Newsletter – sPrING 2011 Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation STRAIGHT TALK Charter Sponsors Herbert C. Hoover Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower To Speak in Plymouth Notch in July 2011 John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson he Calvin Coolidge Me- Justice Breyer was born in San Francisco, Cal- John Coolidge Tmorial Foundation is ifornia on August 15, 1938. He received an A.B. Jacqueline B. Kennedy pleased to announce that from Sanford University, a B.A. from Magdalen Paul Mellon Stephen G. Breyer, Associate College, Oxford, and an L.L.B from Harvard Law Honorary Advisors Justice of the Supreme Court School. His career includes service as a law clerk Jimmy Carter Nancy Reagan of the United States, will be to Justice Arthur Goldberg of the U.S. Supreme the featured guest, on Friday, Court, service in the U.S. Justice Department and Honorary Chair July 29, 2011, at its new Cen- with the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Profes- 50th Anniversary Gala Caroline Kennedy ter in Plymouth Notch, Vermont. Justice Breyer sor at the Harvard Law School and the Harvard will discuss his recently published book, Making University Kennedy School of Government, and Officers Robert P. Kirby Our Democracy Work: A Judge’s View. This will Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals President, Board of Trustees be the first public appearance by Justice Breyer in for the First Circuit. Mimi Baird Vice President Vermont since he took his seat on the Supreme On the eve of the publication of Making Our Gerard E. Jones Court on August 3, 1994, and the Foundation is Democracy Work, Justice Breyer was interviewed Vice President marking this special occasion with a festive cel- Barbara S. O’Connell by Jeffery Toobin of theNew Yorker Magazine. Part Acting Executive Director ebration to honor the Justice and the Foundation’s of the interview took place as they paddled across Frank J. Barrett, Jr. 51st anniversary. Full details of the event will be Secretary the pond at the Breyer family summer home in Richard B. North forthcoming. continued on page 2 Treasurer Trustees Milton F. Campbell, MD Daniel W. Churchill Speaking of Coolidge Arthur E. Crowley, Jr. Michael M. Galbraith he Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation written for the Financial Times and the Wall Street Janice C. Graham is very excited about its fantastic, upcom- Journal, where she was an editorial board member, Roby Harrington, III T Christopher C. Jeter ing series of presenters scheduled to speak in July as well as for the New Yorker, Fortune, National Andrew T. Kostanecki and early August at the beautiful new auditorium Review, The New Republic, and Foreign Affairs. Thomas A. Murray of the Calvin Coolidge Museum and Education Catherine M. Nelson Jay Parini Hon. Alice W. Nitka Center in Plymouth Notch. Dean P. Phypers Next in the series on July David H. Roberts Amity Shlaes John S. Reidy 13, 2011 is Jay Parini of Middle- Owen J. Stearns The series will open on bury College who has written Susan A. Sundstrom Wednesday, July 6 at 4:00 biographies of Robert Frost, National Advisory Board p.m. with a presentation by William Faulkner, and John Bryan T. Allen Hon. Randolph D. Brock Amity Shlaes, author of The Steinbeck. His most recent Alvin S. Felzenberg Greedy Hand, a national best- book is his biographical novel Wyatt R. Haskell Hon. Vincent Illuzzi seller and The Forgotten Man, on Herman Melville, The Passages of H.M., which Sarwar A. Kashmeri a New History of the Great followed The Last Station: A Novel of Tolstoy’s Life, Patricia Krider James H. Ottaway, Jr. Depression. Shlaes is currently working on a new which was made into a movie starring Helen Mir- Leni Preston biography of Calvin Coolidge, expected to make its ren, Christopher Plummer, and Paul Giamatti. He Amity Shlaes appearance in 2012. She is a senior fellow in eco- is also a poet, as well as author of Promised Land: David M. Shribman Cal Thomas nomic history at the Council on Foreign Relations Thirteen Books that Changed America. Jerry L. Wallace and a syndicated columnist at Bloomberg. She has continued on page 2 Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation • www.calvin-coolidge.org • 802.672.3389 1 Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer continued from page 1 New Hampshire. Toobin refers to Justice Breyer’s distracted Joseph Ellis air complemented by a sunny disposition and congeniality, a August 10, 2011 Pulitzer Prize win- temperament that “lends itself to compromise,” and charac- ner Joseph Ellis will discuss his new biog- terizes the new book as a “full accounting of his judicial phi- raphy First Family: John and Abigail Ad- losophy, one that allows the federal government wide latitude ams. He is a professor at Mt. Holyoke Col- in addressing society’s problems.” lege, and resides in Amherst, Massachu- Justice Breyer is known as an engaging, enthusiastic