From the publisher.

Ohio Senator Warren G. Harding won election to the presidency in 1920 by a huge margin. Desiring to return the nation to "normalcy" after World War I, he famously stated: "Confident of our ability to work out our own destiny and jealously guarding our right to do so, we seek no part in directing the destinies of the Old World. We do not mean to be entangled." And he kept his word. He was equally determined to reduce the size and cost of government across the board.

Stricken with an illness while returning from a trip to Alaska, Harding died in 1923. Vice President Calvin Coolidge succeeded him and then handily won election for a full term in 1924. He chose not to run for reelection in 1928.

Known as "Silent Cal" to friend and foe because of his legendary reticence, Coolidge believed an occupant of the high office of president was honor-bound to adhere to the limitations found in the Constitution. Asked for an assessment of his years of service, he calmly responded, "Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration has been minding my own business." No believer in demands for social engineering, he commented, "Nothing is easier than the expenditure of public money. It doesn't appear to belong to anyone. The temptation is overwhelming to bestow it on somebody."

The Harding-Coolidge years saw taxation sharply reduced, the national debt dramatically lowered, wages increasing, industrial output soaring, and calls for social programs ignored--all traceable to their joint commitment to less government and nonintervention in foreign affairs. Yet modern historians would have us believe that these two men should be ranked near the bottom of all who have occupied the White House. They should instead be lauded as examples of what the nation's highest office holder can and cannot do.

Today, there are more announced candidates for the nation's high office than at any time in history. None of the Democrats seeking ...