PRESIDENT CALVIN COOLIDGE - AUTOGRAPHED INSCRIBED PHOTOGRAPH - HFSID 348

CALVIN COOLIDGE
10x12½ photo of "Silent Cal"
Photograph inscribed and signed: "To Geo. K. Higgins/With Regards/Calvin Coolidge". Sepia, 10x12½. Overall, 8¼x11¼ image (one surface). Photograph by eminent Boston portrait photographer John H. Garo whose students in 1929 included 21-year-old Yousuf Karsh. Respected for his honesty, Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) restored the nation's faith in government when, as 30th President of the U.S. (1923-1929), he aggressively investigated and prosecuted corrupt cronies of the late President Harding implicated in the "Teapot Dome" scandal. Stating that "the business of America is business", Coolidge, the former Governor of Massachusetts (1919-1920), continued the prevalent "laissez-faire" policy toward industry and maintained high tariffs. As Congress lowered income taxes, Coolidge decreased the national debt by more than one billion dollars a year. Although known as a man of few words - hence the nickname "Silent Cal" - Coolidge gave an unprecedented number of press conferences and the first radio address to the nation. The first Vice President to attend Cabinet meetings, he went on to win re-election in his own right in 1924, but declined to run for re-election in 1928. Ronald Reagan, who greatly admired Coolidge, hung a portrait of him in the Oval Office. Lightly rippled. Tape remnants and light surface scuff at lower edge. Tip of lower right corner missing. Adequate contrast.