Calvin Coolidge: Neither a Traditional President nor a Modern One

By Donald Kimball

American Presidency
Dr. Andrew Kauffmann
December 4, 2014

Kimball 2
Some Presidents have seemed to interpret [Executive Power] as an authorization to
take any action which the Constitution, or perhaps the law, does not specifically prohibit.
Others have considered that their powers extended only to such acts as were specifically
authorized by the Constitution and the statutes. This has always seemed to me to be a
hypothetical question, which it would be idle to attempt to determine in advance. It would
appear to be the better practice to wait to decide each question on its merits as it
arises.1
President Calvin Coolidge
The office of the president of the United States is an intriguing mix of symbolism, power,
and limitations this has caused much study and scrutiny of its use. As time has progressed,
there has been a generally noted phenomenon of the executive office gaining more power.
Divided into two major periods, the power shifts have been described as the traditional and the
modern presidency, the former taking place up until the turn of the 20th century, with the latter
describing the years following 1900. In analyzing presidents and their uses of the office, this
shift is generally followed, aside from one notable exception: Calvin Coolidge. Analyzing the
key, defining features of the modern presidency in relation to President Coolidge and his time in
the office, this paper aims to prove that Coolidge fits into neither traditional nor modern neatly.
In actuality, President Coolidge was traditional in his uses of power and formal executive office
tasks, but fits in the modern presidency when it comes to adapting to the new age of rhetoric and
personality.
First, the traditional and modern presidencies must be properly distinguished and broken
into measurable categories. As a general rule, the traditional presidency uses less executive
authority in order to achieve goals, relying systematically on other branches to do their specific

Coolidge, Calvin. "Presidential Duties." In The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge, 198-99. Cosmopolitan Book
Corporation, 1929.

Kimball 3
roles in the constitution and sticking mainly to duties outlined therein.2 For the sake of clarity, it
will be broken down into traceable categories: executive authority, legislative agenda, and
rhetoric. Under executive authority, this will focus on uses of appointments & executive orders.
For executive orders, this will rely less on numbers than content, and as such the traditional
presidency was more likely to use executive orders as a means to accomplish laws already
passed by congress or to achieve ceremonial ends. Contrastingly, the modern presidency has
seen an increasing reach in the scope of policy it affects, which has thus even caused issues of
transparency and ethics due to their breadth.3 Second, the legislative agenda is a phenomenon
started by Theodore Roosevelt, continued through Woodrow Wilson, and solidified by Franklin
Delano Roosevelt.4 It simply didnt exist as a part of the traditional presidency, as there was no
constitutional requirement for the president to involve himself in the content of the legislature.
Not only is this a reflection on the roles of each branch, but also an analysis on the role of the
state vs. federal government dynamic, with traditional lending more responsibility to states.
Lastly, the idea of rhetoric has vastly changed between the traditional and modern presidencies
in everything from nominally lesser speeches to the state of the union. From making broad
appeals to the public on behalf of a personal presidency to outlaying their vision for America in
the state of the union, the modern presidency has taken speech making to unprecedented levels.5
Traditional presidents were less focused on policy suggestions, and used the speeches as a way to

Tulis, Jeffrey K. The Rhetorical Presidency. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1987.
Roberts, Robert. "History of the Legalization of Executive Branch Ethics Regulation: Implications for the
Management of Public Integrity."Public Integrity 9, no. 4 (2007): 313-32.
4
Pfiffner, J. P. "The President's Legislative Agenda." The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social
Science 499, no. 1 (1988): 22-35.
5
Teten, Ryan Lee. The Evolutionary Rhetorical Presidency: Tracing the Changes in Presidential Address and Power.
New York: Peter Lang, 2011.
3

