Saturday, January 5, 2019

Calvin Coolidge - (No. 30) – Plymouth Notch, VT - Oct 6, 2018



Calvin Coolidge (No. 30) – Plymouth Notch, VT
October 6, 2018

Silent Cal (source:  wikipedia)
We visited Plymouth Notch, the village where President Calvin Coolidge was raised, at the beginning of October.  The tiny Vermont village is nestled in hills near the Green Mountains,. Unfortunately, the weather felt more like November than the beginning of October. It was overcast and mid-50s with a blustery wind. The buildings weren’t heated beyond space heaters, and we didn’t bring enough clothing.  We never got warm.
However, the area was beautiful with the hills covered in autumn reds, yellows, browns and greens.  Another plus: It was the weekend of the Plymouth Notch Antique Apple Fest, which meant a day full of extra activities and tasty treats. We got to sample pies, apples and cheeses, and saw some demonstrations scheduled especially for the event.

We found it appropriate that we had no cell phone service anywhere in or around Plymouth Notch.  While cities all over the country had installed newfangled amenities such as indoor plumbing and electricity by the 1920s, the village had not. When Coolidge became vice president, the village had to string a temporary telephone wire from the general store to the Coolidge house so Coolidge could stay in touch with Washington, DC.
* * *
Coolidge was the polar opposite of his predecessor, Warren Harding.  While Harding was handsome and sonorous, a contemporary journalist, called Coolidge “an inconspicuous, sour-faced man with a reputation for saying as little as possible and never jeopardizing his political position by being betrayed into a false move .“  (Lewis, 1931).  Lewis also called Coolidge a “pale and diffident Vermonter with a hatchet face, sandy hair, tight lips.  And to top it off, Coolidge had a high-pitched, nasal voice.

Harding was gregarious, while Coolidge was introverted.  At a dinner party, a woman seated next to Coolidge made a bet that she could get him to say more than two words.  Coolidge replied, “You lose.”  And that was the end of that.  Coolidge was so silent, he earned the nickname, “Silent Cal.”  His stingy use of words  made people kind of crazy and they tended to avoid social situations with him.  Edward Lowry, a journalist, called Coolidge “a politician who does not, who will not, who seemingly cannot talk.” (Shales, 2013).

While Harding liked to drink (he had big stash of alcohol in the White House), Coolidge respected Prohibition and avoided alcohol. 

While Harding’s administration was astoundingly corrupt, Coolidge’s was honest—once he cleaned up the bad actors from the Teapot Dome and other scandals.  Coolidge believed that power corrupted and he never accepted inappropriate gifts.  In fact, money was of little interest to Coolidge.  He was “thrifty to the point of harshness.” (Shales, 2013).

And while Harding liked to live big, Coolidge believed in hard work and frugal living. Coolidge’s presidential staff was issued one pencil at a time and was expected to use it all the way to the nub.   According to Shales ( 2013  ), “Those who did not use their pencils to the end were expected to return the stub.” He also cut the number of federal workers by about 100,000. 

Coolidge got his frugality from his father, Col. John Coolidge. That meant that the family used a “two-hole
Two hole privy in the
Coolidge home.
privy” even though flush toilets were being used by then. (Even President Rutherford B. Hayes had indoor plumbing in his house by 1880!.)  The Colonel also did not believe in modern day contraptions. As we mentioned, Plymouth Notch had to string a temporary phone wire so that Coolidge could be in touch with Washington when he visited.  The new phone sat on a chair in the “Oath of Office” room at the Coolidge homestead, and the Colonel promptly removed it to the porch once his son headed south to the nation’s capital.
Plymouth Notch was one of 17 tiny communities surrounding the town of Plymouth. The population of the area, including those communities, totaled 1,200. Three still exist — Plymouth Notch, Plymouth Union and Tyson — with a total population of 600.  In the 1920s, Plymouth Notch consisted of five families. 

