We gather at this simple cemetery to honor two birthdays – the 225th anniversary of the birthday of our country in the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the 129th anniversary of the birthday of Calvin Coolidge, our 30th President. The former was in the largest city in the colonies and the latter occurred in this small village in rural Vermont.

From these humble beginnings in Plymouth, Coolidge went on to a life of public service in the political arena first in local politics in Northhampton, Massachusetts, second at the state level in the Massachusetts legislature and the Governor’s office, and finally at the national level, culminating in the highest office of the United States as its president.

One only has to read his speeches and other public utterances to know that one of his greatest loves was the study of American history. Time and again he articulated his admiration for the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. The second paragraph of the Declaration of ’76 held special meaning for him as it does for all of us:

We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…

In his speech of July 5, 1926 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence he spoke of the universal quality of the document:

There is something beyond the establishment of a new nation, great as that event would be, in the Declaration of Independence which has ever since caused it to be regarded as one of the great charters that not only was to liberate America but was everywhere to ennoble humanity.

One also sees Coolidge’s sense of evolutionary development in history:

Great ideas do not burst upon the world unannounced. they are reached by a gradual development over a length of time usually proportionate to their importance. This is especially true of the principles laid down in the Declaration of Independence.
It was a document, which emphasized three very definite propositions:
1. all men are created equal
2. that they are endowed with certain inalienable rights
3. source of the just powers of the government must be derived from the consent of
the governed

These ideas were important, but that was not what was most important:

It was not only the principles declared, but the fact that therewith a new nation was born which was to be founded upon those principles and which from that time forth in its development has actually maintained those principles, that makes this pronouncement an incomparable event in the history of government. It was the assertion that a people has arisen determined to make every necessary sacrifice for the support of these truths and by their practical application bring the War of Independence to a successful conclusion and adopt the Constitution of the United States with all that it has meant to civilization.

For Coolidge this government would be inclusive and open to all: “The government of the United States is a device for maintaining in perpetuity the rights of the people, with the ultimate extinction of all privileged classes.” - Presidential Address in Philadelphia, September 25, 1924

Prior to the 1920 ‘s when the KKK reached his highest ever membership, note Coolidge’s comments on the racial question near the end of World War I:

It is true that the German high command still couple American and African soldiers in intended derision. What they say in scorn, let us say in praise. We have fought before for the rights of all men irrespective of color. . .It would be fitting recognition of their worth to send our American Negro (troops), when that time comes, to inform the Prussian military despotism on what terms their defeated armies are to be granted peace.”
- Remarks to the Sommerville, Massachusetts, Republican city committee, August 7,1918

Two additional comments need to be made about Coolidge and his understanding of government First, he had a great faith in the people. Second, he often stressed the importance of the religious dimension, which informed so much of his life, in the development of ideas or ideals in the flow of history. Both of these understandings can be found in that same speech of 75 years ago. Let us look for a moment at that important religious factor:

Equality, liberty, popular sovereignty, the rights of man—these are not elements which we can see and touch. They are ideals. They have their source and their roots in religious convictions. They belong to the unseen world. Unless the faith of the American people in these religious convictions is to endure, the principles of our Declaration (of Independence) will perish.. We cannot continue to enjoy the result if we neglect and abandon the cause.

He went on to add words which still have relevance today: “Governments do not make ideals, but ideals make governments.”

May we also pause to reflect on great faith in the people. Again, we note those words from the Speech in Philadelphia: “Ours is a government of the people. It represents their will.” I can’t help but feel that in the words that followed he was reflecting on the scandals of the previous administration:

"Its officers may sometimes go astray, but that is not a reason for criticizing the principles of our institutions. The real heart of the American Government depends upon the heart of the people. It is from that source that we must look for all genuine reform. It is to that cause that we must ascribe all our results.”

In conclusion, I can’t help but recall some comments of Senator Robert Stafford, which I heard at an annual meeting when I first became a trustee of the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation. One thing, which impressed the Senator about Coolidge, was that a person of humble origins, born and raised in such a small town as Plymouth could one day become President of the United States. In this sense the Coolidge heritage still speaks to all Americans and particularly the youth of this country. It was Coolidge who perhaps said it best in his Autobiography: “We draw our Presidents from the people. It is a wholesome thing for them to return to the people. I came from them. I wish to be one of them again.” And so he did become one of them again returning to a simple half of a duplex on Massasoit Street in Northhampton, Massachusetts. True, he and Grace did have to seek more private and substantial surroundings when the press of the public became too great. And yet, as we stand in this cemetery and note the size of the tombstone, which marks his final resting-place, we are continually reminded of his humble origins, his humble spirit and his affinity with the people.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Coolidge, Calvin. “The Inspiration of the Declaration.” The Real Calvin Coolidge, No. 5,
Plymouth, Vermont: The Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation, 1987

Hannaford, Peter, ed. The Quotable Calvin Coolidge: Sensible words for a New Century.
Bennington, Vermont: Images from the Past, 2001.