Kimball 4
update the populace on the welfare of the state. With these differences in mind, an examination
of Calvin Coolidges time in the white house will show that while some of the developments of
the age give the appearance of his encouraging the development of the modern presidency, it is
not quite so simple as putting him in one category.
The first area to examine is executive authority used by Calvin Coolidge. Again, with the
modern presidency leaning toward heavy usage of power of the office, Coolidge seems to be in
contention as a modern president when hard data is analyzed to date he has the third highest
number of executive orders issued.6 Analysis on what these orders were (or werent) as well as
other uses of power that he did or did not exert are necessary, however, before categorizing him
in this section. Initially, as he first came into office after President Harding passed away, he kept
most of the appointments made by Harding.7 Not only is this an unusual move, even for a VicePresident inheriting office mid-term, but a very unlikely one in light of the rampant scandals of
the Harding administration.8 Rather than taking over the Whitehouse, Coolidge thought it was
his duty to continue what Harding started, and this included leaving his priorities and
appointments in place.9 Instead of using this opportunity to magnify his ideals and utilize the
bully pulpit, Coolidge sought to wait until his own election before making administration
changes. Next, looking at executive orders, again we come across the seemingly damning

"Executive Orders Disposition Tables Index." National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed December
01, 2014. http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/executive-orders/disposition.html.
7
Shlaes, Amity. Coolidge. New York: Harper, 2013.
8
Cherny, Robert. "Graft and Oil: How Teapot Dome Became the Greatest Political Scandal of Its Time." The Gilder
Lehrman Institute of American History. Accessed November 30, 2014. http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-byera/roaring-twenties/essays/graft-and-oil-how-teapot-dome-became-greatest-political-scand.
9
Shlaes, Coolidge, 253.

Kimball 5
evidence of Coolidges 1,203 orders, quite hefty in comparison to the meager 291 of Bush or 194
(to date) of Obama. Yet the scope of these orders are much different, even contrasting kinds of
orders made by presidents a few years earlier. Among his orders are land zoning orders,10
essentially formally handing over land which the legislature already approved, ceremonial
issuances,11 and government radio frequency regulation12 (perhaps the most contentious of any).
All of these categories are within smaller policy circles than most executive orders by modern
presidents, most seeking to accomplish the end of an existing law. Even examining his
confidential regulation of government radio frequencies can show that comparative to executive
orders from President Wilson of regulating sales of prohibition, punishing deportees, or fixing
the interest rate on currency, Coolidge has a much more restrained use of the power. Lastly,
while President Coolidge was mostly focused on domestic issues, he did have a very distinct
foreign policy which relied mostly on restraint. This focus came from not only wanting to avoid
war, but the economic repercussions of military action. Coolidge appointed more ambassadors
and diplomats and sought to cause multilateral reduction of naval forces,13 although this was met
with little success. He sought to maintain economic ties in the world without moving troops as
much as necessary, only keeping some peacekeeping troops to secure shipments in Nicaragua.14
Though his move of sending troops in was a move in the modern direction, their former
presence, the mild role they played, the propriety over the canal we had, as well as his alerting

10

Exec. Order No. 3984, 3 C.F.R. (1924).

Exec. Order No. 3885, 3 C.F.R. (1923).
12
Exec. Order No. 4846-A, 3 C.F.R. (1928).
13
Evans, David C., and Mark R. Peattie. Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy,
1887-1941. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1997.
14
Musicant, Ivan. The Banana Wars: A History of United States Military Intervention in Latin America from the
Spanish-American War to the Invasion of Panama. New York: Macmillan, 1990.
11