Plymouth Notch, VT
The entire village has been preserved as it existed in the 1920s as a National Historic Landmark known as the Calvin Coolidge Homestead District. It’s preserved by the state of Vermont, which the Coolidge family specifically asked for because of their love of Vermont and Coolidge’s belief in limited federal government.
The village consists basically of two small roads and fewer than two dozen buildings. In the 1920’s, Plymouth Notch was self-sufficient and was home to the five families, a church, one-room schoolhouse, barns, cheese factory, a tavern / stagecoach depot, and a general store, which doubled as a post office. 

The historic site’s visitors center is only about five years old. It is fairly big, with an open area full of seating — rocking chairs and comfy couches.  We watched a 14-minute video about Coolidge and the town. 
Besides the main open area, the visitor’s center houses two big rooms full of memorabilia. One room features information about Coolidge’s Summer White Houses, while the other is about his presidency. It also has
Cathy questions Coolidge at the
vistiors center.
several interactive exhibits, including one where visitors stand at a lectern and ask the president questions (from a list), with a video of Coolidge answering. Cathy asked him what his biggest accomplishments were. He said it was keeping the country at peace, prosperity, and lack of turmoil.

We learned that Coolidge was the first president to light the national Christmas tree and appropriately, the tree was a Vermont fir fitted with electric lights.

The Coolidge family. 
Calvin Jr. is on the left.
(no copyright infringement intended)
We also learned that the Coolidge’s lost their oldest son, Calvin Jr., in the summer of 1924.  Only 16 years old, Calvin, Jr. played in a tennis game wearing shoes without socks.  He developed a blister that quickly became infected with staph.  His temperature shot up to 102 degrees.  Within a week he was dead. 

And we learned about “Thunderbolt.”  Thunderbolt was Coolidge’s 475 pound mahogany electric horse that he kept in the White House bedroom and rode for exercise. (He didn’t talk about Thunderbolt much.)
Coolidge had once been a progressive.  In 1915, while he was lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, he cast the deciding vote against showing the racist film “Birth of a Nation” in Boston.  But he changed once he became governor of Vermont.

When faced with a police strike in Boston in 1919, he called the state guard  to replace them, effectively firing the police. “The action of the police in leaving their posts of duty is not a strike.  It is a desertion,” he said.  He sent a telegram to Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, that read, “There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time.”  And the public supported Coolidge. 

Once in the White House, Coolidge was determined to follow Harding’s path of “normalcy,” a term denoting that the country should get back to business after the calamitous Great War.  This meant low taxes, tariffs and less government.  Regarding tariffs, Coolidge said, “My observation of protection is that it has been successful in practice.”

He also worked hard on reducing the nation’s lingering Great War debt; after the war the debt rose nine times to $27 billion.  Coolidge managed to cut the debt to $18 billion by the time he left office in 1929.  He had a surplus budget every year he was in office. “I regard a good budget as among the noblest monuments of virtue,” he said.

He also pushed for a smaller government and vetoed 50 bills while in office including the Bonus Bill that would have given money to veterans.   He also vetoed a farm subsidy bill that would have aided farmers hurt by tariffs.  “It is impossible to provide by law an assured success for those who engage in farming, he said.  (But Congress did end up providing a credit to the farmers.)

Coolidge continued Harding’s restrictions on immigration and signed a bill restricting immigration—including the exclusion of Japanese.  He did support immigration for those who would easily assimilate into the country.  Immigrants had to learn English and become familiar with American life. 

Coolidge was also able to achieve something that Woodrow Wilson had not.  He got Congress to ratify the Kellogg-Briand Treaty, a Great War-ending treaty that renounced “war as an instrument of national policy” (Lewis, 1931).  Congress ratified the treaty 85-1.

Coolidge was a progressive on race relations. “During the war 500,000 colored men and boys were called up under the draft, not one of whom sought to evade it,“ he noted.  He also wanted Congress to act against the lynchings that were rampant in the South (Shales, 2013).

