Friday, December 26, 2008

CALVIN COOLIDGE, 30TH PRESIDENT - Calvin Coolidge served as the Vice President under President Harding, and thus assumed the office of President upon the death of Harding. Upon hearing of the death of Harding on March 3, 1923, Coolidge was administered the oath of office as President by his father, who was a justice of the peace. He was elected to a second term as President. At his inauguration for his second term on March 4, 1925, he was administered the oath of office by ex-president and then Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, William Howard Taft. Coolidge's inauguration was the first presidential inauguration to be broadcast nationwide on radio. Known as "Silent Cal" for his quiet manner, Coolidge was extremely popular and was the type of person that the public wanted as its president at the time. Unfortunately, he did not see the economic problems that were developing in the country at the time with the result that his laissez-faire attitude towards the regulation of the economy and financial markets helped lead to the Great Depression.