Calvin Coolidge a good president??! Why??

[Aristotle100]

Ok people I have read Murray Rothbard’s “America’s Great Depression”; and he put a lot of the blame for the crash of 1929 on Coolidge. In fact the newst post on this site “Economic Depressions:Their Cause and Their Cure” has Rothbard even saying that Coolidge was not a believer in free market capitalism, especially in money and credit. I recently checked out the “Worst President” forum and many people listed Coolidge as one of the top five best. If Rothbard blaims a lot of his policies on the crash of 29 and he was in fact not a true champion of free market capitalism why do so many posters and avowed free market supporters like him so much?? I can not understand it.

[Byzantine]

Rothbard had a lot of anti-establishment passions that colored his analysis sometimes. JMHO.

[nameless]

Did Coolidge have the opportunity to scrap government-imposed restrictions or institutions such as the Fed? I don’t know, I’m just throwing out ideas.

[Simon_Lote]

Coolidge or ‘Silent Cal’ to my knowledge did nothing to increase the size of government and even reduced it slightly. Remember he only controlled the executive branch, not the legislature or the judicicary so he probably couldn’t roll it back if he tried. Its kind of like if Ron Paul won the Presidency but the Legislature and Judicary was firmly in the hands of statists. He could stop any further encroachments of the state and support any liberalising legislation that was passed by the house but there wouldn’t be a vast rolling back of the state, more like a temporary road block.

[liberty_student]

The way he conducted himself, the way he behaved in his job as President was model compared to most if not all others.

This was a man who said little, and worked diligently. He could have worried about his legacy or power, but did not care for any such thing.

Personally, I like Coolidge.

http://americanhistory.about.com/od/calvincoolidge/p/pcoolidge.htm

Events and Accomplishments of Calvin Coolidge’s Presidency:
The Immigration Act of 1924 at cut the amount of immigrants allowed into the U.S. so that only 150,000 total individuals were allowed in each year. The law favored immigrants from Northern Europe over Southern Europeans and Jews. Japanese immigrants were not allwoed in at all.

In 1924 and 1926, taxes were cut that had been imposed during World War I. The money that individuals were able to keep and sepnd helped contribute to the speculation that eventually would lead to the fall of the stock market and contribute to the Great Depression.

In 1924, the Veteran’s Bonus passed through Congress despite Coolidge’s veto. It provided veterans insurance redeemable in twenty years.

In 1927-28, Congress tried to pass farm relief bills where the government would buy crops to support farm prices. Coolidge vetoed this bill two times believing that government had no place in setting price floors and ceilings.

In 1928, the Kellogg-Briand Pact was created between fifteen countries who agreed that war was not a viable method for settling international disputes. It was created between Secretary of State Frank Kellogg and French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand.

[Andrew]

closest thing that has come to a free market president. He knew to let things be, but he only did so after Wilson and the FED.

He is a good president because of what he didn’t do! In that case William H. Harrison was the best.