Known for movies

Short Info

DiedJanuary 5, 1933, Northampton, Massachusetts, United States
SpouseGrace Coolidge
FactGovernor of Massachusetts (1919-1920).


Calvin Coolidge was an American politician who served as the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor. His response to the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight and gave him a reputation as a man of decisive action. The next year, he was elected vice president of the United States, and he succeeded to the presidency upon the sudden death of Warren G. Harding in 1923. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative and also as a man who said very little, although having a rather dry sense of humor.

Coolidge restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor’s administration, and left office with considerable popularity. As a Coolidge biographer wrote, “He embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength.” In the presidential election of 1928, Coolidge decided not to run for a second full term, instead choosing to retire to his home in Northampton, Massachusetts. He died at the age of 60 in January 1933.

Early life and career

John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born on July 4, 1872, in Plymouth Notch, Vermont, the only US president to be born on Independence Day. He was the elder of two children born to John Calvin Coolidge Sr. and Victoria Josephine Moor. His father was a Vermont storekeeper and farmer who served as a member of both houses of the Vermont General Assembly; his mother was a former teacher. Coolidge’s father had suffered from several nervous breakdowns throughout his life, and Coolidge’s mother was prone to fainting spells and bouts of depression. As a result, young Calvin was raised by his maternal grandmother, Calvin Galusha Coolidge Sr., and his father’s cousin, John Coolidge.

Coolidge’s father died when Calvin was just 12 years old, and his mother died four years later. As a result, he was raised by his maternal grandfather and father’s cousin. He attended Black River Academy and then Amherst College, graduating in 1895. He then attended law school at Boston University, graduating in 1898. After working in a law firm for a few years, he set up his own practice in Northampton, Massachusetts.

In 1905, Coolidge married Grace Anna Goodhue, a teacher at Clarke School for the Deaf. The couple had two sons: John (born 1906) and Calvin Jr. (born 1908).

Coolidge’s political career began in 1898 when he was elected to the city council of Northampton. He served as mayor of Northampton from 1910 to 1911. In 1912, he was elected to the Massachusetts Senate, where he served until 1915. He then served as lieutenant governor of Massachusetts from 1916 to 1919. In 1919, he became governor of Massachusetts after the death of Governor Samuel W. McCall.

As governor, Coolidge gained a reputation as a fiscal conservative and a man of decisive action. He gained national attention for his handling of the Boston Police Strike of 1919, during which he ordered the Massachusetts National Guard to quell the violence. The strike resulted in the deaths of two policemen and several civilians, and Coolidge’s reputation as a hard-liner was cemented.

In 1920, Coolidge was nominated for vice president of the United States on the Republican ticket with Warren G. Harding. The ticket won in a landslide, and Coolidge became vice president. In August 1923, Harding died suddenly of a heart attack, and Coolidge became president.

Presidency

Elected in his own right in 1924, Coolidge gained a reputation as a small-government conservative and also as a man who said very little. He once famously said, “I do not choose to run,” when asked if he planned to seek reelection in 1928. During his presidency, Coolidge signed into law several major pieces of legislation, including the Revenue Act of 1924 (which lowered taxes), the Immigration Act of 1924 (which restricted immigration), and the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 (which granted citizenship to Native Americans).

The economy boomed during Coolidge’s presidency, and he was credited with restoring public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor’s administration. He left office with considerable popularity, and in 1928 decided not to run for reelection. Instead, he retired to his home in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Later Life and Death

Coolidge died at the age of 60 on January 5, 1933, just two months before Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated as president. His death came as a shock to the nation, and many Americans mourned his passing. Roosevelt praised Coolidge as “a man who had devoted himself with singleness of purpose to serving the American people.”

General Info

Full NameCalvin Coolidge
DiedJanuary 5, 1933, Northampton, Massachusetts, United States
Height1.78 m
ProfessionLawyer, Politician
EducationSt. Johnsbury Academy, Amherst College
NationalityAmerican

Family

SpouseGrace Coolidge
ChildrenJohn Coolidge, Calvin Coolidge Jr.
ParentsJohn Calvin Coolidge Sr., Victoria Josephine Moor
SiblingsAbigail Grace Coolidge

Social profile links

Quotes

#Quote
1People seem to think the presidential machinery should keep on running, even after the power has been turned off.
2I sometimes wish that people would put a little more emphasis on the observance of the law than they do on its enforcement.
3If you don't say anything, you won't be called on to repeat it.
4I have noticed that nothing I never said ever did me any harm.
5Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.
6Patriotism is easy to understand in America. It means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country.
7I do not choose to run for president in 1928.
8[asked for his reasoning for, when governor of Massachusetts, to fire striking members of the Boston Police Department] There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, any time, anywhere.
9[asked what he was thinking when told that President Warren G. Harding had died and he was now President] I thought I could swing it.
10[commenting on the revelation that several members of of his predecessor's cabinet were implicated in the Teapot Dome scandal] Let the guilty be punished.
11Four-fifths of all our troubles in this life would disappear if we would only sit down and keep still.
12Do the day's work. If it be to protect the rights of the weak, whoever objects, do it. If it be to help a powerful corporation better to serve the people, whatever the opposition, do that. Expect to be called a stand-patter, but don't be a stand-patter. Expect to be called a demagogue, but don't be a demagogue. Don't hesitate to be as revolutionary as science. Don't hesitate to be as reactionary as the multiplication table. Don't expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong. Don't hurry to legislate. Give administration a chance to catch up with legislation.

