A Man of Few Words: Silent Cal

Coolidge ended the scandals of the Harding administration but did little beyond that. Walter Lippman wrote in 1926 that “Mr. Coolidge’s genius for inactivity is developed to a very high point. It is a grim, determined, alert inactivity, which keeps Mr. Coolidge occupied constantly.”

Coolidge’s legendary reserve was famous in Washington society. Contemporaries told a possibly apocryphal story of how, at a White House dinner party, a woman bet her friends that she could get Coolidge to say more than three words. He looked at her and said, “you lose.”

Coolidge and the Puritan Work Ethic

Coolidge had a strong belief in the Puritan work ethic: Work hard, save your money, keep your mouth shut and listen, and good things will happen to you. Known as “Silent Cal,” his sober image seemed to indicate a leader capable of cleaning up the scandals left by Harding. Republicans—and the nation—now had a president who combined a preference for normalcy with the respectability and honesty that was absent from the Harding administration.

Coolidge’s first term was devoted to eliminating the taint of scandal that Harding had brought to the White House. Domestically, Coolidge adhered to the creed: “The business of America is business.” He stood in awe of Andrew Mellon and followed his policy of fiscal conservatism, which made him the only president to turn a profit in the White House. Coolidge believed the rich were worthy of their property and that poverty was the punishment for sin. Most importantly, Coolidge believed that since only the rich best understood their own interests, the government should let businessmen handle their own affairs with as little federal intervention as possible. Coolidge was quoted as saying, “The man who builds a factory builds a temple. The man who works there worships there.” The Progressive inclination to use state power in the service of social justice and to bring big business to heel was very much in the rear-view mirror as the Coolidge administration made its mark.

The 1924 Election

The 1924 election saw Coolidge win easily over the divided Democrats, who fought over their nomination. Southerners wanted to nominate pro-Prohibition, pro-Klan, anti-immigrant candidate William G. McAdoo. The eastern establishment wanted Alfred E. Smith, a Catholic, urban, and anti-Prohibition candidate. After many battles, they compromised on corporation lawyer John W. Davis. Midwesterner Robert M. La Follette, promoted by farmers, socialists, and labor unions, attempted to resurrect the Progressive Party. Coolidge easily beat both candidates.

He also repeatedly called for laws to prohibit lynching, saying in his 1923 State of the Union address that it was a “hideous crime” of which Black Americans were “by no means the sole sufferers” but made up the “majority of the victims.” However, congressional attempts to pass anti-lynching legislation were blocked by Southern Democrats. Coolidge did not emphasize the appointment of African Americans to federal positions, and he did not appoint any prominent Black leaders during his tenure as president. Once in office, Coolidge immediately set to work cutting taxes and reducing federal spending. In 1924, he signed the Immigration Act, which imposed limits on immigration from parts of eastern and southern Europe, though he inserted a statement expressing personal disapproval of the clause that specifically excluded Japanese immigrants.

The Election of 1928

This cultural battle between the forces of reaction and rebellion appeared to culminate with the election of 1928, the height of Republican ascendancy. On August 2, 1927, Coolidge announced that he would not be participating in the 1928 election; “I choose not to run,” was his comment. Republicans promoted the heir apparent, Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover. The Democrats nominated Governor Alfred E. Smith of New York. Smith represented everything that small-town, rural America hated: He was Irish, Catholic, anti-prohibition, and a big-city politician. He was very flamboyant and outspoken, which also did not go over well with many Americans.

Republican prosperity carried the day once again, and Hoover won easily with twenty-one million votes over Al Smith’s fifteen million. The stock market continued to rise, and prosperity was the watchword of the day. Many Americans who had not done so before invested in the market, believing that the prosperous times would continue indefinitely.

As Hoover came into office, many Americans were deeply invested in the new reverence for prosperity and unregulated markets. In less than a year, however, the bubble would burst, and a harsh reality would take its place.