With one vote for Calvin Coolidge, GOP hopefuls name their favorite presidents
Near the end of Wednesday’s debate, moderators asked the four Republican candidates on stage which former president would be their inspiration if elected. The answers were the ones you would normally expect.
George Washington, the founder of America. Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the founding document. Abraham Lincoln, who preserved a divided nation. Ronald Reagan, the modern conservative icon.
And… Calvin Coolidge, who… uh…
“One of the guys I’ll draw inspiration from is Calvin Coolidge,” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who studied history at Yale and once taught the subject at a private school. “He is one of the few presidents who gets almost everything right.”
His statement provoked loud applause.
Coolidge, a Republican from New England, was the thirtieth president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929. He took over after Warren G. Harding died in office. Coolidge then won a term of his own.
Coolidge has become a somewhat unexpected favorite among modern conservatives. He cut taxes and supported small government and deregulation. His presidency, which coincided with the Roaring Twenties, is often credited with the economic boom of the period. (Coolidge fans tend to blame his successor, Herbert Hoover, for the crash that followed.) Reagan was one of the earliest members of the modern Coolidge cult.
Coolidge was once derided as stern and cold. When told he had died, Dorothy Parker reportedly joked, “How could they know?” In 1926, Walter Lippmann noted that Coolidge had a talent for “active inactivity” that suited business interests and “all those who have become convinced that government in this country has become dangerously complicated and top-heavy.”
Historians have since attempted to rehabilitate his image, with apparent success.
After the debate, Mr. DeSantis underlined his affection for the man of few words.
“Silent Cal knew the proper role of the federal government,” he wrote in a post on the social media site X.
But Coolidge’s record has been a subject of debate. David Greenberg, a historian, wrote in an essay for the University of Virginia’s Miller Center that Coolidge’s foreign policy did little to curb the rise of the Nazis in Germany. He added that many Americans linked Coolidge’s economic policies to the Great Depression, which followed his presidency.
“Academic opinion views Coolidge’s presidency with skepticism and ranks him relatively low among America’s top executives in terms of his administration’s positive impact and legacy,” wrote Dr. Greenberg.
Many Americans are probably more familiar with another famous Coolidge. Jennifer Coolidge, star of the HBO series “The White Lotus,” has said she is the former president’s distant cousin.