Facts

#Fact
1When he died in 1933, he left his entire estate, valued at $700,000, entirely to his wife Grace.
2He was the last "true blue" conservative to win the Republican nomination until Barry Goldwater in 1964.
3Oddly ironic that, though Coolidge was known as "Silent Cal", he was the first president to talk on film, in President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Grounds (1924) with Lee De Forest behind the camera.
4First U.S. president to appear in a synchronized sound film.
5Cousin of Gov. William Wallace Stickney.
6Was the first Vice President to attend Cabinet meetings on a regular basis, at the invitation of President Warren G. Harding. Prior to Cooldige, all Vice Presidents had been excluded from Cabinet meetings.
7Was sworn in as President on August 3, 1923, by his father in Vermont, where he was vacationing at the time. He is the only U.S. president to have the oath of office administered by his father. Coolidge had to take the oath of office again a few weeks later when it was revealed that his father, who was a notary public for the State of Vermont, did not have the authority to swear in federal officials.
8His favorite activity was riding his mechanical horse which he kept stored in his bedroom.
9Coolidge had a quiet, dull personality. His headstone in Massachusetts is very much the same, it is slate gray with the Presidential seal, his name, the date and nothing else.
10Because of his icy demeaner a woman once approached him as a party and bet that she could get him to say more than two words. Unsmiling, Coolidge said "You lose".
11Brother in the International Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI)
12Contrary to popular legend, he never said "The business of America is business".
13Suffered from asthma. Because he distrusted physicians, he treated himself with patent medicines and breathed chlorine released into the air of a closed room in futile attempts to alleviate his asthma.
14Vice President of United States (1921-1923).
15Member of Massachusetts General Court(1907-1908).
16Mayor of Northampton, Massachusetts (1910-1911).
17Massachusetts State Senator (1912-1915).
18Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (1916-1918).
19Governor of Massachusetts (1919-1920).
2012th cousin of Franklin D. Roosevelt
21Pictured on the $5.00 US postage stamp in the Presidential Series, issued 17 November 1938.
22Has been called "The Dullest President of All Time."
232 sons - John Coolidge (1906-2000) and Calvin Coolidge Jr. (1908-1924)
2430th president of The United States (1923-1929).

Pictures

Movies

Self

TitleYearStatusCharacter
The Voice of Hollywood No. 71930Short documentaryHimself (uncredited)
The Voice of Hollywood No. 101930ShortHimself (uncredited)
Screen Snapshots Series 9, No. 141930ShortHimself, President of the USA
The Road to Happiness1924Documentary shortHimself - President of the US
Visitin' 'round at Coolidge Corners1924Documentary shortHimself
President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Grounds1924Documentary shortHimself (as President Coolidge)

Archive Footage

TitleYearStatusCharacter
How to Win the US Presidency2016DocumentaryHimself
The Roosevelts: An Intimate History2014TV Series documentaryHimself
Jeopardy!2014TV SeriesHimself
Grave of the Zombie Antelope2013Himself
Prohibition2011TV Mini-Series documentaryHimself
Landslide: A Portrait of President Herbert Hoover2009TV Movie documentaryHimself
Unnatural Causes2008TV Mini-Series documentaryHimself - President
The Dawn of Sound: How Movies Learned to Talk2007Video documentaryHimself
The Presidents2005TV Movie documentaryHimself
La neuvième2004TV Movie documentaryHimself (uncredited)
The Century of the Self2002TV Mini-Series documentaryHimself
Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies2001TV Movie documentaryHimself (uncredited)
The Century: America's Time1999TV Mini-Series documentaryHimself
The 20th Century: A Moving Visual History1999TV Mini-Series documentaryHimself
The Great Depression1998TV Mini-Series documentaryHimself (in car with Hoover) (unconfirmed, uncredited)
20th Century-Fox: The First 50 Years1997TV Movie documentaryHimself (uncredited)
Prohibition: Thirteen Years That Changed America1997TV Movie documentaryHimself (uncredited)
The Roaring Twenties1996Video documentary shortHimself - with Men in Suits (uncredited)
Inside the White House1995TV Movie documentaryHimself
The Story of Mount Rushmore: America in Stone1994Video documentary shortHimself
Portraits of Presidents: Presidents of a World Power (1901-)1992Video documentaryHimself
American Experience1990TV Series documentaryHimself - President of the United States
Mount Rushmore: The Shrine1986Video documentary shortHimself - August 10 1927 dedication
Zelig1983Himself - Pinning Medal (uncredited)
Hollywood1980TV Mini-Series documentaryHimself
The Age of Ballyhoo1973Video documentaryHimself
The Comic1969Himself (uncredited)
Project XX1961TV Series documentaryHimself - President of the United States
Biography1961TV Series documentaryHimself
I Never Forget a Face1956Short documentaryHimself
The Naughty Twenties1951Documentary shortHimself
The Littlest Expert on My Favorite President1951ShortHimself
Fifty Years Before Your Eyes1950DocumentaryHimself
The Golden Twenties1950DocumentaryHimself
Blue Skies1946Himself - Film Clip (uncredited)
The Roaring Twenties1939Himself (uncredited)
Whirlpool1934Himself - President Calvin Coolidge (uncredited)

Source: IMDb, Wikipedia

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