Читать книгу Modern Americans - Grace Arlington Owen - Страница 3

Table of Contents

As I begin this story, I am seated in an old-fashioned hotel in a small village nestled amid the hills of Vermont. I have come all the way from the broad prairies of Illinois that I might catch a little of the spirit of Calvin Coolidge.

In his autobiography, Mr. Coolidge wrote: “Vermont is my birthright. Here one gets close to Nature, in the mountains and in the brooks, the waters of which hurry to the sea; in the lakes that shine like silver in their green setting; in the fields tilled, not by machinery, but by the brain and hand of man. My folks are happy and contented. They belong to themselves, live within their income, and fear no man.”

Yes, and I have met the folks of whom he boasts, and in conversing with them it seems easy for my mind to go back to the time when Mr. Coolidge was a barefoot boy, roaming amid these beautiful hills. In fact, everything about this rugged New England state, with its farmhouses and barns that were built so many years ago, seems to carry one back to the early history of our country.

As I looked upon the little country schoolhouse to which Mr. Coolidge used to go, I thought of this story. One time, many years ago, there lived a schoolmaster who had this unique custom. Every time he met a boy who attended his school, he would lift his hat. When asked why he did this, he replied, “Who can tell but that 10 one of these boys will some day become the chief ruler of the land; and inasmuch as I cannot tell which one it will be, I must lift my hat to them all.”

Surely if a teacher were to slight any of the boys, it would be the one with freckles and red hair, for never before in the history of our great country have we had a red-headed president.

Let us go back then in our imagination forty-four years and visit the little red schoolhouse at Plymouth, Vermont, that was then better known as the “Notch.”

To reach Plymouth is not easy, for it is eleven miles from Ludlow, which is the nearest railroad station, and the road from Ludlow is rough and hilly. When we reach Plymouth, we are likely to drive by, for the town is so small it doesn’t seem possible that a future President could have been born in such an out-of-the-way place.

The first man we meet in Plymouth is John Calvin Coolidge, the father of our President. We soon learn that he keeps the village store, shoes horses, collects insurance premiums, and runs a small farm. In conversing with him, we discover that he is of staunch American stock––in fact, he reminds us that his ancestors came to America in 1630, just ten years after the Pilgrims landed. In 1880, his grandfather moved to the hill country that is now known as “Vermont,” and for four generations the Coolidges have lived on the same farm.

But, we are not so much interested in the father as in the son, who, we are told, is at school. As we approach 11 the little country school, we observe that it is recess, and the children are playing. Soon young Calvin is pointed out and we try to get acquainted with him, but he is silent and bashful. From his teacher we learn that he has few friends and no enemies. Unlike the average freckled, red-headed boy, he is rarely teased and never gets into a fight. He is so modest and minds his own business so well, that the other pupils are inclined to leave him by himself. Rarely does he play any games––not even marbles or baseball. Later in life he bought a pair of skates, but was never known to wear them but once.

Young Calvin had no brothers and only one sister, Abigail, who died when she was fifteen. His mother also died when he was a lad of twelve, but his stepmother was always very kind to him. His own mother, however, was his idol and even to this day, President Coolidge carries in one of his pockets a gun metal case that holds a picture of his mother. Calvin’s father, in speaking of his son, says that he was always a great hand to work. He continues, “When Calvin was a boy on the farm, if I was going away and there was anything I wanted him to do, I would tell him; but when I came back, I never thought of going to see whether it had been done. I knew it was done.”

The following incident shows that he could not bear to leave his work undone. “One night an aunt who was sleeping in the house heard a strange noise in the kitchen. Hurriedly she put on her kimona, and went downstairs to see what the commotion might be. There she found 12 little Calvin filling the wood box, for he had forgotten to do so the night before. She tried to persuade him to wait until morning, but he would not return to bed until the job was finished, declaring that he could sleep better if the wood box were filled.”

No doubt, were we to ask President Coolidge to recall some of his boyhood experiences on the farm, he would tell us how he slid off the old, white mare and broke his arm so badly that the bone stuck out through the flesh, and how long it took to bring the doctor eleven miles over the rough road from Ludlow to set it. Or, he might tell us about the wall-eyed cow that the hired man hit with a milking stool and so frightened her that he could never milk her again. Alas, for Calvin; this meant that he had to get up at five o’clock each morning to help with the milking.

