Trump and Calvin Coolidge

[Bismarck]

Both wanted lower taxes, had strong ties to go business but were also protectionist, support putting limits on immigration, and want the US to stop getting involved in foreign wars.

[OSR stands with Israel]

We all know the Calvin Coolidge Brand of the GOP was super popular that the GOP dominated politics for the next 40 after him.

[RINO Tom]

I'll be mocked for this, but being a protectionist when the business community was pushing for it and conservatives believed the economy (not conditions but rather type) called for it is infinitely different - and I'd argue the opposite - of being a protectionist when the business community is strongly in favor of free trade and movement conservatives have believed it to be the best for the economy in recent decades.

Trump's motives for protectionism are far different, and far dumber IMO, than Coolidge's.

[RINO Tom]

We all know the Calvin Coolidge Brand of the GOP was super popular that the GOP dominated politics for the next 40 after him.

You serious, Clark?  This is the dumbest post I've ever seen from you, and that's a tall order.  It's pretty obvious that Coolidge's politics - which led him to a RESOUNDING election win - weren't rejected by the public, and even if you think Calvin Coolidge singlehandedly caused the GD, you need to word your sentence in a much more intelligible way.

[JA]

The answer to this is mixed, as are all comparisons to historical events set in different contexts, so I'd say somewhat. The 'Return to Normalcy' theme seemed to be a key component of his campaign which, along with protectionist rhetoric, a relative absense of social issues, and inevitably pro-business policies (simply look at his cabinet picks), would incline him towards the pre-New Deal era of the GOP. If that is so, it's certainly not good for the working class and poor of this country, but an amazing time for economic growth and the upper class (until the inevitable big bust happens, as it always did following a period of capitalist extravaganza).

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

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Yes. Just like Herbert Hoover did.

[JJC]

As far as I know Coolidge wasn't a sexual abuser

And neither is Trump.

The similarities are glaring.

[Devout Centrist]

As far as I know Coolidge wasn't a sexual abuser

And neither is Trump.

If you say it enough times, it must be true!

But Coolidge supported civil rights for black people so...

[JJC]

As far as I know Coolidge wasn't a sexual abuser

And neither is Trump.

If you say it enough times, it must be true!

But Coolidge supported civil rights for black people so...

Please look up irony.

1) Believe it or not, in this country we don't condemn people based on 'he said/she said' rumors. A bunch of random women come out of nowhere in synchronous order one month before the election making sexual harassment claims? Yeah, never seen that before. But whatever. You want to believe it so you're going to accept it as reality.

2) As I said before, I genuinely believe that the democratic party will self destruct and splinter into smaller identity based groups. They've aloud themselves to be taken over by the radical factions of race/gender mongers to such an extent that identity politics (racism) has become their sole platform. They've got nothing else.

This is what the democratic party has become:

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[The_Doctor]

Yes and we're not in the 1920s for an important reason. The United States doesn't need the philosophy of protectionism and isolationist thinking that dominated Silent Cal's day. These two ideas may have worked for Coolidge but they are absolutely fatal in today's era. And actually they backfired in the 1920s too. Smoot-Hawley, and withdrawing from international organizations like the League of Nations hurt the United States decidedly. Likewise, Trump's protectionist thinking is stupid and so is his view the United States should be less aggressive in defending our interests globally (such as ripping up the Iran deal, withdrawing from the Syrian conflict, and basically giving Russia a free hand). I can think of no major international Trump inititiative that would be truly internationalist in scale other than fighting radical Islam.

The least harmful idea probably is the immigration restrictions that was present in the 1920s Republicans. 

[EnglishPete]

As far as I know Coolidge wasn't a sexual abuser

And neither is Trump.

If you say it enough times, it must be true!

But Coolidge supported civil rights for black people so...

And so does Trump, more similarities.

[EnglishPete]

Withdrawing from the Syrian conflict, and basically giving Russia a free hand).

He's not advocating ignoring Russia in their war efforts in Syria, he's advocating supporting them. Neo Con policy has failed in Libya, Iraq and now Syria. Its clear that Syria and the world would have been much better of it the rebellion against Assad, backed by the US, had never started. I think it will be better for Syria and the world, and in particular the fight against Islamist terrorism if Assad wins the war and stays in power. Its also clear that Trump agrees with this.