Kimball 6
congress shows that this is not unprecedented nor a radical shift. At most, this is an inclination
toward how conflicts arise in the modern era and the gradual evolution of the executive office.
With all of these facets of executive authority considered, this area seems to lean in the area of
Coolidge staying within the mold of traditional presidents. Though signs of modernity leak, such
as number of executive orders or some troop movement, in the bigger picture Coolidge holds a
much more restrained presidency than most moderns.
In terms of the next category, legislative agenda, Coolidge is truly a mixed bag. On one
hand, he never used the presidency as a means to push specific policy through congress, but he
had an agenda the budget. Just two years before his entrance into the office, Congress passed
the Budget Accounting Act of 1921, requiring the president to submit a yearly budget before
congress. Now while this was mandated, Coolidge attacked the budget with a zeal so strong that
he slashed enough departments and expenditures to turn the deficit into a profit.15 In a sense,
Coolidge actually did have a legislative agenda: to stop legislation. Counting both traditional and
pocket vetoes, Coolidge used the 9th most of any U.S. president, a testament to his hardline
stance against spending and government involvement.16 Rampant use of the veto could be put
into either modern or traditional camp, as it is constitutionally authorized, but generally it is seen
more as a use of executive authority and leans into the modern category. Yet, not only was he
seeking to keep the budget, but the cause of many of his vetoes was so that the federal
government didnt reach into further corners of local and state governments. This anti-agenda

15

Coolidge, Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge, 183.

Gerhard Peters. "Presidential Vetoes." The American Presidency Project. Ed. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters.
Santa Barbara, CA: University of California. 1999-2014. Accessed November 30, 2014:
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/vetoes.php.
16

Kimball 7
didnt form from a passionless, disinterested lack of stance for policy, but was a conscious
choice to do less in the White House and defer power to state governments. Indeed, it can be
seen through his time as Massachusetts governor that he had strong stances on many contentious
issues and acted upon those: safety regulations for industrial workers, nullification of child labor,
supported womens suffrage, and weaned out racism as possible.17 Though he never strictly
identified in the progressive wing of the Republican Party, he had admired and been inspired by
President Teddy Roosevelt, and this showed as he did enact progressive measures, such as the
listed acts as governor.18 Yet none of this was made apparent in his use of the presidency, as he
neither proposed a direct agenda for to congress enact such measures nor pushed them through
executive orders. Perhaps the most poignant emphasis he belayed was in his state of the union,
questioning lynching and encouraging congress to punish lynching.19 Even so, this could hardly
be qualified as progressing the presidency in the direction of modernity. In evaluating Coolidge
from the holistic perspective regarding legislative agenda, pinning him down into one camp is
incredibly difficult. His aggressive vetoes and strict discipline to the budget move him in the
direction of modernity, albeit an uncommon form of modernity, but an increase in power. Yet his
lack of strong emphasis on legislation, especially in contrast with his actions taken as governor,
lead one to see a more refrained, traditional streak in Coolidge. Such competing actions can only

17

Coolidge, Calvin. Have Faith in Massachusetts; a Collection of Speeches and Messages. Boston: Houghton Mifflin,
1919.
18
Shlaes, Coolidge, 121.
19
Coolidge, Calvin. "Calvin Coolidge's State of the Union." Speech, State of the Union, U.S. Senate Chamber,
Washington D.C., December 6, 1923.

Kimball 8
lead to a mixed result for whether or not this category leaves Coolidge in the older or newer
camp.
Among the three categories, rhetoric is possibly the most surprising the infamous
Silent Cal actually progressed this in the direction of modernity, albeit sometimes without
meaning to do so. His quiet, few worded persona actually aided his speechmaking capabilities,
often surprising peers and listeners with his poignant, clear message.20 Though stylistically he
was less of a modern president in actual wording, he symbolically became a unifying figure
leading the country out of Hardings tragic death, as well as moving speechmaking as more
publically accessible.21 In part, this was due to the advent of the radio, but it was President
Coolidge who insisted on publically broadcasting the speech. In doing so, he moved the federal
government into a position to make itself relevant to every citizen as well as move the president
to be more accessible to them. Of course, in the consistently inconsistent style of Coolidge, his
speeches themselves were very traditional in form and factor. He shied away from using his
position as the bully pulpit, and in analyzing some of his given speeches its seen contrasting the
modern variations. In one speech, for instance, Coolidge calls out A government which lays
taxes on the people not required by urgent public necessity and sound public policy is not a
protector of liberty, but an instrument of tyranny, and this type of rhetoric sums the speech
exceptionally.22 Note the lack of personal reference, and a clear message and idea laid out calling

20

Buckley, Kerry W. "A President for the "Great Silent Majority": Bruce Barton's Construction of Calvin
Coolidge." The New England Quarterly 76, no. 4 (December 01, 2003): 593-626. Accessed December 02, 2014.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/1559844?ref=no-x-route:3dddb881e697065d46e8da33e48471dc.
21
Ibid.
22
Coolidge, Calvin. "Speech at Meeting of the Business Organization of the Government." Speech, Business
Organization Meeting, Memorial Continental Hall, Washington D.C., June 30, 1924.

