DBWI: Calvin Coolidge Doesn't Run in 1928

We know that Calvin Coolidge emerged as a solid President in the early 20th Century. After Harding died in 1923, he served out Harding's term, then won election in his own right in 1924, and re-election in 1928, dying in office on January 5, 1933 as he was helping FDR transition.

His cool leadership after the Panic of 1929, when the stock market crashed, is seen by many as a model for handling an economic crisis. While unemployment briefly spiked in 1929 and 1930, Coolidge pushed a tax cut taking the top rate down to 18% (the only other tax rates were 3%, 8%, and 12%), and arguably deserved credit for the economic expansion. By 1932, unemployment was back down to pre-crash levels

While FDR did win the 1932 election in a close race against Herbert Hoover, his 1933 tax increases (he nearly tripled the top tax rate), and his pursuit of former Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon in a politically-motivated agenda soured much of the American public on him when the economy stalled, and he ended up losing to Alf Landon in the 1936 election, garnering only 47% of the vote as Landon promised to return to Coolidge's policies.

So, suppose Coolidge didn't run in 1928? Who might the GOP have nominated, and would they have handled the Panic of 1929 as well as Coolidge did, or would they have made a mess of things? Would Alf Landon still have become President, and still emerge as the great wartime leader he was from 1938-1945, when he stepped down and turned things over to Robert A. Taft, who served two terms himself before Harry Truman won the 1952 election?
 
Well, for one thing, Hoover never would've ran. How a commerce secretary, even with his star power, got nominated is anyone's guess :p

Honestly, it's been whitewashed away by history, but Taft's administration did very poorly with the economy. It declined significantly during his terms in office and we might've had a major recession if he hadn't crippled the military for the purposes of isolationism - if Truman hadn't been elected when he did, he wouldn't have had time to build up the military before we could've been utterly destroyed in even a minor conflict.

Coolidge and Landon were decent leaders, but Taft's administration was very destructive. It's a shame they didn't nominate Gov. Thomas Dewey instead.
 
Well, for one thing, Hoover never would've ran. How a commerce secretary, even with his star power, got nominated is anyone's guess :p

You honestly have no idea about Hoover's popularity. He saved millions from starvation in Europe and in the USSR. It's a wonder he didn't win.

And while Ccoolidge gets the credit, the real person who saved us from recession was Benjamin Strong, the chairman of the federal reserve. It's too bad later ones weren't nearly as competent as him.
 
Actually, some slightly poorer leadership or worse luck during the Panic of 1929 might have helped avert or mitigate the Great Depression down the road. If it became clear earlier on that the US wasn't always going to be able to rely on the best efforts of JP Morgan & Co or other like-minded companies to turn things around and kick-start the markets again after panics like 1907 and 1929 (remember, they almost always did so at great personal risk, and might have hesitated with someone they trusted less than Silent Cal in charge) we might see the US with a stronger central bank or Sixties-style financial regulation already in place by the time that crisis hits. Shoot, it might even butterfly it away altogether; if there's no real estate crash, the oil exporters might not sense blood in the water and try to finish off the colonial empires.

(I'm sure the Brits in particular would like that - without the "crisis of capitalism," they can stop worrying about Red Europe being 45 minutes from crossing the channel and give the League some peace and quiet!)
 
Well, for one thing, Hoover never would've ran. How a commerce secretary, even with his star power, got nominated is anyone's guess :p

Honestly, it's been whitewashed away by history, but Taft's administration did very poorly with the economy. It declined significantly during his terms in office and we might've had a major recession if he hadn't crippled the military for the purposes of isolationism - if Truman hadn't been elected when he did, he wouldn't have had time to build up the military before we could've been utterly destroyed in even a minor conflict.

Coolidge and Landon were decent leaders, but Taft's administration was very destructive. It's a shame they didn't nominate Gov. Thomas Dewey instead.

Taft was lucky: World War II mean that most of Europe's industry was wrecked trough the bombing of Germany, France, England, and the Netherlands. The Pacific War of 1941-1944 ended with Japan's economy in shambles as well, and Japan did a lot of damage to China's economy with over a decade of war prior to that.

Ironically, it was slashing the military in his second term that caused the problems. The fact is, the naval buildup of Landon and Roosevelt did create a lot of jobs, and to crew ships, you needed crews as well.