You are notm against trump because he's against international engagement of the US. You're against him because he's in favour of  international engagement of the US in support of causes you don't happen to agree with.

[Sir Mohamed]

Somewhat in terms of policy. Personality was very very different. Trump is most comparable to Andrew Jackson out of former presidents.

[KingSweden]

I'll be mocked for this, but being a protectionist when the business community was pushing for it and conservatives believed the economy (not conditions but rather type) called for it is infinitely different - and I'd argue the opposite - of being a protectionist when the business community is strongly in favor of free trade and movement conservatives have believed it to be the best for the economy in recent decades.

Trump's motives for protectionism are far different, and far dumber IMO, than Coolidge's.

This is a good answer, which largely lines up with my thinking (though I am not a movement conservative, I'm very pro free trade)

[Devout Centrist]

As far as I know Coolidge wasn't a sexual abuser

And neither is Trump.

If you say it enough times, it must be true!

But Coolidge supported civil rights for black people so...

Please look up irony.

1) Believe it or not, in this country we don't condemn people based on 'he said/she said' rumors. A bunch of random women come out of nowhere in synchronous order one month before the election making sexual harassment claims? Yeah, never seen that before. But whatever. You want to believe it so you're going to accept it as reality.

2) As I said before, I genuinely believe that the democratic party will self destruct and splinter into smaller identity based groups. They've aloud themselves to be taken over by the radical factions of race/gender mongers to such an extent that identity politics (racism) has become their sole platform. They've got nothing else.

This is what the democratic party has become:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

That's said after every election. I think you're going to be pretty disappointed come 2018. Just eight years ago, pundits in the media declared the Republican Party dead.

[The_Doctor]

Withdrawing from the Syrian conflict, and basically giving Russia a free hand).

He's not advocating ignoring Russia in their war efforts in Syria, he's advocating supporting them. Neo Con policy has failed in Libya, Iraq and now Syria. Its clear that Syria and the world would have been much better of it the rebellion against Assad, backed by the US, had never started. I think it will be better for Syria and the world, and in particular the fight against Islamist terrorism if Assad wins the war and stays in power. Its also clear that Trump agrees with this.

You are notm against trump because he's against international engagement of the US. You're against him because he's in favour of  international engagement of the US in support of causes you don't happen to agree with.

He's still pretty isolationist compared to Bush and Obama. That said, yes, I do object to his being Putin's coat holder. Yes, you would be accurate: I have a total disagreement with that. Also the whole siding with dictators in the aftermath of the Arab Spring in the name of security, because, apparently, alt-right nationalists (like him and apparently yourself) value security over freedom.

[Enduro]

Don't insult Coolidge like that.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

For one thing, the business community was already turning against protectionism by the 1920's.

The continued adherence of the GOP to such policies was an anachronism and force of inertia as well as political expediency to keep the necessary support from working class voters to be able to win the states necessary (the whole industrial North) to win the election with the South solidly Democratic.

A similar situation is the continued adherence by the GOP establishment to set of policies crafted in response to stagflation and trying to apply it as magic bullet to all economic ailments.

[pbrower2a]

Most obviously in the evisceration of labor unions so that Big Business can set wages in accordance with the bargaining weakness of an employee, probably ending the overtime premium, abolishing the minimum wage law, cutting taxes for the super-rich, gutting environmental policy, permitting discrimination in business decisions, getting rid of Medicare and even Social Security, abolishing welfare in any form...

"Make America Great Again"... for only about 2% of Americans.

It will not work well.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Apples and oranges. For starters, Calvin Coolidge wasn't a racist or a demagogue.


A few Coolidge-isms:

"We all subscribe to the principle of religious liberty and toleration and equality of rights. This principle is in accordance with the fundamental law of the land. It is the very spirit of the American constitution. We all recognize and admit that it ought to be put into practical operation. We know that every argument of right and reason requires such action. Yet in time of stress and public agitation we have too great a tendency to disregard this policy and indulge in race hatred, religious intolerance, and disregard of equal rights. Such sentiments are bound to react upon those who harbor them. Instead of being a benefit they are a positive injury."

