What Calvin Coolidge’s 1925 Inauguration Can Teach Us Today

Coolidge was the only president who actually shrank the government.

U.S. President Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) at his desk, circa 1925. Charles Phelps Cushing/FPG/Getty Images

Commentary

One hundred years ago today—on a chilly March 4, 1925—President Calvin Coolidge was inaugurated again after his reelection the previous November. He is a classic example of a man far wiser than all the critics who underestimated him.

The “return of common sense” we hear so much about today is reminiscent of his approach to government. Coolidge’s limited government philosophy emphasized efficiency, restraint, and following the Constitution. He wanted to be remembered more for what he stopped or stymied than for what he signed or supported.

“It is much more important to kill a bad bill than to pass a good one,” he once opined.

“Silent Cal” believed that it was his presidential duty and a common-sense principle to be diligent in handling other people’s money. He embraced a simple truth: It’s not the government’s money; it’s the people’s, and the government should treat it with the utmost respect.

“I am for economy,” he once said, and then he added for reinforcement, “After that, I am for more economy.”

The centennial of the 1925 Coolidge Inaugural Address is a perfect moment to recall the impressive sagacity of its author. You can read it here, but I call the reader’s attention here to just a few lines because of their timeless truth. Think of them as principles of sound policy expressed in a nutshell.

Principle No. 1: Reduce Government Waste to Benefit the People

Coolidge put it like this: “I favor the policy of the economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the Government.

“Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life will be so much more meager. Every dollar that we prudently save means that their life will be so much more abundant. Economy is idealism in its most practical form.”

Principle No. 2: Keep Taxes Low by Controlling Government Spending

Coolidge said: “The wisest and soundest method of solving our tax problem is through economy. ... The collection of any taxes which are not absolutely required, which do not beyond reasonable doubt contribute to the public welfare, is only a species of legalized larceny.

“Under this republic the rewards of industry belong to those who earn them. The only constitutional tax is the tax which ministers to public necessity. The property of the country belongs to the people of the country. Their title is absolute. They do not support any privileged class; they do not need to maintain great military forces; they ought not to be burdened with a great array of public employees.”

Principle No. 3: High Taxes Hurt Economic Growth

Here’s how Silent Cal expressed it: “The method of raising revenue ought not to impede the transaction of business; it ought to encourage it. I am opposed to extremely high rates, because they produce little or no revenue, because they are bad for the country, and, finally, because they are wrong.”

Principle No. 4: Avoid Envy and Redistribution

Coolidge explained: “We cannot finance the country, we cannot improve social conditions, through any system of injustice, even if we attempt to inflict it upon the rich. Those who suffer the most harm will be the poor.

“This country believes in prosperity. It is absurd to suppose that it is envious of those who are already prosperous. The wise and correct course to follow in taxation and all other economic legislation is not to destroy those who have already secured success but to create conditions under which everyone will have a better chance to be successful.”

Principle No. 5: Property Rights Are Essential for Liberty

On this point, the president declared: “We need not concern ourselves much about the rights of property if we will faithfully observe the rights of persons. Under our institutions, their rights are supreme.

“It is not property but the right to hold property, both great and small, which our Constitution guarantees. ... For individuals or for governments to waste and squander their resources is to deny these rights and disregard these obligations.”

Calvin Coolidge remains the only president of the United States in the past 200 years to leave the federal government smaller than the day he took the job. Following these five simple but profound principles, how could it have been otherwise?

From the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.