Book Review: Coolidge by Amity Shales

About:

Coolidge by Amity Shales is a biography of Calvin Coolidge, America’s 30^th President. Ms. Shales is a columnist and a chair on the board of the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation.

• 565 pages
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0061967556

My rating for Coolidge – 4
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More Books by Amity Shales*

Thoughts:

Calvin Coolidge, “Silent Cal”, is remembered for his precise and short communication, as well as harsh frugality. As the nation reeled from the debts of World War I, and was shaken by the death of President Warren G. Harding, President Coolidge’s leadership was put to a test.

Coolidge by Amity Shales is researched very well and gives a lot of information. The author is certainly an excellent researcher, but I wish she wrote a less scholarly narrative and focused on telling the story of the life of Coolidge himself. The narrative changes threads without drawing any connections between them. I enjoy the connections of seemingly separate subjects; I feel that they explain a biography’s subject better than most large accomplishments or aspirations.

The narrative is very linear and careful to be accurate and save the character of Calvin Coolidge. However, it comes out stiff and sterile like a schedule punctuated with appointments in the fabric of time, on the thread of Coolidge’s lifeline.

The book shines with the author writes about Coolidge’s economics. She makes excellent arguments defending his tax policies and budgetary choices.

This is a strange biography, both tired and admirable. There are marvelous anecdotes, and it’s excellently written, however, Coolidge himself comes off as a caricature without familiarizing the character of this fascinating man with the reader.

Buy Coolidge from Amazon.com*
More Books by Amity Shales*

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer:I bought this book.
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account, the money is usually spent on books