Coolidge

By: Amity Shlaes

Narrated by: Terence Aselford

Length: 21 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Calvin Coolidge, president from 1923 to 1929, never rated highly in polls, and history has remembered the decade in which he served as an extravagant period predating the Great Depression. Now Amity Shlaes provides a fresh look at the 1920s and its elusive president, showing that the mid-1920s was in fact a triumphant period that established our modern way of life: The nation electrified, Americans drove their first cars, and the federal deficit was replaced with a surplus.

Coolidge is an eye-opening biography of the little-known president behind that era of remarkable growth and national optimism. Coolidge's trademark discipline and composure, Shlaes reveals, represented not weakness but strength, and he proved unafraid to take on the divisive issues of this crucial period: reining in public-sector unions, unrelentingly curtailing spending, and rejecting funding for new interest groups. He reduced the federal budget even as the economy grew, wages rose, taxes fell, and unemployment dropped.

In this magisterial biography, Amity Shlaes captures the remarkable story of Calvin Coolidge and the decade of extraordinary prosperity that grew from his leadership.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2013 Amity Shlaes (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers

American Hero

Calvin Coolidge was a true American hero and an example of the type of person we need in Washington today. Amity Shlaes is a great time traveler!

Wonderful book about an under appreciated President

This book is extremely well written by Amity Shlaes. Calvin Coolidge himself would have appreciated her economically, yet comprehensively, covering her subject. She is able to entertainingly tell the Coolidge story. In these days of profligate government spending and runaway political rhetoric, it helps to appreciate Coolidge's respect for the individual's rights, money, liberty and dignity.

Kinda boring

I wasn't a huge fan.... maybe cut it down for a quicker read. The ending was better than the beginning.... too much information on parents.

Silent Cal

Amity Shlaes has produced a scholarly look at Calvin Coolidge. It is well documented but not a dry boring story that some scholars write. The book came along at a perfect time for me as I had Coolidge on my list of people to read about in 2013. The book covers Coolidge from birth to death. He was born on July 4 1972 in Plymouth Notch Vermont and died there on January 5 1933. The Coolidge family was one of the founding families of Vermont and had the frugal hard working values of New England. He went to Amherst College and met a group of men that he maintain a lifetime friendship and appointed some to government positions. For example I was surprise to learn that Dwight Morrow was an Amherst buddy of Coolidge and he appointed him to the study the role of aviation and then appointed him Ambassador to Mexico. Morrow was the father of Anne Morrow who married Charles Lindbergh. I have a book in my wish list on Anne Morrow so I was pleased with the connection. I love it when one book provides information to another I am to read. Coolidge chose to "Read the Law" rather than go to law school. Then opened up his own practice. He was active in politics and was elected to local, then state positions. He married Grace Anna Goodhue in 1905 and she was outgoing and he was shy so she was a great first lady. She was a teacher at a school for the deaf and a good friend of Elizabeth Reeve Cutter who married Dwight Morrow. When He was governor of Massachusetts he had to deal with the Boston police strike in 1919. When president he not only balanced the budget he had a surplus which he used to pay down the national debt. He had to battle Congress as they wanted to spend the money. But his basic philosophy was to leave business alone and unregulated and all would be fine. He thought aviation was the future but thought that commercial aviation should lead the way not the military. The press noted he was key to healing the country after the scandal of Harding's presidency. I will not give away any of the story you are going to enjoy reading how and why he handled all the above plus more. Terrence Aselford did an adequate job narrating the book.

Excellent !

Everyone or anyone interested in history or the U.S. presidents, this is a must read, Mrs. Shlaes does a wonderful job with the life of Calvin Coolidge, one of the best bio's I've read, and I've read a ton.

Thorough, scholarly but not thrilling

The author did a fine job of digging into Coolidge, a man who isnt inherently interesting by in large. The narration is unobjectionable. Shlaes preserved history, which is important. She captured him as a human as well as it's possible to capture a socially stilted, wooden man. There are some very dramatic episodes - the police strike, the floods. But if you're looking for a rip roaring adventure you would be correct in assuming this isnt it. His passion was the tax code.

Great Bio History

it is a fascinating bio history effectively illuminating a purely understood leader and a quirky underappreciated period.

It is wonderfully and engagingly read.

I think this was a hard task

I love biographies that really make you feel like you know the person by the end, not just the high points, but the low points & flaws as well. That was not the case with this book. Maybe that has something to do with the lack of personal correspondence, letters, etc mentioned at the end. I feel like it lacked the detail and overall human perspective (positive & negative) that other great biographies include. I would summarize by saying it felt like a “glossed over” and simple presidential biography. McCullough, Chernow, DKG, Meacham, and other authors set a high bar for 5 stars.

A bio as spare as its subject

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

How to write a biography about one of America's least loquacious and bland Presidents? That was the task facing Shlaes who does an admirable job on one of the 20th centuries' more overlooked leaders. Silent Cal spoke little, spent less, and nevertheless ably lead during one of America's more prosperous decades. Should make for compelling reading but this bio is mostly a recapitulation of what is already largely known about the man with few insider details about CC and what made him tick. Nevertheless I found it interesting, more because of how such a man - talented though he may have been - was clearly a product of his time and could never be elected today. Though Shlaes doesn't draw these comparisons, this book really does speak volumes about what type of man America once made President and what type of person it now takes to endure seemingly endless campaigns, 24 hour news cycles, a cynical electorate and bland but electable policy positions by candidates. CC may be the last if his kind. Too bad Shlaes didn't focus more attention and details on this.

Have you listened to any of Terence Aselford’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Good narration.

History

Would you listen to Coolidge again? Why?

Yes, I would. The narrator and story are very good, and the book are not
too long.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Coolidge?

The death of Harding, and the reactions of the country and of Coolidges'
family are moving.

What does Terence Aselford bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The true meaning of each and every sentence. His inflexion is very important
to the story.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No

Any additional comments?

No