Loyal readers will be familiar with my love for Calvin Coolidge (great biography by former WSJ reporter Amity Shlaes, incidentally), born on this day in 1872 and our President from 1923-1929. Coolidge did not stray too far from what the U.S. Constitution says that Presidents should do, i.e., appoint people in the executive and judicial branches, sign legislation, and veto legislation. Modern-day presidents exhibit precisely the opposite of Silent Cal’s behavior. They’re flying around, giving speeches, comforting those who’ve suffered from a natural disaster or a crime, offering opinions on matters that the U.S. Constitution would seem to reserve to state legislatures and governors, etc.
Let’s suppose that the Democrat dream of imprisoning Donald Trump comes true. And let’s further suppose that the Democrat nightmare of Donald Trump winning the November 2024 election comes true. (I never believe that a Republican will win because my theory is that the majority of Americans want a planned economy and an ever-more-comprehensive welfare state.) How well could a U.S. president govern from the confines of a New York State prison cell? Personal theory: way better than if he/she/ze/they were trying to government from the White House. The imprisoned president would have much more time to read legislation and decide whether to sign or veto than a president constantly shuttling around the country (and world) on Air Force One. Depending on the restrictions imposed by New York Democrats, an imprisoned Trump might end up working in much the same manner as Silent Cal!
From MSNBC:
Phil – my recollection is you were quite certain Hillary would win in 2016 for the same reasons advanced above. What would Rev. Bayes say? Don’t you think that if promising free stuff were the sure fire way to win an election the Donald could promise to do so the same as the Dems? Or he hasn’t figured this out? Or it violates his principles? Or he wants to lose?
I guess Phil would argue that the socialists keep winning in China, Russia, France, UK (today) etc., so why not make everything “free” here too? Seems like a winning strategy, no?
jdc: You’re correct that my ability to guess what the average American voter will do is non-existent. I couldn’t believe how poorly Ron DeSantis did among Republicans, for example (I knew that he would crash and burn with Democrats, but thought that his demonstrated competence and reasonable-for-the-job age would at least get him pretty far within the Republican primaries).
Would Donald Trump, or any other president, do a better job if ruling from a New York State prison? No!
Greenspun will do a better job ruling from Portugal.
Hardly any legislation happening nowadays anyway.
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/statistics
Enacted legislation so far for this Congress is 65 through 18 months.
Way too many, especially considering that these are cumulative over 200 years. Add runaway Biden’s administrative state with the executive branch issuing loads of mundane decrees daily why failing to inforce and breaking basic laws it is a miracle that anything is getting done in Good Olde USA.
I wondered whether an elected President could be inaugurated in prison. Apparently if the Chief Justice turns up with witnesses at the Pen and the prison authorities permit the visit, the Oath of Office could be administered, which is all that the Constitution requires.
Prisoners can’t tweet, right? So Donald Trump’s reputation could actually soar if he is limited to handling only obviously Presidential tasks due to being imprisoned.
Donald Trump no longer tweets. He exclusively uses Truth Social now which almost nobody reads. And all the responses to Trump on Truth Social are positive, thus keeping him in good mood. So no mean tweets.