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Calvin Coolidge: the Father of Modern American Conservatism

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Calvin Coolidge: the Father of Modern American Conservatism FIRST PRINCIPLES FOUNDATIONAL CONCEPTS TO GUIDE POLITICS AND POLICY MAKERS OF AMERICAN POLITICAL THOUGHT NO. 06 | FEBRUARY 20, 2013 Calvin Coolidge: Forefather of Our Conservatism Joseph Postell, PhD alvin Coolidge is the only Early Life Progressivism, his greatest legacy as CPresident in American his- John Calvin Coolidge was born in President is his incredible reduction tory born on the Fourth of July. It Plymouth Notch, Vermont, in 1874. in spending and taxes and the eco- is appropriate that he bears this Most of what we know of Coolidge’s nomic prosperity that resulted from distinction, since Coolidge—more so early life comes directly from his his policies. than any other President of the 20th autobiography. His father was a rela- Sadly, Coolidge’s mother died century—embodied a dedication tively prominent public offi cial who from wounds suff ered in a carriage to the principles that the Founders served in the Vermont state Senate. accident when Coolidge was 12. “Life fought to establish in the American The time spent with his father as was never to seem the same again,” Revolution. In addition, he lived at a young boy had a profound eff ect on Coolidge wrote of the feeling of los- a time when these principles came Coolidge’s political views. From his ing his mother.3 Just a few years later, under radical assault, and Coolidge, a father’s experience, Coolidge later he lost his sister, Abigail, to what fi erce critic of Progressivism, off ered wrote, “I came to have a good work- was likely appendicitis. These tragic one of the greatest defense of these ing knowledge of the practical side events surely had some eff ect on principles. He is an intellectual of government. I understood that Coolidge, who was to experience a far and political forefather of modern it consisted of restraints which the more traumatic loss when his young- American conservatism. people had imposed upon themselves est son died at the age of 16. in order to promote the common The stories that survive from welfare.”1 He learned that “when Coolidge’s upbringing paint a pic- taxes were laid some one had to work ture of a spry and clever lad with a to earn the money to pay them. I saw core of profound seriousness.4 He This paper, in its entirety, can be found at that a public debt was a burden on all attended the Black River Academy, http://report.heritage.org/MAPT-06 the people in a community.”2 where he was trained in the classics. Produced by the B. Kenneth Simon Center Coolidge therefore learned at He excelled in Latin and read a lot of for Principles and Politics an early age the importance of fi s- Cicero (he was particularly fond of The Heritage Foundation cal restraint and the evils of exces- the orations against Cataline). 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002 sive government debt. These les- Every graduate from the acad- (202) 546-4400 | heritage.org sons stuck with him throughout his emy gave a speech at the graduation Nothing written here is to be construed as necessarily political career, and aside from his ceremony; Coolidge’s speech, reveal- refl ecting the views of The Heritage Foundation or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill eloquent defense of the Founders ingly, was called “Oratory in History.” before Congress. and his thoughtful critique of The speech addressed “the eff ect MAKERS OF AMERICAN POLITICAL THOUGHT | NO. 06 FEBRUARY 20, 2013 Calvin Coolidge Born July 4, 1872, in Plymouth Notch, Vermont, to John Calvin Coolidge Sr. and Victoria Josephine Moor (Coolidge). Education Attended Black River Academy and Amherst College. Apprenticed with the Hammond & Field law firm. Religion Congregationalism Family Married Grace Anna Goodhue in 1905, with whom he had two sons, John (born 1906) and Calvin Jr. (born 1908). Highlights • Massachusetts House of Representatives (1907–1908). • Mayor of Northampton, Massachusetts (1910–1911). • Massachusetts State Senate (1912–1915); President from 1914–1915. • Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (1916–1918). • Governor of Massachusetts (1919–1920). • Vice President of the United States (1921–1923). • President of the United States (1923–1929). • Author of The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929) and three volumes of his greatest speeches: Have Faith in Massachusetts (1919), The Price of Freedom (1924), and Foundations of the Republic (1926). Died January 5, 1933, of a heart attack in Northampton, Massachusetts. Notable Quote “American ideals do not require to be changed so much as they require to be understood and applied.” of the spoken word in determining fellow residents most with his sense languages, Italian and French in human action.”5 Little did he know of humor. During one meal in which particular. Years later, a foreign dip- as a young graduate that generations he and his boardmates were served lomat quipped that