Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Friday, March 15. 2013

A great American President: Silent Cal


Along with Washington and Jefferson, Calvin Coolidge is in our presidential pantheon.


At Maggie's Farm, we reject the notion that the "greats" are those who expanded central power in Washington. What's so great about that? America was designed in opposition to centralized power. Is "freedom" a dirty word?


Here's Amity Schlaes on Coolidge:





Posted by The Barrister in History, Our Essays at 15:45 | Comments (9) | Trackbacks (0)

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Coolidge in the Indian headdress reminds me that Charles Curtis, Vice President during Herbert Hoover's term, was 3/8 Indian, and spent part of his childhood on the reservation.

My favorite Coolidge story is where a woman approaches him at a party and says to him, "Mr. President, I've made a bet that I can get you to say at least three words."
"You lose."
Don't know if it actually occurred, but it makes a good story.
#1 Gringo on 2013-03-15 16:02 (Reply)
Agreed... where is Coolidge when we need him? Also, visit the current issue of Imprimis from Hillsdale College to read Schlaes speech delivered there back in January...

Gringo's cool Coolidge quote reminds me of a Churchill anecdote. One time, as the story was told to me, when approached by a horse-faced Mrs. Braddock at a cocktail function or some such, who said, “You are drunk Sir Winston, you are disgustingly drunk", Churchill retorted, "Yes, Mrs. Braddock, I am drunk. But you, Mrs. Braddock are ugly, and disgustingly fat. But, tomorrow morning, I, Winston Churchill, will be sober. You, however, Mrs. Braddock, will still be fat and ugly.”
#2 Pajak on 2013-03-15 17:22 (Reply)
I remember one of my early (high school?) history books stating that Silent Cal was an ineffectual president who accomplished nothing because he was grief stricken over the death of his son. I always wonder now if it written by Zinn.
#3 Ama on 2013-03-15 20:00 (Reply)
Coolidge was a hero of Reagan's and even though Reagan was probably the best president since Coolidge, in some ways he didn't compare well.

If history rhymes, hopefully, it's time for something that rhymes with Calvin or Coolidge.
#4 mudbug on 2013-03-15 21:10 (Reply)
You guys must be dead. All I can think to say is that Amity is a fine-looking lady.
#5 John on 2013-03-15 22:55 (Reply)
You beat me to it --she is pretty electric alright --something about she delivers her thoughts --brains, looks, and conservative, too --that's a combo with a whole lotta, hmmm, well, can't think of the word
#5.1 buddy larsen on 2013-03-16 03:49 (Reply)
All this sounds like 'Duh!' to me. Conservative women are almost universally prettier than lefties!
#5.1.1 mudbug on 2013-03-16 11:11 (Reply)
--true, but that would've squelched my comment. Solutiomn: 'as usual, women with looks and brains tend not to be Democrats' --but that opens the door to magic --the missing middle; ''but why on earth would that be?"
#5.1.1.1 buddy larsen on 2013-03-16 22:02 (Reply)
I'm half way through her biography of Coolidge now.

My impression is that he was very focused on the practical side of governance, always looking to what works, yet fully aware of the other people he was working with.

The book is highly recommended although I thought the photograph section in my hard cover version should have been printed on glossy, heavier stock - it felt and looked cheap.
#6 Whitehall on 2013-03-16 12:02 (Reply)

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