That's what Americans demand of their presidents these days. A real president, Democrat or Republican, knows how to use 'the office.' A real president makes things happen. Or so the conventional wisdom.这就是美国人如今对他们总统的要求。一个真正的总统，无论民主党人还是共和党人，懂得如何利用「办公室」。一个真正的总统会成事。至少普遍都这么看。But, actually, there is another model. A president can succeed through inaction, by doing as little as possible. One such president was Calvin Coolidge, who took office upon Warren Harding's sudden death. From the time Coolidge became president in 1923 to the time he left in 1929, Coolidge served a philosophy that was simple and powerful: don't do.但其实还有另一种模式，一个总统可以通过尽可能少作为来实现无为而治，其中一位就是卡尔文·柯立芝。他在沃伦·哈丁突然逝世后接任，从他 1923 年上任到 1929 年卸任的那段时间，柯立芝践行了一种简单有力的哲学：不作为。Coolidge was our great refrainer.The leadership style matched the personal style. Coolidge did not waste words. Hence his nickname, Silent Cal.这种领导风格也符合他的个人风格。柯立芝惜字如金，他因此得了个绰号：「沉默的卡尔」。For these quiet ways, the thirtieth president absorbed much abuse. A Washington socialite, Alice Longworth, said that Coolidge looked like he had been weaned on a pickle.由于他不声不响，这位第三十任总统受到诸多诽谤。华盛顿社交名媛艾丽斯·朗沃思说，柯立芝看起来总是一副苦瓜脸。Coolidge indeed cut a sharp contrast to Alice's father, Theodore Roosevelt, who had served a decade and a half earlier. And what a contrast Coolidge provides with another Roosevelt, Franklin, who came just a few years later.柯立芝确实与爱丽丝的父亲西奥多·罗斯福形成鲜明对比，后者在十五年前担任过总统。柯立芝对比起几年后上任的另一位罗斯福，富兰克林，也是截然不同。Born on July 4th, 1872 in rural Vermont, Coolidge embodied the simple virtues of his forebears. He was hard-working, sober, and cautious. He was also fearless. A life-long civil servant, he worked his way up from city councilman to governor of Massachusetts. He made his political reputation by facing down the Boston police department when it went on strike in 1919. “There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time,” Coolidge told strikers. Then, the Coolidge administration fired them all and built a new department from scratch. This made him a national hero—a politician with a backbone.柯立芝 1872 年 7 月 4 日出生于佛蒙特州乡村，他体现了先辈们的淳朴美德。柯立芝勤奋、冷静、谨慎。他同样也无所畏惧。他当了一辈子公仆，从市议员一直做到了马赛诸塞州州长。他建立起政治声望是在 1919 年对抗波士顿警察部门罢工。柯立芝对罢工者们说，「任何人、任何地方、任何时候都没有权利不顾公共安全去罢工。」之后，柯立芝政府解雇了他们所有人，从头建一个新的警察部门。这让他成了国家英雄——一个有骨气的政客。The refrainer brought that backbone into the White House and got the kind of results men of action long for.这位节制者把这份骨气带进了白宫，取得了「作为者」渴望的那种成果。Especially economic results. Low unemployment, often well below five percent. Low taxes. Higher wages. Fewer strikes. New technology for the masses—a model A, or a bell phone, or an RCA radio.尤其是经济成果。常年低于 5% 的失业率。低税率。高工资。少罢工。新的大众科技——A 型车、贝尔电话、RCA收音机。And most remarkable of all, a shrinking federal budget. If you remember just one fact about Coolidge's presidency, let it be this: Coolidge left the federal budget lower than he found it.而其中最难得的，是缩减的联邦预算。如果你只想记住一个关于柯立芝总统任期的事实，那就这个吧：柯立芝留下的联邦预算比他要的多。How did Coolidge do it? First, he resisted taking unnecessary action himself. Second, he imposed the same discipline on Congress. That wasn't easy.柯立芝是怎么做到的？首先，他自己拒绝采取不必要的行动。其次，他要求国会有同样的纪律。这并不容易。