Coolidge honored teachers, and often supported pay raises for them. In 1919, the same year that he opposed a public-sector police union, Coolidge wrote from Boston to the mayor of Northampton that he was concerned about teachers’ compensation: “It has become notorious that the pay for this most important function is much less than that which prevails in commercial life and business activities.”

Coolidge viewed doing nothing as a virtue – at least when it came to legislating. That’s the attitude of most Americans these days. After all, it’s not uncommon to hear lawmakers get criticized for “doing nothing.” But Coolidge viewed doing nothing as a virtue – at least when it came to legislating.