Kimball 9
for a restraint on the part of the government, all features of traditional speeches. This comes in
sharp contrast with FDRs famous speech nearly ten years later, wherein he takes a more
personal stance:
We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and property to such discipline, because it makes
possible a leadership which aims at a larger good. This I propose to offer, pledging that the larger purposes
will bind upon us all as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in time of armed
strife. With this pledge taken, I assume unhesitatingly the leadership of this great army of our people
dedicated to a disciplined attack upon our common problems.23

This self-referential, emotional appeal is typical of the modern presidents, and strikingly absent
from Coolidge. Even so, his continued use of the speech as an effective means of communication
helped add to the climate of increased presidential symbolism in the public eye. Not only was
this fed by his speech giving (despite the content), but also in his amiability with the press. Even
as he didnt offer many words, he never turned down a photo op, providing the country with
ample pictures of him smiling, wearing a funny costume or striking a silly pose.24 He thought it
was important that the people see the humanity of the president, and these photos were a quick
and easy way to send a friendly message to the U.S. citizens. In turn, this also built friendly
relations between him and the press, leading to very favorable news reports.25 The unprecedented
familiarity and favorability the president had with the press was recognized by media outlets,
even those which saw no favor with his administration.26 In a manner similar to Theodore
Roosevelt, Coolidge answered questions at length with the media, giving them plenty, if brief, of

23

Roosevelt, Franklin D. "President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Inauguration Speech." Speech, FDR's First
Inauguration, Washington D.C., March 4, 1933.
24
Buckley, A President for the Great Silent Majority, 620.
25
Blair, John L. "Coolidge the Image-Maker: The President and the Press, 1923-1929." The New England
Quarterly 46, no. 4 (December 01, 1973): 499-522. Accessed December 02, 2014.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/364812?ref=no-x-route:3be67fd5adce1d9cea58a7a940a42394.
26
T.R.B. The New Republic 43 (June 17, 1925): 98. Accessed December 2, 2014. JSTOR.

Kimball 10
responses. His friendliness to the press helped bring his public image to soar through new heights
of approval ratings, a stark contrast from former Vice-President to Presidents.27 Once more,
Coolidge upsets the neat order of traditional and modern categorization in terms of rhetoric.
Formally, he doesnt move speech making in a modern direction, yet moves the art of speech
giving to be much more public through radio broadcast. His affinity for the press, however, is
quite enough to consider this category of rhetoric leaning in the modern direction. Partially
through technology and partially through resolve, Coolidge pushed presidential communication
to be much more accessible to the people, even if his style wasnt quite the personal aura evoked
by the modern presidents.

With an overview of all three categories, Coolidge plants himself right in the middle of
traditional and modern aspects of both in everything he did, action and inaction. In executive
authority he was mostly traditional, in legislative agenda he was completely mixed, and in
rhetoric he was mostly modern. Even if the categories of traditional and modern presidencies are
viewed skeptically, Coolidge manages to present such a duo natured approach to his presidency
that he separates himself from his fellow presidents by most other standards too. This anomaly
fits the somewhat contradictory nature of Coolidge, being quiet and few worded, yet using
speeches powerfully and being chatty with the press. Ultimately Coolidge has been placed into
extreme camps by history, and unfairly so his immense popularity during his terms faded after
the Great Depression, and obscurity has taken its place. Those which do write about him usually

27

Cornwell, Jr. Elmer E. "Coolidge and Presidential Leadership." Public Opinion Quarterly 21, no. 2 (1957): 265.
doi:10.1086/266712.

