The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge

Authorized, Expanded, and Annotated Edition

By: Calvin Coolidge, Amity Shlaes - editor, Matthew Denhart - editor

Narrated by: Terence Aselford

Today Americans of all backgrounds are on the hunt for a different politi­cal model. In fact, such a model awaits them, if only they turn their eyes to their own past...to America’s 30th president, Calvin Coolidge.

Coolidge’s masterful autobiography offers urgent lessons for our age of exploding debt, increasingly centralized power, and fierce partisan division. This expanded and annotated volume, edited by Coolidge biographer Amity Shlaes and authorized by the Coolidge family, is the definitive edition of the text that presidential historian Craig Fehrman calls “the forgotten classic of presidential writing”.

To hear this volume is to understand the tragic extent to which historians underrate President Coolidge. The Coolidge who emerges in this audiobook is a model of character, principle, and humility - rare qualities in Washington, then as now. A man of great faith, Coolidge told Americans: “Men do not make laws. They do but discover them.” Although he emphasized economics, Coolidge insisted on the importance of “things of the spirit”. At the height of his popularity, he chose not to run again when his reelection was all but assured. In this autobiography, Coolidge explains his mindset: “It is a great advantage to a President, and a major source of safety to the country, for him to know that he is not a great man.”

For all his modesty, Coolidge left an expansive legacy - one we would do well to study today. Shlaes and coeditor ­Matthew Denhart draw out the lessons from Coolidge’s life and career in an enlightening introduction and annotations to Coolidge’s text.

This autobiography combats the myths about one of our most misunderstood presidents. It also shows us how much we still have to learn from Calvin Coolidge.

©1929 Calvin Coolidge; renewed 1957 by Grace Goodhue Coolidge. Editorial matter for this edition © 2021 by the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation (P)2021 by Blackstone Publishing

Truth

A great insight to a great leader. Many elements remain applicable today. Knowing this history can benefit all Americans today.

American Exceptionalism

“It is a great advantage to a president and a major source of safety to the country for him to know that he is not a great man. When a man begins to feel that he is the only one that can lead in this republic, he is guilty of treason to the spirits of our institutions.” -Calvin Coolidge

Former President Calvin Coolidge was truly an exceptional man. He represented everything good about the Americans of his time. I got a Washingtonian vibe off him- he was dedicated to serve the nation instead of himself.

Civil rights were very important to him and he felt it was better to strip away bad laws than make new good ones 👍.

He had a good heart and most notably, a very humble one. He was not obsessed about power.

What was so exceptional about him was he decided that the life of the president he was not for him and he stepped down instead of walking into a guaranteed second term.

Please read this book. Coolidge is a president. We should all aim for our politicians to be like God first and America first.

“A president should not only not be selfish, but he ought to avoid the appearance of selfishness.” - CC

Excellent!

Wonderful little gem! I study presidents and wanted to know more about Coolidge. He was a fine human being who put serving others and his country above his own comfort and convenience. He championed anti lynching laws, lowered taxes, and was respected by the people. Coolidge wrote this account himself in crisp and interesting language. A good listen!

This was OK but I’m glad I didn’t pay for it

Understanding this is an autobiography mostly, it struck me as very superficial. Some of the content was great and some of it was lacking in sufficient detail to make this interesting.

A good human not making his presidency about himself.

Loved reading about his childhood aspirations and subsequent opportunities. He sounds so decent . “Democracy is Christ’s government “

Our greatest president?

After listening to this autobiography and the several speeches, I’ve come to believe that Calvin Coolidge was our greatest president since Lincoln. The soundness and temperance of his policies, his reverence for America’s principles, and his understanding of “the practical side of government,” which he learned from his father, established a stable environment and setting that enabled unprecedented advances culminating in the industrial revolution. During his presidency, people started to work 5 days a week instead of 6 because of the great advances in productivity. He had a reverence for God, family, and country, unlike modern presidents who mock God, undermine the institution of the family, and apologize for our nation’s blessed heritage. We need more men like him in our day.
What’s funny is I remember my teachers and textbooks attacking President Coolidge and his administration. If most of what you’ve learned comes from your public education, I feel sorry for you. As Adam Smith said, “Surely no acquirement which can possibly be derived from what is called a public education can make any sort of compensation for what is almost certainly and necessarily lost by it.”

A leader we need today!

A little known American leader that we need and would hopefully welcome today. Great insights into what it means to be American.

A President before his time

Coolidge was a conservative a strong military but for America not the world he believes only raising taxes in time of war or emergency.

Excellent content and performance

Coolidge should really be more widely remembered. It was fascinating to me that most of what he said was as applicable in the 2020s as it was in the 1920s.

Additionally the narrator did a superb job. I listen to 3 or more books each month and this narrator was top notch. His voice was clear and easy to understand, and he kept it even (no turning the volume up and down to understand) without becoming monotonous.

One of my favorite presidents.

One of my favorite presidents.
A president of impeccable character and intelligence.
A great little memoir of an honorable and humble public servant, a time period, and a successful presidency.