Coolidge: An American Enigma

By: Robert Sobel

Narrated by: Charles Bice

In the first full-scale biography of Calvin Coolidge in a generation, Robert Sobel shatters the caricature of our 30th president as a silent, do-nothing leader.

Sobel instead exposes the real Coolidge, whose legacy as the most Jeffersonian of all 20th-century presidents still reverberates today. Sobel delves into the record to show how Coolidge cut taxes four times, had a budget surplus every year in office, and cut the national debt by a third in a period of unprecedented economic growth.

Though his list of accomplishments is impressive, Calvin Coolidge was perhaps best known and most respected by his contemporaries for his character. Americans in the 1920s embraced Coolidge for his upstanding demeanor, which came as a breath of fresh air after the scandal-ridden administration of Warren G. Harding. The sleaze that characterizes much of American political life today was absent in the Coolidge administration.

©2000 Robert Sobel (P)2011 Robert Sobel

Critic reviews

"Sobel succeeds at getting the reader to take a serious look at this oft-neglected and sometimes disparaged president, and his tightly argued, well-researched book will be of importance to historians and presidential scholars for years to come." ( Library Journal)

"Sobel, who has previously written on the politics of economics, strives to provide a more balanced portrait of a surprisingly complicated and interesting man." ( Booklist)

Example

President Coolidge is an example of humility and modesty that has been wanting for sometime now.

Dry

I like the book but the reader could have been a whole lot more exciting. I found that I had to leave the story from time to time to get back into the storyt; but I did learn and I didn't realize he was a progressive liberal turned conservative. I wish other Presidents would read this book and take some lessons from him. Hell I wish everyone in Congress would read his book. I think I will ask my congressman to read his book.

Amazing

more should taught about this President and should be an example to all Presidents.
America would be better off if served by more men like Calvin Coolidge

Overlooked Presidency

Would you listen to Coolidge: An American Enigma again? Why?

Yes. Extremely interesting.

What other book might you compare Coolidge: An American Enigma to and why?

Any book about a historical figure whose accomplishments are overlooked.

Did Charles Bice do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Yes, Mr. Bice did an excellent job of separating and acknowledging pros and cons of decisions made by the characters in the book, as well as the reasoning behind those decisions.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I had not intended it to be completed in one sitting. I wanted to read it in segments and slowly consider what had been written, in order to get a better understanding of the man, and not overlook anything.

Any additional comments?

I'd recommend the book to anyone who cares to compare politics in Coolidges day to the over-reaching style of the current process.

Quality.

A fascinating look at the life of a quiet President. Without Coolidge's tenure, the absurdity of the Harding years would have highlighted additional flaws in the Republican Party and Coolidge was the appropriate President at the appropriate time.