In her award winning book, â??The Forgotten Man,â? Amity Shlaes offered a refreshing alternative to conventional wisdom about the Great Depression. Her forgotten man was not Rooseveltâ??s man at the â??bottom of the economic pyramidâ? but William Graham Sumnerâ??s forgotten man whose toils toward self improvement form the foundation of economic progress. He is the quiet innovator and adventurer who ultimately foots the bill for the Progressive social agenda. We now also recognize him as the man who President Obama famously discredited during last yearâ??s re-election campaign.
In one sense, Shlaes new book â??Coolidgeâ? represents a prequel to â??The Forgotten Man.â? More importantly, however, we rediscover a man who throughout his career championed the cause of Sumnerâ??s forgotten man but whose reward for doing so was to become himself a president whom history books have also largely â??forgotten.â? Shlaes sees Coolidge as â??a rare kind of hero: a minimalist president, an economic general of budgeting and tax cuts.â? She then thoroughly and persuasively documents that judgment.
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