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May 4, 1998
In this inflated revisionist biography, Sobel seeks to overturn the image of Calvin Coolidge as a taciturn, do-nothing president. He portrays his subject as an embodiment of the ethos of a vanished America, a pragmatic politician who espoused a philosophy of a passive executive branch. Although Coolidge took no actions to promote race relations, never spoke out against the Ku Klux Klan and passed a restrictive immigration bill that singled out Japanese for exclusion from entering the U.S., the 30th president is presented here as a champion of civil rights because, in Sobel's verdict, his public utterances in support of black Americans were outspoken and liberal-minded. There is some unintentionally hilarious understatment: "Coolidge's humor was not of the kind that causes belly laughs." And the author brings William Allen White to the president's defense by quoting him as saying, "Coolidge... was not dumb." In this lively but unpersuasive reappraisal, Sobel (Dangerous Dreamers) is mostly preaching to the converted. His broader theme--a refutation of the negative view of the Republican 1920s Harding-Coolidge-Hoover trio as a dismal interregnum between Wilson and FDR--is likewise debatable. Coolidge's presidency, despite Sobel's intentions, comes off as a wasteland of missed opportunities.
June 1, 1998
Noted business historian Sobel (Dangerous Dreamers, LJ 5/1/93) here attempts a revisionist examination of Calvin Coolidge, 30th president of the United States. Arguing that Coolidge "merits serious consideration," Sobel asserts that he was more complex than conventional wisdom would have us believe. Tracing Coolidge from New England childhood to retirement, he attempts to show "Silent Cal" as more of a "hidden-handed" type of leader than most historical assessments suggest. Unfortunately, his efforts to elevate Coolidge's reputation succeed only marginally. The Coolidge presented here had a Whig vision of presidential leadership and did not seek actively to lead the government. While this vision may have been, as Coolidge himself seemed to believe, closer to the original design of the Founders, it was probably better suited to the 19th than the 20th century. Still, 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.--Michael A. Genovese, Loyola Marymount Univ., Los Angeles