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On this, the 234^th anniversary of our nation’s breakaway, Calbuzz gives a big shout out to Calvin Coolidge, the only president born on the Fourth of July.

Sure, Cal  (July 4, 1872-Jan. 4, 1933) had his share of controversies, what with calling out the militia to smash a police strike in Boston, vetoing anti-Prohibition legislation and that whole usher-in-the-Depression laissez faire government thing.

But how you can dis a guy whose biographer says he “represents the genius of the average,” who was both the first president to deliver a speech on radio and the first to appear in a film with sound, and who also held more press conferences  – 529 – than any president before or since.

All that multi-media stuff belies his reputation as “Silent Cal,” as do historic reports of his pretty good sense of humor.

As the story goes, the satirist and professional smart ass Dorothy Parker once sat next to him at a dinner, and announced, “Mr. Coolidge, I’ve made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you.” To which our guy famously replied: “You lose.”

Parker got back at Coolidge a few years later, though, when a reporter asked for her reaction to the news that he had died: “How can they tell?” she said.

So, as we throw another knockwurst on the barbie, inhaling our 13^th or 14^th Red Stripe as July 4^th blends into the early morning hours of July 5^th – an extra Monday holiday! – we’ll lift a couple for not-so-Silent Cal.

Happy Independence Day(s) from Calbuzz.

P.S. This extraordinary series of images reminds us that until all creatures are liberated from the tyranny of man, none of us will truly be free.