PRESIDENT CALVIN COOLIDGE FACTS

Introduction - Calvin Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge was the 30th President of the United States of America and a member of the Republican Party. As vice president he rose to the highest office in the U.S. after the sudden death of President Warren G. Harding on August 2nd of 1923. As president he restored public confidence in the Federal Government after the numerous scandals that plagued Harding's presidency. The country experienced very good economic times during Coolidge's term but would plunge into the Great Depression less than a year after he departed the presidency; for which many place partial blame on him. On this page is a list of interesting facts about Calvin Coolidge. Information on this page includes how he rose to power, where he was born, and why some historians blame him for the Great Depression.

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President Calvin Coolidge Quick Facts

Calvin Coolidge was the 30th President of the United States of America.
He served as president from August 2nd of 1923 to March 4th of 1929.
From 1923 through 1925 he had no Vice President; from 1925 to 1929 his Vice President was Charles G. Dawes.
John Calvin Coolidge was born on July 4th of 1872, in Plymouth Notch, Vermont.
He died on January 5th of 1933 from a heart attack.

President Calvin Coolidge Pre-Presidential Facts

In 1895 he graduated with honors from Amherst College in Massachusetts.
After graduating from Amherst College he moved to Northampton, Massachusetts where he apprenticed with the law firm of Hammond and Field.
In 1897 he passed the Massachusetts bar exam and opened his own law office the following year. He practiced law in Massachusetts for the next 20 years.
He was elected to serve on the Northampton, Massachusetts city council in 1898. This was his first political position and gave him valuable political experience.
From 1900 through 1904 he served in several political positions including City Solicitor and clerk of courts.
Calvin Coolidge married Grace Anna Goodhue on October 4th of 1905 and they would have two sons together.
In 1906 he was elected to the serve in the Massachusetts state House of Representatives and in 1907 he was elected to a second term.
He was elected major of Northampton, Massachusetts in 1910 and again in 1911.
In 1911 he was elected as a Massachusetts state senator.
In 1915 he was elected lieutenant governor of Massachusetts alongside Samuel W. McCall who was elected governor. Coolidge was reelected lieutenant governor in both 1916 and 1917.
In 1918, Coolidge was elected governor of Massachusetts.
As governor of Massachusetts he gained national recognition particularly in his handling of a strike by the Boston police force. He sent the Massachusetts state guard to restore peace in the city and took a hard stance against the striking police.
He was selected as Republican Warren G. Harding's vice presidential running mate for the 1920 U.S. presidential election.
Warren G. Harding won the 1920 presidential election by a landslide and took office in March 1921 with Calvin Coolidge as his vice-president.

President Calvin Coolidge Presidential Facts

Upon the sudden death of President Warren G. Harding on August 2nd of 1923 Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th President of the United States of America.
Calvin Coolidge won the 1924 presidential election.
During his term as president, the United States went through a period economic growth which has been dubbed the "Roaring Twenties."
Under his leadership Republicans were successful in drastically reducing income taxes. The Revenue Acts of 1924, 1926 and 1928 were all passed. In conjunction with lower taxes under his leadership government spending was reduced and the overall federal debt was decreased.
On June 2nd of 1924 he signed the Indian Citizenship Act into law. This act gave U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans and allowed them to keep their tribal lands.

Interesting Calvin Coolidge Facts

Less than a year after the end of his presidential term the U.S. stock market crashed and the U.S. entered into its worst economic period in history, the Great Depression. During Coolidge's presidency the U.S. had experienced great prosperity; however the former president admitted in his biography that he had avoided serious issues that contributed to the country's Great Depression.
Calvin Coolidge believed in minimal government involvement in the economy, small government. During his presidency he reduced the size of many government programs. His critics believed this lack of Federal government involvement laid the foundation for the Great Depression.
Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as U.S. President by his own father. In 1923 while Vice-president Coolidge was visiting his family in Vermont president Warren Harding died. Coolidge's father, who was a notary public, swore his son in as the 30th U.S President. He is the only U.S. president to ever be sworn in by their own father.
The following is a quote from Calvin Coolidge explaining why he decided not to run for another term as president; "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish."
Coolidge published his autobiography in 1929.