7.1.02 @ 12:03AM
Of our 43 presidents, only one was born on the anniversary of Independence Day.
Of our 43 presidents, only one -- Calvin Coolidge -- was born on
the anniversary of Independence Day. It was in 1872 on a small farm
in Vermont where the emphasis was on simplicity, learning, respect
for hard work, thrift, the principles of representative democracy
and a deep belief in God. Independence Day was not only his
birthday, it also symbolized for him the genius of the American
experiment.
When we think of Coolidge today -- if we think of him at all --
it is as "Silent Cal," a man of few words. In fact, he had a lot to
say, but he used words economically, without adornment. His Yankee
upbringing and a classical education at Amherst College combined to
give him a way of expressing himself that was, at once, both simple
and eloquent.
In July 1926, President Coolidge was in Philadelphia to
commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of
Independence. He was the last president to write all of his own
speeches. A latter-day presidential speechwriter would have a hard
time improving on what the 30th president said at Philadelphia:
"If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are
endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments
derive their just power from the consent of the governed, that is
final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these
propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth and their
soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically
is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no
equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those
who wish to proceed in that direction cannot lay claim to progress.
They are reactionary." It would be hard to improve on that.
Coolidge's era, the Twenties, had some parallels to our own:
unprecedented prosperity, great technological innovation, emphasis
on material gain, but also a widespread thirst for deeper values,
for moral grounding. He was the antithesis of the stereotype that
comes down to us from the Twenties -- flappers, bathtub gin, fast
cars and dancing. He constantly appealed to the higher instincts of
the people. For example, he once said, "Prosperity is only an
instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshipped." In a
newspaper article after he left the White House, he wrote,
"...wealth is not an end, but a means. We need it only for the use
we can make of it. The real standard of life is not one of quantity
but of quality; not of money, but of character."
Too bad the corner-cutters and rule-benders at Enron, Arthur
Anderson, Worldcom, Tyco and a handful of other "go-go" companies
were never treated to a lecture from Silent Cal. Then again, they
all seemed to be following the ruling passion of the Nineties. That
is, that the end justifies the means. For Bill Clinton, it meant
doing whatever was necessary to get to the White House and to stay
there, including letting his allies loose to destroy the
reputations of anyone who dared criticize him. For the go-go
corporate chieftains, it was bookkeeping trickery and endless
acquisitions that carried them to greater and greater heights. That
is, until their respective bubbles burst.
Coolidge would have had a low opinion of the whole bunch. He had
an almost mystical reverence for public service. Today, talk of
public service often produces yawns from those who hear it, but for
Coolidge, rectitude and a sense of duty were genuine.
As president, he believed in minimalist government, one that
should stand aside in areas where it was not needed. His
growth-oriented tax policies led to great expansion of prosperity.
He produced balanced budgets annually and reduced the national debt
by approximately $1 billion each year he was in office. And,
shortly after taking office upon the sudden death of President
Warren Harding, he cleaned up the scandals that erupted from that
administration.
Coolidge would be dismayed by the incessant attacks nowadays
upon references to God in our national symbols and institutions. He
considered the "inalienable rights" referred to in the Declaration
of Independence as being God-given. So did the nation's founders.
Coolidge put it this way: "The foundation of our independence and
our government rests upon our basic religious convictions." Those
convictions guided this son of the Fourth of July all of his
life.
topics:
Education, Bill Clinton
