Calvin Coolidge

He was born on July 4. He was one of Ronald Reagan's favorite presidents, and his portrait hung in the Oval Office for the 8 years of the Reagan presidency. "He twice vetoed farm relief bills, and killed a plan to produce cheap Federal electric power on the Tennessee River." As Professor DeBow pointed out over at Southern Appeal, "he was also the last American President to 1) understand, and 2) enforce, the Constitution's blueprint for a 'limited' national government." Columnist Bob Novak said of Coolidge: "his combined personal integrity, faith in the market system and concern for the ordinary citizen are what should be - but all too often are not - the model of American conservatism." Coolidge hailed from Vermont - which today is the the land of Howard Dean, Bernie Sanders, and Ben and Jerry's. Makes you wonder what went wrong.