Kimball 11
see one aspect of the three listed: mostly see passive, non-aggressive executive, some see the
aggressive budget hawk, and still others see the modern communicator. Instead of painting
contradictory narratives, they paint the full picture of the complicated presidency of Calvin
Coolidge, not the do nothing term it is often dismissed as. With all perspectives considered, it
is impossible to neatly fit him into the traditional category nor in the modern. In fact,
categorizing him into a new group may be desirable, but highly improbable due to the
uniqueness of his nuances. This complexity warrants a revaluation in the modern mind of his
presidency, and an immediate stop of the instant categorization of the 30th president of the
United States.

Kimball 12

Works Cited
T. R. B. The New Republic 43 (June 17, 1925): 98. Accessed December 2, 2014. JSTOR.
Blair, John L. "Coolidge the Image-Maker: The President and the Press, 1923-1929." The New England
Quarterly 46, no. 4 (December 01, 1973): 499-522. Accessed December 02, 2014.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/364812?ref=no-xroute:3be67fd5adce1d9cea58a7a940a42394.
Buckley, Kerry W. "A President for the "Great Silent Majority": Bruce Barton's Construction of Calvin
Coolidge." The New England Quarterly 76, no. 4 (December 01, 2003): 593-626. Accessed
December 02, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/1559844?ref=no-xroute:3dddb881e697065d46e8da33e48471dc.
The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, 201-317 (1921).
Cherny, Robert. "Graft and Oil: How Teapot Dome Became the Greatest Political Scandal of Its Time."
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Accessed November 30, 2014.
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/roaring-twenties/essays/graft-and-oil-how-teapotdome-became-greatest-political-scand.
Coolidge, Calvin. "Calvin Coolidge's State of the Union." Speech, State of the Union, U.S. Senate
Chamber, Washington D.C., December 6, 1923.
Coolidge, Calvin. Have Faith in Massachusetts; a Collection of Speeches and Messages. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 1919.
Coolidge, Calvin. "Presidential Duties." In The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge, 198-99.
Cosmopolitan Book Corporation, 1929.
Coolidge, Calvin. "Speech at Meeting of the Business Organization of the Government." Speech,
Business Organization Meeting, Memorial Continental Hall, Washington D.C., June 30, 1924.

Kimball 13

Cornwell, Jr. Elmer E. "Coolidge and Presidential Leadership." Public Opinion Quarterly 21, no. 2
(1957): 265. doi:10.1086/266712.
Evans, David C., and Mark R. Peattie. Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial
Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1997.
Exec. Order No. 3885, 3 C.F.R. (1923).
Exec. Order No. 3984, 3 C.F.R. (1924).
Exec. Order No. 4846-A, 3 C.F.R. (1928).
"Executive Orders Disposition Tables Index." National Archives and Records Administration.
Accessed December 01, 2014. http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/executiveorders/disposition.html.
Musicant, Ivan. The Banana Wars: A History of United States Military Intervention in Latin America
from the Spanish-American War to the Invasion of Panama. New York: Macmillan, 1990.
Pfiffner, J. P. "The President's Legislative Agenda." The ANNALS of the American Academy of
Political and Social Science 499, no. 1 (1988): 22-35.
"Presidential Vetoes." Presidential Vetoes. Accessed December 02, 2014.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/vetoes.php.
Roberts, Robert. "History of the Legalization of Executive Branch Ethics Regulation: Implications for
the Management of Public Integrity." Public Integrity 9, no. 4 (2007): 313-32.
Roosevelt, Franklin D. "President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Inauguration Speech." Speech, FDR's
First Inauguration, Washington D.C., March 4, 1933.
Shlaes, Amity. Coolidge. New York: Harper, 2013.
Teten, Ryan Lee. The Evolutionary Rhetorical Presidency: Tracing the Changes in Presidential
Address and Power. New York: Peter Lang, 2011.

Kimball 14

Tulis, Jeffrey K. The Rhetorical Presidency. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1987.