Posted on 10/19/2010 7:07:22 AM PDT by WebFocus
It’s tempting to say that Ronald Reagan was the best U.S. president of the past century, and I’ve certainly demonstrated my man-crush on the Gipper. But there is some real competition. I had the pleasure yesterday of hearing Amity Shlaes of the Council on Foreign Relations make the case for Calvin Coolidge at the Mont Pelerin Society Meeting in Australia.
I dug around online and found an article Amity wrote for Forbes that highlights some of the attributes of “Silent Cal” that she mentioned in her speech. As you can see, she makes a persuasive case.
… the Coolidge style of government, which included much refraining, took great strength and yielded superior results. …Coolidge and Mellon tightened and pulled [income tax rates] multiple times, eventually getting the top rate down to 25%, a level that hasn’t been seen since. Mellon argued that lower rates could actually bring in greater revenues because they removed disincentives to work. Government, he said, should operate like a railroad, charging a price for freight that “the traffic will bear.” Coolidge’s commitment to low taxes came from his concept of property rights. He viewed heavy taxation as the legalization of expropriation. “I want taxes to be less, that the people may have more,” he once said. In fact, Coolidge disapproved of any government intervention that eroded the bond of the contract. …More than once Coolidge vetoed what would later be called farm allotment–the government purchase of commodities to reduce supply and drive up prices. …Today our government has moved so far from Coolidge’s tenets that it’s difficult to imagine such policies being emulated.
But if you don’t want to believe Amity, here’s Coolidge in his own words. This video is historically significant since it is the first film (with sound) of an American President. The real value, however, is in the words that are being said.
CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO
Hands down it’s Silent Cal. Even Reagan thought so.
Nixon inherited a lost war against which the American people had already turned. The Paris Peace Accords got us out with at least the semblance of dignity. It was two years after our last troops left that RVN fell, and it was because of a chicken-shit US Congress, not Nixon.
...which is a whole lot more than you ever say for Carter or Wilson.
While I agree that you can blame Nixon for the election of Carter in that Nixon’s scandal and Ford’s pardon of Nixon so spoiled the people’s taste for Washington insiders that only an outsider could win I do not think in rating a president you can place the blame of Carter’s actions on Nixon. Carter’s presidency is entirely to his own credit for good or ill.
So I personally would place Nixon somewhere above Carter.
RE: Hands down it’s Silent Cal. Even Reagan thought so.
Anecdote from this site :
http://biggovernment.com/tag/calvin-coolidge/
Ronald Reagan admired Coolidge a lot. In fact, when Reagan was looking over his new house—the White House—shortly after his inaugural in 1981, he entered into the Cabinet Room.
On the wall were portraits of Truman, Jefferson, and Lincoln. The White House curator commented at the time, “If you don’t like Mr. Truman, you can move Mr. Truman out.” Even though Reagan, a former Democrat, had voted for Truman back in 1948, he made his decision: Truman’s portrait was removed and one of Calvin Coolidge was dusted off and put in its place.
That's one reason why we all love Reagan so much. He survived the assassination, joked with the doctors, cut taxes, won the cold war, and made us feel like Americans again in a stable and prosperous country. If he had been assassinated it would have just been a continuation of the nightmare.
Then post Reagan we got . . . Clinton, Clinton, Bush, Obama. : (
RE: Clinton, Clinton, Bush, Obama. : (
Actually Bush Sr., Clinton, Clinton, Bush Jr, Obama. : (
From a conservative point of view, Eisenhower is hard to rate.
On the one hand, he oversaw the modernization of our defense establishment, giving us superiority over the Soviets or anyone else who might threaten us. In pursuing foreign policy, Eisenhower reserved the right to respond to threats at our own choosing, while eschewing meddling in foreign conflicts. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles articulated this theme in his "Massive Retaliation" speech of January 12, 1954. As a result, we had eight years of peace. Eisenhower also pursued a sound immigration policy, and illegal immigration was not much of an issue.
On the other hand, Eisenhower embraced and expanded the New Deal. By 1957, Senator Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) was openly criticizing the administration. Eisenhower was also cool to the Republicans' conservative faction. His chief of staff Sherman Adams tried to see to it that no conservatives found their way into his administration.
The Eisenhower years were the salad days of the "Modern Republicans," which are today known as "Rinos." However, the Republican Party as a whole did not do too well with Eisenhower at the helm. It steadily lost seats in Congress during the 1950's and was blown out in the 1958 elections.
So for conservatives, the Eisenhower legacy was decidedly mixed.
He nailed Alger Hiss and sent Helen Gahagan Douglas into retirement.
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Yah, you get my point! 22 years of RINOs and Democrats. Bush, Clinton, Clinton, Bush, Bush, Obama. There’s a lot of ruin in a nation. We are testing the limits after that lineup.
I dislike FDR's social policies as much as anyone, but one has to give him credit for winning WWII, which is why I specifically said he won over "belligerent socialism". I suspect you would like living under Hitler's successor even less than living under Obama. I know "I" would.
Fiscally both were pretty good though Reagan had to deal with a back stabbing lefty Congress.
Reagan also gets the nod for using the bully pulpit to teach American exceptional ism.
Both dealt equally well with public safety unions striking.
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