In the early 1920s, the Progressive movement was on the march. Just as now, Progressives always wanted to do something.在 20 世纪 20 年代初，进步主义运动正如火如荼，无论在当时还是现在，进步派总想要做点什么。Progressive plans included more aid for agriculture, encouraging unions, increasing taxes, and nationalizing important industries, such as railroads and utilities.进步派的计划包括增加农业补助，鼓励工会，增加税收，以及将铁路和公用事业等重要行业国有化。Coolidge blocked the Progressives, and thereby blocked their expansion of government.He vetoed farm subsidies twice, even though he personally came from farming country.他两次否决农业补贴，尽管他自己就来自佛蒙特州农村地区。Coolidge was sympathetic to farmers, but helping them wasn't the government's function.Coolidge made especially good use of the pocket veto, the ability of the president to veto a bill by simply not returning it to congress. 'It is much more important to kill a bad bill,' he said, 'than to pass a good one.'柯立芝特别善用口袋否决，即总统干脆不让一份法案退回国会从而否决它的能力。「消灭坏法案更为重要，」他说，「相比通过好法案来说。」The legislation Coolidge did endorse was designed to meet the same minimalist end: restrain the government. Together with his treasury secretary, Andrew Mellon, Coolidge lowered the top tax rate to 25%. Their goal was to shrink the public sector, so that the private sector could expand. And the policy worked.柯立芝所认可的立法要满足同样的极简主义目的：约束政府。与其财政部长安德鲁·梅隆一起，柯立芝将最高税率降至 25％。他们的目标是缩减公共部门，以便私营部门能够扩张。这个政策起作用了。The country liked Coolidge's thrift. In the 1924 election, the progressives won 17% of the vote. But Coolidge won with more votes than the Democrats and Progressives combined. So everyone, including his own Republican Party, thought Coolidge would surely run a second time in 1928. But he declined. Like George Washington, he thought the country needed a change in leaders.全国都喜欢柯立芝的节俭。在 1924 年大选，进步党赢得了 17% 的选票，但柯立芝赢得的票数比民主党和进步党加起来还多。由此每一个人，包括他所在的共和党，都认为柯立芝肯定会在 1928 年参选连任，但他拒绝了。就像乔治·华盛顿，他认为这个国家需要换一个领袖。Yes, it's possible to criticize Coolidge. As much as he tried to avoid it, Coolidge in the end signed bills he would have preferred not to. And, the president showed a penchant for protectionism, rarely a sound economic policy. Some suggest that Coolidge was responsible for the stock market crash and the decade-long depression that followed after he left office.没错，柯立芝也有可批评之处。尽管他试图避免，但柯立芝最终签署了一些他本不情愿的法案。而且，这位总统显露了错误的保护主义倾向，也从没给出过一个完备的经济政策。一些人认为柯立芝要对股市崩盘以及他卸任后长达十年的大萧条负责。But that’s a fallacy. The depression stretched so long not because of too little action from Calvin Coolidge, but because of too much action by his successors.但这是谬误。大萧条拖得这么久不是因为卡尔文·柯立芝做得太少，而是因为他的继任者们做得太多。It is ironic that a man of such personal modesty presided over the era known as the Roaring Twenties.讽刺的是，一个如此个性谦虚的人主政了所谓的咆哮的二十年代。But that was the paradox: Coolidge was a scrooge who begat plenty.Perhaps, the day has come for a new politician to follow the great refrainer's rule. Where others do, don't. And if you have to do, do less.或许新一代政客是时候遵循这位伟大节制者的建议了。别人做的事，不要做。如果你必须做，那就少做。I'm Amity Shlaes, author of Coolidge and chairman of the Coolidge Foundation, for Prager University.我是阿米蒂·什莱斯，《柯立芝》一书的作者，柯立芝基金会的主席，为 PragerU 制作。如果您觉得我们的内容有帮助，欢迎关注、星标，点击赞和在看。
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