And Coolidge was kind.  While staying at the Willard Hotel as vice president,  he once woke in the middle of the night to find a burglar in his room going through his belongings.  He gave the burglar a $32 loan and helped him escape the Willard and avoid the Secret Service agents guarding him.

It was Coolidge who appointed John Edgar Hoover (a.k.a. J Edgar Hoover) as chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Hoover would stay in office until he died in 1972.

Coolidge’s Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon—the third richest person in the United States—came up with the concept of “Scientific Taxation,” lowering tax rates to stimulate more economic activity and more revenue. “Taxes…force everyone to work for a certain part of his time for the government,” Coolidge said.  “I want the people of America to be able to work less for the government and more for themselves.”  He said that “the chief business of the American people is business.”  He worked with Congress to cut the top individual tax rate by 25 percent.

And it seemed to work.  The unemployment rate went down to 3.5%.  And the stock market eventually rose to the sky.  The Federal Reserve lowered the discount rate from 4 to 3.5 percent and added fuel to the fiery mania.  Mining output soared almost 250 percent.  Railway services also rose nearly 200 percent.  (It should be noted that both Mellon and Coolidge had some conflicts.  Mellon was said to still be very involved with Wall Street and Coolidge bought stocks while president.)

* * *

We were famished after our two-hour drive from the Albany airport, so we headed to the Wilder House.  This is an1830s era building that served as a tavern and stagecoach stop.  We ate modest but tasty turkey sandwiches and some hot tea in a room with a fireplace and about 16 wooden tables.

Coolidge family home.
Later, volunteer Cathy Jacob, a retired schoolteacher, greeted us at the barn of the family home.  She told us about the Coolidge family and some of the farming items displayed inside. 
She told us that Coolidge’s father, or Col. John, as he is known, wore many hats in town and was self-sufficient. He made his own tools, farmed his own land, and opened a cheese factory. If he needed a carriage, he built a carriage. When the family moved from the back of the General Store to a new house, he needed a barn. So he built one.

The Colonel taught young Calvin this self-sufficiency and hard work, traits that continued throughout the president’s life. As a boy, Calvin was up at 4 a.m. cutting wood for the fire. He needed a sap yoke for gathering maple sap, so he made one, Ms. Jacob explained. 

We explored the first floor of the house, where all the rooms were protected behind glass. The highlight of the tour is the Oath of Office room. 

Harding died on Aug. 2, 1923 at 7:30 p.m. in California, which was 10:30 p.m. on the East Coast.  A call was made to the Colonel’s home but nobody answered the phone.  It took until the dark hours of the morning for someone to drive from Bridgewater, six or seven miles away, to alert Coolidge that he was now the president. 

Oath of office room at the Coolidge
family home.
Since the Colonel was a notary, he figured he was the best person to swear in Coolidge, which he did by the light of a kerosene lamp.  The kerosene lamp and the pen Coolidge used to sign the oath rest on a small table.  When someone asked the Colonel how Calvin would do as president, he replied, “He’ll do fairly well.”

We later asked Ms. Jacob what she thought of Coolidge.  She called him a “very ethical man.” She pointed out that he was also frugal in life and balanced the federal budget.  She also noted that Coolidge cleaned up corruption in the Harding administration and fired the bad actors.

* * *

In 1924, Coolidge ran for his own term.  The Republicans Party came up with mottos such as “Brass tacks and common sense.”  They also printed up cards that showed an electric fan and read “Keep cool with Coolidge.” 

Coolidge ran against John Davis, the Democratic candidate as well as Independent Progressive Party candidate, Robert La Follette.  La Follette was legendary in Tom’s home state of Wisconsin, where he was known as “Fighting Bob La Follett.”  He ran on a platform of high taxes on the wealthy as well as public ownership of railroads.  But Coolidge beat them both.  He won 382 electoral votes while Davis won 136.  La Follette carried only Wisconsin.

Coolidge’s first full term was known for “Coolidge Prosperity” and the “Roaring 20s”.  Everyone wanted to be modern.  Car ownership grew from 6.7 million in 1919 to 23.1 million in 1929.  And there was a radio in every third home. 