After completing his work in the country school, Calvin attended the Black River Academy in Ludlow where he graduated at the age of eighteen.

One September morning, the next fall, Calvin’s father hitched up the old, bay mare and drove his son to Ludlow where the boy took the train for Amherst College. At that time, the college had an enrollment of only about four hundred students.

While in college, young Coolidge lived very modestly, paying only $2.50 a week for room and board. His nickname in college was “Cooley.” We were able to learn very little about his college days. From one of his professors, 13 we learned that he never took part in athletic sports, never danced, and attended but few of the social functions of the school. We were able, however, to find the following in the Amherst Olio, the school paper:

“The class in Greek was going on, “Old Ty” a lecture read, And in the row in front there shown Fair ‘Cooley’s’ golden head. “His pate was bent upon the seat In front of him: his hair Old Tyler’s feeble gaze did meet, With fierce and ruddy glare. “O’ercome by mystic sense of dread “Old Ty” his talk did lull,–– ‘Coolidge, I wish you’d raise your head, I can’t talk through your skull.’”

While in college, his favorite studies were debating, philosophy, history and the political sciences. His greatest achievement came when he was a Senior. The Sons of the American Revolution had offered a prize for the best essay on “The Principles of the American Revolution.” The contest was open to all college students of America. Coolidge won first place.

After graduating from college, young Coolidge returned to the farm and worked all summer. That fall he went to Northampton, a mill town in Massachusetts, 14 where he entered the law office of Hammond & Field. Here, under the guidance of two able lawyers, he studied so hard that within less than two years he was admitted to the Bar. As soon as he became a full-fledged lawyer, he organized the law firm of Coolidge & Hemenway.

From this point his advancement was steady and rapid. There were no jumps in his career. In 1900, we see him City Solicitor; in 1904, Clerk of Courts; in 1907-1908, a member of the State Legislature; and in 1910, Mayor of Northampton. In 1912, he was elected a member of the State Senate, and in 1914 was chosen President of the Senate. In 1916-1917-1918, he was Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, and in 1919 was chosen Governor. He has been elected to every office for which he ever ran. This seems strange when we study him, for he is not considered a good speaker, does not resort to flattery, is a poor “mixer,” and is not attractive in appearance. But, possibly we are tired of the show-window type of politician, who does entirely too much talking. Those who know him best, admit that Coolidge has earned every promotion by attending strictly to the work he had in hand.

An event in 1919 made Governor Coolidge a National character. The Boston police force had organized a union and had planned to enter the American Federation of Labor. Edwin E. Curtis, Boston’s Chief of Police, declared they had no right to do this. Three-fourths of the policemen immediately went on a strike. The forces 15 of lawlessness broke loose and mob rule prevailed. Mr. Coolidge at once had nineteen leaders of the police force brought before him for trial. He held that the best interests of all the people could not tolerate any such conduct on the part of the policemen. His attitude was so sound and so firmly taken that he won the support of all law-abiding citizens. His position also met the approval of the Nation and at once he became a National figure.

While Mr. Coolidge was in Northampton, he married Grace Anna Goodhue, a teacher in the Clark School for the Deaf, at Northampton. She is a graduate of the University of Vermont. In many ways she is the exact opposite of the President; she is vivacious, attractive, tactful, and richly endowed socially. To this union have been born two sons, John and Calvin Coolidge, Jr.

When Mr. Harding was chosen President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge was elected Vice President. Upon the death of President Harding, Mr. Coolidge became President, and so faithfully did he discharge the duties of his office, that in 1924 he was chosen President by an overwhelming majority of the voters of the Nation.

The American people like President Coolidge because, like Lincoln, he belongs to the plain people. He understands and loves them; he is modest, sincere, and honorable. Even as a boy, he had a purpose, and willpower enough to carry it out. He works hard and speaks little, but when he does, the public listens to his wise counsel.

16

Photograph from Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.

THOMAS A. EDISON (On left)

The Greatest Inventor of All Time

17