Truman did try to enact some of FDR's proposals, but that didn't go anywhere. The Taft Court invalidated much of the "Fair Deal" - and when that happened, they just didn't have much else to go on. The higher taxes Truman pushed through started to bite by 1956 (he created six higher brackets in 1953). He lost the election to Prescott Bush, who served two terms, and cut the ten brackets down to three (5%, 10%, and 20%), while continuing the Truman military buildup.
 

Robert

Banned
While the Stock Market Crash started the Great Depression, it was the actions of President Hoover to deal with it that caused it to become much worse then it had to be.

It was the raising of tariffs that began a cycle that slowed trade to the point where American Industry was forced to lower production because our good became uneconomical to sell. The increase in taxes further caused unemployment by taking away scarce capital necessary for keeping the businesses running.

There was nothing inherently wrong with American Industry, except for the panic and fear of the public, and the exploitation and unproven economic theories that kept U.S. citizen unemployed far longer then necessary.

It was only when the U.S. Government became a customer to American Industry and purchased material goods like Tanks, Ships, Guns, etc., did the U.S. Economy turn around. It should be noted that this was not the formula for prosperity. The fact that 16 Million Americans were in the Armed Forces making an average of $50 a Month, and 405,000 were killed, hid the more underlying problems of such a system.

We're fortunately the war ended when it did. Any longer and the damage to the U.S. economy might have taken much longer to recover.
 
While the Stock Market Crash started the Great Depression, it was the actions of President Hoover to deal with it that caused it to become much worse then it had to be.

It was the raising of tariffs that began a cycle that slowed trade to the point where American Industry was forced to lower production because our good became uneconomical to sell. The increase in taxes further caused unemployment by taking away scarce capital necessary for keeping the businesses running.

There was nothing inherently wrong with American Industry, except for the panic and fear of the public, and the exploitation and unproven economic theories that kept U.S. citizen unemployed far longer then necessary.

It was only when the U.S. Government became a customer to American Industry and purchased material goods like Tanks, Ships, Guns, etc., did the U.S. Economy turn around. It should be noted that this was not the formula for prosperity. The fact that 16 Million Americans were in the Armed Forces making an average of $50 a Month, and 405,000 were killed, hid the more underlying problems of such a system.

We're fortunately the war ended when it did. Any longer and the damage to the U.S. economy might have taken much longer to recover.

(ooc: In this DWBI there is no President Hoover.)

We've definitely had some interesting folks since Coolidge, and we were pretty Republican dominated until the 1970's when the Democrats made a strong rebound kick.

Warren G. Harding (1921 - Aug 2 1923)
Calvin Coolidge (Aug 2 1923 - Jan 3 1933)
Charles G. Dawes (Jan. 3 - Mar 4 1933)

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933 - 1937)
Alf Landon (1937 - 1945)
Robert A. Taft (1945 - 1953)

Harry S Truman (1953 - 1957)
Prescott Bush (1957 - 1965)
Lyndon B. Johnson (1965 - 1969)
 
Last edited:
(ooc:
In this DWBI there is no President Hoover. The list is as follows:

Warren G. Harding (1921 - Aug 2 1923)
Calvin Coolidge (Aug 2 1923 - Jan 3 1933)
Charles G. Dawes (Jan. 3 - Jan. 20 1933)

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933 - 1937)
Alf Landon (1937 - 1945)
Robert A. Taft (1945 - 1953)

Harry S Truman (1953 - 1957)
Prescott Bush (1957 - 1965)
Lyndon B. Johnson (1965 - ?)
)

OOC: This thread is a butterfly murderer.
 

Robert

Banned
Coolidge might have run had his son not died.

Presidents of the United States

Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)
Calvin Coolidge (1923-1933)
Charles Curtis (1933)
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)
Henry Wallace (1945-1949)
Tom Dewey (1945-1953)
Adlai Stevenson (1953-1957)
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1957-1963)
Richard M. Nixon (1963-1973)
Robert F. Kennedy (1973-1981)
Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
Jack Kemp (1989-1997)
Bill Clinton (1997-2001)

Notes
Roosevelt never picked Truman
Eisenhower was assassinated in Dallas.
Nixon won a second full term in 1968.
Kemp would never agree to a tax increase.
 
I'm hoping Coolidge's not running could lead to a longer life for Henry C. Wallace. Perhaps he could run for President? If so, his policies would likely have stabilized things, assuming he followed in his son's path. (Of course, his son helped lead to the great increases in production of America's farms thanks to his hybrid seed research.)
 
Top