The most known Coolidge in American politics was of course President Calvin Coolidge, a conservative Republican who served from 1923 to 1929. However, did you know that there was another branch of Coolidges, kind of like the Democratic and Republican Roosevelts? The foremost elected official in this family was Democrat Marcus A. Coolidge (1865-1947), also from Massachusetts. While they were related and they do have some facial similarities, it was a relation that was “distant” (The Washington Post).

Coolidge had served as mayor of Fitchburg, Massachusetts for two terms and was well-liked by President Wilson, who picked him as envoy to Poland after World War I and was supportive of FDR (Hennessy). In 1920, he ran for lieutenant governor against Republican Alvan T. Fuller but lost as the Republicans had a boom year. Although the 1920s would be primarily years of political fortune for the Republicans, the Great Stock Market Crash of 1929 started their massive downfall.

In 1930, Senator Frederick Gillett, by this time nearing 80, was calling it quits. Not only that, but the Great Depression was also hitting the country. Coolidge saw it as his chance to run, and although the GOP picked Calvin Coolidge’s friend and former Senator Willliam M. Butler and Coolidge campaigned for him, Marcus Coolidge had former Democratic nominee Al Smith campaign for him. Both Calvin Coolidge and Smith had won Massachusetts in their elections. The Democrats, however, were ascendant, and Marcus Coolidge prevailed by over 10 points. This made it the first time in the history of Massachusetts that both of its senators were Democrats. Coolidge was supportive of the classic Democratic plank of tariff reduction and kept his options open on the question of the League of Nations (The New York Times). Coolidge, rather similar to Calvin, had some fiscally conservative points to him; he opposed veterans bonus legislation repeatedly until voting to override President Roosevelt’s veto in 1936. He would also vote against US entry into the World Court in 1935 despite voting against all proposed reservations.

Coolidge was largely a supporter of FDR’s First 100 Days legislation, such as voting for the Agricultural Adjustment Act, the Tennessee Valley Authority Act, and the National Industrial Recovery Act. He also voted for FDR’s “wealth tax” of 1935, but had some independence in his voting record, especially in his last two years. This included voting against the “Death Sentence” clause of the Public Utilities Holding Company Act, against bituminous coal regulation, and against the Revenue Act of 1936. Despite such independence, his DW-Nominate score was a -0.355. Coolidge might have had another term had Massachusetts’ governor not been Jim Curley. Curley wanted the Senate seat and, according to Time Magazine, “Senator Coolidge was simply dumped by the wayside; the Democratic convention automatically endorsed Mr. Curley” (Time Magazine, 1936). This reflected Curley’s power flexing but also perhaps his identity politics as although Coolidge was a Democrat, he was also a WASP. This didn’t end up working out for Curley and this was the only Senate seat picked up by a Republican that year in Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., and a Democrat would not be elected to this Senate seat again until 1978. In a reflection of his career in the Boston Globe, he was regarded as a “grand old 20th Century puritan” (Hennessy).

References

Hennessy, M.E. (1947, February 2). Round About. The Boston Globe.

Retrieved from

https://bostonglobe.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-column-of-career-of-mar/77885137/

Marcus A., Candidate in Massachusetts, Distant Kin to Calvin. (1930, October 12). The Washington Post.

Retrieved from

https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/226416702.html?dids=226416702:226416702&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=OCT+12%2C+1930&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Marcus+A.%2C+Candidate+in+Massachusetts%2C+Distant+Kin+to+Calvin.&pqatl=google

Marcus A. Coolidge. Voteview.

Retrieved from

https://www.voteview.com/person/2035/marcus-allen-coolidge

Massachusetts: Flesh v. Blood. (1936, September 28). Time Magazine.

Retrieved from

https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,756708,00.html

M. Coolidge Plans Activity in Senate; Bay State Democrat Asserts He Will Not Be ‘Rubber Stamp’ for Senator Walsh. (1931, July 12). The New York Times.

Retrieved from

https://www.nytimes.com/1931/07/12/archives/m-coolidge-plans-activity-in-senate-bay-state-democrat-asserts-he.html

Political Notes; Coolidge v. Smith. Time Magazine.

Retrieved from

https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,740633,00.html