I went to a book party for Calvin Coolidge: Leadership Lessons from America’s Most Underrated President, by Charles C. Johnson, who has written for NRO. If the Coolidge boom, begun by Amity Shlaes and John Derbyshire (but really by Ronald Reagan) continues, he will no longer be underrated. Johnson makes a worthy addition, paying particular attention to Coolidge’s moral and philosophical development.
In his remarks, Johnson noted Coolidge’s firmness in the face of post–World War I anarchy in Boston — jolting to think of after the terrorist attack Monday.