Tests of endurance were common.  The most well-known was Charles Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic in a single propeller plane, the Spirit of St. Louis.  He flew for 33 straight hours without sleep.  The dance marathon craze also began in the 20s, with couples dancing for days to win prize money. 

The modern look for women was thin.  “Flappers” would wear long-waisted dresses, with short or no sleeves.  She had short hair and some makeup.  She held a cigarette in one hand (cigarette consumption doubled between 1919 and 1930)  and a drink in the other (Lewis, 1931).

The bull market kept rising—and everyone wanted in.  By 1927, margin accounts had risen to $3.6 billion and securities had gotten complicated.  According to Lewis (1931),“supersalesmen of securities were selling…shares of investment trusts which held stock in holding companies which owned the stock of banks which had affiliates which in turn controlled holding companies…”

And, even though Prohibition was in full swing, the liquor continued to flow.  Essentially Prohibition meant that people could consume alcohol but they were prohibited from making it or selling it.  Eight-five percent of sitting Congressmen drank (Tagatz, 2018).

People drank in “speakeasies” most of which were not as interesting as in the movies. People would go in, buy a drink and get out fast (Tagatz, 2018).

Eighty-five percent of the liquor came across Canadian border, mostly in Detroit.  Smugglers used fast cars and speedboats to bring in the liquor.  As the Feds got wiser, so did the smugglers.  They put false gas tanks in cars and filled them with alcohol.  They even used hearses to bring liquor over in caskets—with and without bodies.  When the Feds started checking for bodies, the smugglers included bottles in the caskets along with the bodies.  Three funeral homes rented bodies. (Tagatz, 2018)

There were not nearly enough prohibition agents to control the liquor, with a little over 2,800 by 1930.   And these agents were not adequately trained and were susceptible to corruption.  The government estimated that they were only stopping five percent of the liquor. 

People branched out into other forms of alcohol.  They got doctors to prescribe medicines with alcohol.  Walgreen’s had 20 pharmacies in 1917 and by the end of Prohibition, it had 500.  And people created forms of alcohol that were not safe;  10,000 people died from alcohol poisoning (Tagatz, 2018).   

One reason for Prohibition was to reduce crime but instead it “exploded.”  Chicago had 91 gangs alone. Al Capone, the king of the gangsters, got most of his money from smuggling beer and liquor.  The weapons of choice were machine guns and bombs, with 157 bombs exploding in Chicago alone 1927 and 1929 (Tagatz, 2018).

* * *
The Union Christian Church.  The
Coolidges sat in the first pew on the left.

After the Coolidge homestead, we visited the Union Christian Church, where we discovered pies.  Back in the 20s, Coolidge and his family walked across the road to the wooden church.  They sat in the second row on the left side. (An American flag on the left marks the row.)   

The tasty pies.
Because it was the Apple Fest, we discovered Anne Collins, author of “Vintage Pies,” standing at a table in the church discussing some of the discoveries she made while researching old-time recipes. And we showed up just in time for her samples. She had three pies to choose from: The boiled cider pie — which is just what it says it is — you boil down cider for about a day to turn it into a jelly for the filling; the Marlboro Pie, which is from the 1700s and is basically an apple and egg custard, with some sherry thrown in; and the pork apple pie, which she said was Coolidge’s favorite. This is a basic apple pie, but bakers back then used pork fat instead of butter for the coagulant during tough times to save money. The boiled cider pie was very sweet, and the pork apple pie was tasty. Near the end of her sample, Cathy could taste the pork, though.

