential historians, continues his surprising work on the 1920s with a portrait of Calvin Coolidge that somehow manages to be both sympathetic and uncompromising. Coolidge here emerges for the first time as a three-dimensional figure, a man of genuine idealism, powerful emotions, and a coherent if limited philosophy of government. The title Calvin, We Hardly Knew Ye would more nearly do justice to this deeply researched, elegantly written reappraisal."—Richard Norton Smith, author of An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover

"A welcome addition to a distinguished series and a delight to read. Robert Ferrell combines a persuasive portrait of Coolidge with a judicious assessment of his administration's performance and shrewd commentary on the polity, economy, society, and international outlook over which he presided. Ferrell underscores aspects of Coolidge's ambition, political savvy, and sense of service long obscured by historical caricature. This book can be read with interest and profit by anyone seeking a better understanding of a presidency condemned or dismissed in progressive historiography and idealized in conservative revisionism."—Ellis W. Hawley, author of The New Deal and the Problem of Monopoly

Author Biography:

Robert H. Ferrell is professor of history at Indiana University and the author of numerous other books, including American Diplomacy: A History and Harry S. Truman: A Life.

SYNOPSIS

Perhaps no American president has seemed less suited to his office or his times than Calvin Coolidge. The taciturn New Englander became a vice presidential candidate by chance, then with the death of Warren G. Harding was thrust into the White House to preside dourly over the Roaring Twenties.

Robert Ferrell, one of America's most distinguished historians, offers the first book-length account of the Coolidge presidency in thirty years, drawing on the recently opened papers of White House physician Joel T. Boone to provide a more personal appraisal of the thirtieth president than has previously been possible. Ferrell shows Coolidge to have been a hard-working, sensitive individual who was a canny politician and an astute judge of people. He reveals how after being dubbed the "odd little man from Vermont" by the press, Coolidge cultivated that image in order to win the 1924 election.

Ferrell's analysis of the Coolidge years shows how the president represented the essence of 1920s Republicanism. A believer in laissez-faire economics and the separation of powers, he was committed to small government, and he and his predecessors reduced the national debt by a third. More a manager than a leader, he coped successfully with the Teapot Dome scandal and crises in Mexico, Nicaragua, and China, but ignored an overheating economy. Ferrell makes a persuasive case for not blaming Coolidge for the failures of his party's foreign policy; he does maintain that the president should have warned Wall Street about the dangers of overspeculating but lacked sufficient knowledge of economics to do so.

Drawing on the most recent literature on the Coolidge era, Ferrell has constructed a meticulous and highly readable account of the president's domestic and foreign policy. His book illuminates this pre-Depression administration for historians and reveals to general readers a president who was stern in temperament and dedicated to public service.

This book is part of the American Presidency Series.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Thrust into office with the death of Warren Harding in August of 1923, Calvin Coolidge presided over a nation at play. With the taciturn New Englander in the White House, the country embarked upon the orgiastic decade of overspending and speculation now known as the Roaring '20s. Indiana University's Robert Ferrell sums all this up in his brief but useful study of Coolidge's lethargic presidency -- the first to be published in more than 30 years. As Ferrell shows, Coolidge ignored an overheating economy and thus set the stage for the Depression. At the same time, he dealt methodically, if not energetically, with the Teapot Dome scandal and crises in Mexico, China and Nicaragua. A deep believer in laissez-faire economics, Coolidge was committed to small government. He reduced the national debt (most of it stemming from the expenses of World War I) by a third, but failed to cope with a highly leveraged stock market run-up that invited disaster. 'The statistics of what was happening were at hand,' writes Ferrell. 'The market speculation was clearly under way, but just as clearly Coolidge did not understand it.' As Ferrell demonstrates, this failure is the single most important shortcoming of the Coolidge Presidency, and the least explicable.

Library Journal

For decades, Calvin Coolidge has been rated by historians as one of the worst presidents of all time. Considered a passive, introspective, and uninterested person and administrator, Coolidge did nothing to control the economic forces that would lead to the Great Depression. But in this new biography, Ferrell (The Dying President) paints a more sympathetic portrait of our 30th president. Coolidge emerges as a somewhat more complex figure who actually sought out and enjoyed public service, though he didn't find campaigning appealing. But as much as readers will learn about Coolidge, they will also learn a great deal about the times and the major issues faced by his administration. From Coolidge's role in the development of U.S. military air power to his failure to engage actively in developing a coherent foreign policy, Ferrell's research is solid and his writing graceful, making this a very informative and accessible volume. -- Thomas J. Baldino, Wilkes University, Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania

Library Journal

For decades, Calvin Coolidge has been rated by historians as one of the worst presidents of all time. Considered a passive, introspective, and uninterested person and administrator, Coolidge did nothing to control the economic forces that would lead to the Great Depression. But in this new biography, Ferrell (The Dying President) paints a more sympathetic portrait of our 30th president. Coolidge emerges as a somewhat more complex figure who actually sought out and enjoyed public service, though he didn't find campaigning appealing. But as much as readers will learn about Coolidge, they will also learn a great deal about the times and the major issues faced by his administration. From Coolidge's role in the development of U.S. military air power to his failure to engage actively in developing a coherent foreign policy, Ferrell's research is solid and his writing graceful, making this a very informative and accessible volume. -- Thomas J. Baldino, Wilkes University, Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania

Booknews

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 c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Book World Washington Post