Calvin Coolidge was the 30th President, whose quiet competence and limited-government philosophy presided over the 'Roaring Twenties' prosperity—and whose reputation for inaction was later blamed for the Great Depression. A Vermont lawyer who rose through Massachusetts politics, 'Silent Cal' became famous for laconic wit and doing as little as possible.
Coolidge believed government governs best that governs least. He cut taxes, reduced federal spending, and restrained regulation, believing that business growth would lift all Americans. 'The chief business of the American people is business.' His Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon's tax cuts did coincide with prosperity—GDP growth averaged 7% during his presidency.
Critics blame Coolidge for failing to regulate speculation that caused the 1929 crash and for ignoring agricultural depression in rural America. Defenders see him as the last president who understood constitutional limits. Coolidge's reputation has revived among limited-government conservatives who admire his restraint. He remains the anti-FDR—proof that presidential greatness need not mean activist government.