In a story regarding federal budget cuts, the Washington Post
reports: ‘One of the last presidents to balance the budget was
Herbert Hoover,’ [Rep. Peter] King added darkly, referring to
the penny-pinching Republican blamed for deepening the Great
Depression. What a loaded and inaccurate statement! I just
finished the fine new biography Coolidge by Amity Shlaes. Hoover
plays a major part in the book as a long-time cabinet member of
President Coolidge and his successor in the White House.
Coolidge was about as frugal a president as we’ve had, and he
dreaded that he would be followed by big-spender Hoover, who he
knew would probably unravel his years of hard work at budget
restraint. Coolidge fought against many new spending plans
pushed in Congress, including flood control projects, farm
subsidies, and higher veteran’s benefits. But Hoover worked
behind the scenes during the Coolidge years to boost flood
control spending. And when he became president, Hoover sadly
gave into the farm lobbies and launched the fi