* * *

By the end of his last term, Coolidge was overwhelmed by events including the twin floods of  1927.  The first in the spring, was the largest Mississippi River flood in recorded history.  More than 200 people died, and hundreds of thousands of mostly African American citizens lost their homes. But Coolidge didn’t see a role for the Federal government.  He said that “The federal departments have no funds for relief” (Shales, 2013).  Coolidge didn’t even visit the devastated area.   Ironically, in November of that year, massive floods hit his home state and dozens of people perished.  Again, he resisted federal intervention.  But he was pressed to provide funding both by Vice President Herbert Hoover and by Congress.  He eventually did sign the Flood Control Act of 1928 giving the Corps of Engineers the authority and funds to try to tame the mighty Mississippi River.  It was the biggest expenditure since the Great War, and deficit cutting was over.

Constructing Mount Rushmore.
(no copyright infringement intended)
In South Dakota in1928 Coolidge set up his final Summer White House.  While there, he was  involved in the beginning of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial.  It was to be a monument to the presidents that would last until eternity.  Coolidge met with the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum.  Borglum wanted Coolidge to write the inscription for the tablet, but he never got around to it.  However, he did give the dedication speech. 

On August 2, 1928 he called reporters together in Rapid City, SD.  He handed slips of papers to reporters that stated:  “I do not choose to run for President in nineteen twenty eight.”  He made no speech and would not comment. 

The public was shocked.
* * *

We also visited some sheep, including one forlorn sheep on display that had just donated a coat full  of wool. Wow, they are furry creatures. You have no idea how much wool one sheep can produce until you see the pile
Cathy offers sympathy to
shorn sheep.
after a sheep shearing.  We wanted to put the wool back on the sheep to keep it warm.

The General Store also operates as the post office, and Coolidge’s Summer White House was created in the dance hall above it. It’s a big, open area, perfect for dancing, and includes four desks. It was serviceable, since it could hold many staffers, but isn’t exactly the Oval Office.

We can thank the town’s residents for the preservation of Plymouth Notch. They realized the need in the summer of 1924, when Coolidge visited for a 12-day vacation and established the Summer White House there. Swarming the town were thousands of reporters, 18 Secret Service agents and gawkers, all of who discussed the very small-town nature of the community.  (The village was so busy for those 12 days that the postmaster, who averaged $50 a summer, earned $1,500 during the period, since she was paid based on postage sold.)

Interestingly, the church was not originally preserved by the state with the rest of the village, because it was still operating as a church and state officials abided by the Constitution’s separation of church and state. Even now, the church is owned by the Coolidge Foundation, while the rest of the village is run by the state.
* * *

Coolidge left office in 1929 and retired to Plymouth Notch with his beloved wife, Grace  He spent his final days working on his property, walking the hills, and writing his autobiography and newspaper articles.

As he lived his life, he died his death.  A heart attack claimed him on January 5, 1933.   At his request, he had a short funeral with no eulogy and a service that lasted only 22 minutes. 

He rests in the cemetery of Plymouth Notch in his beloved state of Vermont.  He once said: “Vermont is the state I love. I could not look upon the peaks of Ascutney, Killington, Mansfield and Equinox without being moved. It was here that I saw the first light of day; here that I received my bride.  Here my dead lie buried, pillowed among the everlasting hills.  I love Vermont because of her hills and valleys, her scenery and invigorating climate.”

* * *

When we left for the day, Tom asked the woman manning the visitor’s desk what she thought of Coolidge.  She replied, “I’m so busy at this point that I don’t have time to think about  Calvin Coolidge.”  A terse, candid answer that he would have appreciated.

Directions

Plymouth Notch is located approximately two-hours from either Albany, NY or Manchester, VT.  Admission is $10 for adults and $2 for children.  The grounds are open from May until the end of October.

References

Allen, Frederick Lewis.  1931.  Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s.  Harper Perennial Modern Classics. 

Shales, Amity.  2013.  Coolidge.  Harper Perennial.  New York, NY.

Tagatz, Robert.  2018.  Resident historian lecture at Grand Hotel, Mackinaw Island, MI.  July 9, 2018

Videos

History Channel.  2005.  The Presidents:  The Lives and Legacies of the 43 Leaders of the United States.

Websites
https://millercenter.org/president/coolidge/life-after-the-presidency

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