Calvin Coolidge, born July 4: Hero to tea partiers

hosted ^ | Jul 3

[JoeProBono]

PLYMOUTH, Vt. (AP) -- In the Vermont hamlet where Calvin "Silent Cal" Coolidge was born, folks will celebrate his star-spangled birthday the way they always do....

[JoeProBono]

John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4, 1872 – January 5, 1933) was the 30th President of the United States (1923–1929). A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the 29th Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the sudden death of Warren G. Harding in 1923. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.

[Raider Sam]

I wish Obama would take a cue from Coolidge and just shut up for a few days.

[OneWingedShark]

His head would probably explode... but, then again, that wouldn’t be such a bad thing either.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Want Emperor Zero to shut up ? Hide his teleprompter.

[Fiji Hill]

His home in Plymouth Notch, Vt. is worth a visit. Here, one can see where he took the oath of office as president, administered by his father, a notary public. The tiny community has changed little since Coolidge’s day.

[Brilliant]

Put a cowboy hat on him in that photo, and you’d swear he’s GWB.

[JoeProBono]

This painting is displayed in the museum at Plymouth Notch, Vermont. The general store, with Calvin's birthplace in back, is at the left; behind it you can see the steeple of the church he attended; across the street and back is the Coolidge home; the white building nearer the right-hand edge of the picture is the hotel, and the red building is the Coolidge barn. This is how the town looked in the early 20th Century

[JoeProBono]

[LucyJo]

Makes me wish that I could step into that painting and back in time for a little while...visit with the folks there. : )

[onyx]

Wonderful post. Thank you, and I love the painting.

[KevinDavis]

I wished he did more to stop the nomination of Herbert Hoover....

[JoeProBono]

[Fiji Hill]

Up the street from the house was a cheese factory. A few years ago, it was still owned by the Coolidge family and still making cheese, but I don’t think that’s the case today.

[JoeProBono]

Torpedoman Second Class Henry Breault, USN (center) Receives the Medal of Honor from President Calvin Coolidge, in ceremonies at the White House, Washington, D.C., on 8 March 1924. Captain Adolphus Andrews, Presidential Naval Aide, is at left. Breault was awarded the Medal of Honor for "heroism and devotion to duty" during the sinking of USS O-5 (SS-66) on 28 October 1923. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

[Qbert]

In a sane world, he would be considered one of the best presidents in US history.

[JoeProBono]

By 1934, a year after Coolidge's death, the cheese factory had closed due to a "milk shortage in Vermont." ( !) It was revived in 1960 by the president's son, John and was producing 200, 000 pounds of cheese a year at its peak. It went under again in 1998 when John Coolidge sold the factory to the state of Vermont. The cheese was superlatively good, and many longtime fans of its qualities kept calling the Coolidge Site wanting to know when the cheese factory would be up and running again.

[onyx]

That’s a keeper! I’m bookmarking this thread.

[denydenydeny]

Minus the old-timey cars, much of Vermont still looks like that. Unfortunately, most people in Vermont today would consider someone with Silent Cal's beliefs a "dangerous extremist."

[JoeProBono]

[JoeProBono]

President Calvin Coolidge (left) and Lieutenant Junior Grade Thomas J. Ryan, Jr., USN (right) Photographed on 15 March 1924 at the White House after President Coolidge had presented the Medal of Honor to LtJG Ryan. He received the award for "extraordinary heroism" in rescuing a woman from the Grand Hotel at Yokohama, Japan, which was on fire after the Great Kanto earthquake, 1 September 1923. He was then attached to the American Embassy at Tokyo, Japan.