Final answer:
Calvin Coolidge's policies primarily benefited wealthy Americans with significant tax cuts and protective tariffs that, while creating some job opportunities through reinvestment, were mostly advantageous to affluent business interests and did little to directly assist factory workers, lower-income Americans, or immigrants.
Step-by-step explanation:
During his presidency, Calvin Coolidge enacted policies that generally benefited wealthy Americans. His administration saw a significant reduction in tax rates for the wealthiest, with rates dropping from over 70 percent to just above 20 percent. Moreover, the exemption levels were raised, which reduced the number of middle and upper-middle-class families required to pay federal taxes. While these tax cuts did allow for reinvestment and job creation led by entrepreneurs, they primarily favored business interests and the affluent.
The protectionist tariffs raised by Congress to shield US businesses had the effect of keeping consumer prices high and distressed some sections of society, like Southern farmers, due to retaliatory tariffs on American exports. As the economic benefits of the 1920s were built largely on consumer spending, it became clear later that the vast majority of Americans did not see substantial gains from these policies.
It was also argued that the accumulated wealth from tax reductions led to more speculation in real estate and the stock market rather than productive investments, contributing eventually to economic instability and the stock market crash. Therefore, the policies enacted during Coolidge's time predominantly advantaged the wealthy and did little to directly benefit factory workers, lower-income Americans, or immigrants.