setts, with a second home in Plymouth. speaker, his oratorical skills formed as a captivating professor This will be Dr. Ellis’ second appearance and a thoughtful, inspirational judge. with the Coolidge Foundation. His other An attorney himself, President Coolidge only had one books include His Excellency George Washington and Ameri- chance to appoint a Justice to the U.S. Supreme Court – Har- can Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson. lan Fiske Stone of New Hampshire, who had been Coolidge’s The “Speaking of Coolidge” series is held on Wednes- Attorney General. Stone was later elevated to Chief Justice by day afternoon at 4 PM. The public is invited to join us and President Franklin Roosevelt. Judge Breyer is a jurist in the urge you to ask your friends and family to accompany you to tradition of Judge Stone. Coolidge’s Plymouth Notch. Come early to tour the site and stay after to enjoy light refreshments on the terrace. There is For further information regarding the appearance by Justice Breyer, please contact the Coolidge Foundation offices (802) 672-3389 or go no charge to Coolidge members. The non-member charge is to www.calvin-coolidge.org. $8 per person, per event. For current details, please check our web site Speaking of Coolidge continued from page 1 www.calvin-coolidge.org or call 802.672.3389 Nicholas R. Clifford On July 20, 2011, Nicholas R. Clif- ford, Professor Emeritus at Middlebury College will discuss The Troubled Roar of the Waters: Vermont in Flood and Re- covery, 1927-1931, written by him and his late wife Deborah Clifford. It was following the 1927 flood that President Coolidge delivered the oft quoted speech “Vermont Is the State I Love.” Clifford was a member of the Middlebury Col- lege History Department from 1966 through 1993, served for roughly eight years as provost, and after his retirement be- came a trustee, and was co-chair of the College’s Bicentennial Celebration Committee. The Troubled Roar was their first col- laborative work, and in 2008 was a co-winner of the Vermont Historical Society’s Hathaway Award. William Henkel On July 27, 2011 William Henkel will discuss his experiences as a long time White House staff member. He began his career during the Nixon Administration, served in the Advance Office under Presi- The Calvin Coolidge dents Nixon and Ford, including as Direc- Memorial Foundation tor of the Advance Office from 1973 to 1975. In 1975 he was named Deputy Secretary of Commerce for Economic Devel- Is Going GREEN opment Operations. When President Ford left office, Henkel left Government service for a position with the brokerage firm Start receiving Merrill Lynch. He returned to work for President Reagan and your newsletters by email remained in the White House until 1987, rising to the position of Special Assistant to the President and Director of Presiden- Contact us at tial Advance. He now resides in Manchester, Vermont. [email protected] 2 Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation • www.calvin-coolidge.org • 802.672.3389 Orton Family Honors Vrest Orton with $250,000 Capital Campaign Gift served in the Pentagon assisting with publicity for industrial production programs. Following the war, he established the Vermont Country Store in Weston and became the motivat- ing force in the village’s revitalization. In 1949, Vrest Orton was appointed to the Vermont Historic Sites Commission and served as its Chairman from 1951 to 1959, an appointee of Governors Lee E. Emerson and Joseph B. Johnson. During most of his tenure there were only three active commissioners aided by a part time execu- tive secretary. Their accomplishments are legendary: identi- fication of historic sites and installation of historic markers; acceptance and restoration of the Hyde Log Cabin of Grand Isle; acquisition and restoration of the Wilder House and Wilder Barn in Plymouth Notch; restoration of the presiden- tial gravesite; management of the Hubbardton Battlefield and John Coolidge thanks Vrest Orton August 3, 1957 construction of a visitor center/museum; construction of a replica of the Chester Arthur birthplace in Fairfield; initiation yman Orton and his sons Cabot, Gardner, and Eliot of the program to preserve covered bridges; oversight of the LOrton have honored their father and grandfather, Vrest Bennington Battle Monument, the establishment of the North Orton, by donating $250,000 to the Coolidge Foundation’s American Association of Historic Sites Public Officials with 50th Anniversary Capital Campaign. The entire foundation its first meeting held in Woodstock, Vermont where Vrest Or- family extends their heartfelt gratitude to the Orton family ton was elected president. His culminating accomplishment for this fantastic gift. was the transfer of the Coolidge Homestead to the State of Vermont which following years of discussions between Vrest Vrest Orton (1897-1986) played a seminal role in the Orton and John Coolidge.