Coolidge, a.k.a. later, Americans would study his spo- hash, Coolidge took one look at the “Silent Cal,” could be “silent in five ken words to determine their actions hash and asked the server to “Bring languages.” in politics. me the cat.” During his junior and senior years, Yet Coolidge’s impishness also At Amherst Coolidge discovered Coolidge gained a reputation on cam- shone through on several occa- his passion for great books, great pus as a talented orator. He was heav- sions. When he enrolled at Amherst ideas, and great deeds. He also ily influenced by two of his profes- College in 1891, he impressed his developed his liking for modern sors: Anson D. Morse, whose courses 1. Calvin Coolidge, The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge, paperback ed. (Plymouth, Vt.: Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation, 1989), p. 25. 2. Ibid., p. 26. 3. Ibid., p. 13. 4. For my description of many of these early events, I rely heavily on Robert H. Ferrell, The Presidency of Calvin Coolidge (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1988), pp. 1–21, and Coolidge’s The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge. 2 MAKERS OF AMERICAN POLITICAL THOUGHT | NO. 06 FEBRUARY 20, 2013 in history taught Coolidge (among Coolidge launched himself into Coolidge was elected Lieutenant other things) to value the American politics. His first elected office was a Governor of Massachusetts in 1915 party system for its contributions to one-year term in the Northampton and Governor of Massachusetts a well-functioning democracy, and common council. The only election in 1918. He rose to prominence the Charles E. Garman, a philosophy he lost was in 1905, when he ran for following year, when the Boston and psychology professor who was the school board. Police Department went on strike very close to the Pragmatist thinker That same year, he married in response to suspension of its William James. Perhaps as a result a young teacher named Grace union leaders by Boston Police of Garman’s influence, Coolidge was Goodhue. His devotion to her was Commissioner Edwin Curtis. drawn to Progressive political phi- so great that he translated Dante’s Coolidge acted decisively, calling up losophy and policies during the early Inferno into English during their the National Guard and taking con- years of his political career, before he courtship. In 1906, he returned trol of the police force. When chal- rejected Progressivism and gained to politics and won consecutive lenged by Samuel Gompers, the head prominence as a conservative. terms in the Massachusetts state of the American Federation of Labor, Upon his graduation from Amherst legislature. Coolidge asserted: “There is no right in 1895, Coolidge became appren- Coolidge emerged as a lead- to strike against the public safety ticed to John C. Hammond and Henry er of the Republican ranks in by anyone, anywhere, any time.”6 P. Field, two prominent lawyers in Massachusetts after he unseated the Coolidge’s forceful treatment of the Northampton, Massachusetts. (Most president of the state Senate in 1913. public employee union reverberated American lawyers received their His unique political demeanor imme- throughout the nation and brought training through apprenticeship diately attracted attention. In an age him national notoriety. prior to 1900, when states began to where politicians were increasingly limit admission to the bar to gradu- gregarious and ostentatious, the seri- “We drAW OUR PRESIDENTS FROM ates of law schools.) During the day, ous and taciturn Coolidge stood out. THE PEOPLE. IT IS A WHOLESOME he prepared legal documents, and in As president of the state Senate, the evenings, he continued to study he had his first of many encounters THING FOR THEM TO RETURN TO THE the classics: the speeches of Daniel with Frank W. Stearns, a prominent PEOPLE. I CAME FROM THEM. I WISH Webster, the literary works of John Boston businessman. As Stearns TO BE ONE OF THEM AGAIN.” Milton and Shakespeare. Drawing on related the event, he met Coolidge in his classical education, he translated an office with a single desk and chair, Though not among the front-run- speeches of Cicero on the worth of in which Coolidge sat. Stearns was ners when the Republican National reading literature. forced to stand while he asked for a Convention opened in Chicago in The deepening of his reading legislative favor from Coolidge. As 1920, Coolidge eventually emerged and appreciation for the classics Coolidge became more interested in as Warren G. Harding’s running would serve him well during his Stearns’s proposal, he walked over mate in the critical presidential political career. He also received to a closet, unlocked the door, and election of 1920. Harding and an award from the Sons of the grabbed a chair for his guest. When Coolidge won a landslide victory American Revolution for an essay the meeting concluded, Coolidge against James Cox and Franklin on “The Principles Fought for in the put the chair back in the closet and Delano Roosevelt: Their margin American Revolution.” locked the door.
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