"If we are to have that harmony and tranquility, that union of spirit which is the foundation of real national genius and national progress, we must all realize that there are true Americans who did not happen to be born in our section of the country, who do not attend our place of religious worship, who are not of our racial stock, or who are not proficient in our language."

"The generally expressed desire of 'America first' can not be criticized. It is a perfectly correct aspiration for our people to cherish. But the problem which we have to solve is how to make America first. It can not be done by the cultivation of national bigotry, arrogance, or selfishness. Hatreds, jealousies, and suspicions will not be productive of any benefits in this direction. Here again we must apply the rule of toleration."

"America is a large country. It is a tolerant country. It has room within its borders for many races and many creeds."


Obviously, Coolidge wouldn't have won this year's Republican primary.

[Phony Moderate]

The two most polar opposite in terms of personality o/c.

[RINO Tom]

Apples and oranges. For starters, Calvin Coolidge wasn't a racist or a demagogue.


A few Coolidge-isms:

"We all subscribe to the principle of religious liberty and toleration and equality of rights. This principle is in accordance with the fundamental law of the land. It is the very spirit of the American constitution. We all recognize and admit that it ought to be put into practical operation. We know that every argument of right and reason requires such action. Yet in time of stress and public agitation we have too great a tendency to disregard this policy and indulge in race hatred, religious intolerance, and disregard of equal rights. Such sentiments are bound to react upon those who harbor them. Instead of being a benefit they are a positive injury."

"If we are to have that harmony and tranquility, that union of spirit which is the foundation of real national genius and national progress, we must all realize that there are true Americans who did not happen to be born in our section of the country, who do not attend our place of religious worship, who are not of our racial stock, or who are not proficient in our language."

"The generally expressed desire of 'America first' can not be criticized. It is a perfectly correct aspiration for our people to cherish. But the problem which we have to solve is how to make America first. It can not be done by the cultivation of national bigotry, arrogance, or selfishness. Hatreds, jealousies, and suspicions will not be productive of any benefits in this direction. Here again we must apply the rule of toleration."

"America is a large country. It is a tolerant country. It has room within its borders for many races and many creeds."


Obviously, Coolidge wouldn't have won this year's Republican primary.

Oh, come on.  I love Coolidge, and I partially agree with your point ... but I'm sure you thought George W. Bush and John McCain and Mitt Romney didn't have the best interests of non-Whites in mind, and you could find a plethora of heart-warming quotes about diversity and equality from all three.  For that matter, though it'd be comically less articulate ("The Blacks love me!"), you could find the same from Trump.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Oh, come on.  I love Coolidge, and I partially agree with your point ... but I'm sure you thought George W. Bush and John McCain and Mitt Romney didn't have the best interests of non-Whites in mind, and you could find a plethora of heart-warming quotes about diversity and equality from all three.

You're assuming and insinuating a lot here without really having a basis for it.

[RINO Tom]

Oh, come on.  I love Coolidge, and I partially agree with your point ... but I'm sure you thought George W. Bush and John McCain and Mitt Romney didn't have the best interests of non-Whites in mind, and you could find a plethora of heart-warming quotes about diversity and equality from all three.

You're assuming and insinuating a lot here without really having a basis for it.

I suppose, but I'm making the point that you can't choose some quotes and really get your point across.  Lincoln was talking about how labor was more important and prior to capital while being a corporate lawyer defending the railroad companies.

[hopper]

Most obviously in the evisceration of labor unions so that Big Business can set wages in accordance with the bargaining weakness of an employee, probably ending the overtime premium, abolishing the minimum wage law, cutting taxes for the super-rich, gutting environmental policy, permitting discrimination in business decisions, getting rid of Medicare and even Social Security, abolishing welfare in any form...

"Make America Great Again"... for only about 2% of Americans.

It will not work well.

Do you think Obama really helped the Middle Class and the poor? During his time as President the top 1% made 95% of the economic gains in this country. Obama was a corporate-liberal. Maybe Trump will be bad as Obama though!