We're a day late on our 30th President's birthday, but that's just going to happen sometimes. Sorry Herbert Hoover (it's MY birthday), and Eisenhower (we're going to Mexico!) and whoever happens to fall fair/Cedar Point week (I know there's a couple). I do the best I possibly can to celebrate on the actual day, but I can't always do it. So, I apologize Cal. You understand.
The boys awake (very late, they've had a busy week) to their owl mail all about Calvin Coolidge.
After lunch we got to the timeline. Honestly, I could have done a better job with this one, I was a bit ill prepared, I forgot to grab a few toys and a whole page of my props didn't print out and I didn't notice it until I was doing the timeline. But, Asa was here to take pictures, so I did what I could.
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was born on the fourth of July in 1872 in Vermont. His dad, John, was a farmer and a store keeper, but he was also into politics. He got elected to the Vermont State House of Representatives just a few months after his first son was born.
Now, we're breaking from our traditional presidential parents here, because John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was a redhead! In case you need a refresher we have 7 presidents considered to be redheads: Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, Van Buren, Grant, Eisenhower and Coolidge.
Calvin (which he didn't go by until college), was the oldest of two kids. He had a younger sister, Abbie. His mother, Victoria, was pretty sickly though, and with his father away politic-ing or whatever, his (not so nice) grandmother raised him.
It wasn't just like she wasn't super affectionate or caring (think Sam Grants mom), his grandma was sort of emotionally abusive. You see, his dad never thought Calvin would amount to much. He told him so too, and Calvin would do everything to try and please him everything. Calvin worked super hard in school, and tried never to make mistakes. But, sometimes he would over sleep or something and not be exactly on time. His punishment? He'd be locked in the cold, dark attic, and left by himself for days at a time.
This got worse when his mother, Victoria, died when Calvin was just 12. He and his sister Abbie became very close, but Calvin would spend hours talking to his dead mother. He's write her letters, and talk to her as though she were still living (something he did his ENTIRE life). I guess it was a way to pass the time in the cold, dark attic.
Cal spent his childhood doing everything he could to please his father, but always to no avail. He was a shy and quiet kid, but he excelled at school, and did his chores (he especially liked 'making' maple syrup). Nobody really cared though, because nothing Calvin did would be good enough for his mean grandma and his detached father. Then, six years after his mom died, more tragedy, when Cal's younger sister Abbie died of an appendicitis.
Cal tried to get through to his dad, and wrote him letters about how he was still talking to Abbie and his mom. He told his father how lonely and depressed he was.
So what did John Sr. do? He paid no attention, ripped up the letters, and never responded.
Cal went off to college, where he did well (still with no acknowledgement from his dad that he would ever become anything). He remained pretty shy and quiet, but his grades were good and he became a lawyer (because that's apparently what you did if you wanted to be president someday.)
Cal made a name for himself settling most of his cases out of court, and businesses liked him. He was a good public speaker, but still very shy.
One day, when Cal was shaving (wearing only his trademark hat and long underwear) Grace spotted him through an open window. Grace, a school teacher for the deaf, was fun, and charismatic, and people really took to her. She wasn't shy, really the complete opposite of Calvin. Grace was dating some guy, but after spending time with Calvin and some mutual friends, she dumped him. And despite the fact that Grace's mother LOATHED Cal (thinking he'd never amount to anything, a common theme with him), Grace went ahead and married him anyway.
Now living in Massachusetts, Calvin got into politics when his law firm partners introduced him into the Republican Party. Calvin and his law firm partners even helped campaign for William McKinley.
Cal, himself, then ran for office and was elected to the Massachusetts State House of Representatives. Soon after Grace had their first son, John.
A couple years later their second son, Calvin Jr. was born.
Grace later taught the whole family sign language so they could talk to each other and nobody else would know what they were saying.
After serving in the state legislature, Calvin went on to become maybe or North Hampton, Massachusetts. Believe it or not, only three presidents have ever been mayor: Calvin, Grover Cleveland, and Andrew Johnson.
Calvin was a really frugal guy (in fact he preferred to rent because he didn't want the banks to have that much power over him, and he always spread his money around so it wasn't in one bank). He let his frugality leak over to his town as well, and really helped turn around the budget, which helped him get elected Governor of Massachusetts.
In case you're keeping track, his dad AND mother in law still were not impressed.
But Cal worked hard to gain their approval anyway (probably thinking a dark cold attic lurked behind any corner). In 1919 the Boston Police went on strike. Obviously, with zero police presence, the streets of Boston became a dangerous place. Everyone was sure Calvin would have no choice but to give into their demands. But, Calvin sent state troops to restore order instead, and in a great big screw you to the officers, Cal fired them all and rehired new ones. The whole ordeal looked good for Cal and drew national attention.
Warren Harding, a Senator from Ohio, just happened to be looking for a running mate a year later, and well, the governor who had just handled the police strike looked like the perfect running mate.
Now, usually, it's not important who lost an election (USUALLY, tomorrow it's worth noting as well), but in this election Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge were running against some guy we don't care about (his name was James Cox, from Ohio if you really want to know), and as his VP? A little guy you might have heard about named Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Of course Harding won, but as we all know, that's not the last you see of FDR (Cox can kiss his political career goodbye though).
Harding wins, becoming the 29th president, making Calvin Vice President. (Cal's father and mother in law STILL not impressed). The VP didn't do much in those days (not that they still do, I've seen Veep), but Calvin did get invited to Harding's cabinet meetings, which was a first for a VP.
Grace was a pretty awesome 'second' lady. Everyone loved her, and she hosted a ton of dinner parties. It was a good thing she was a great conversationalist, because Cal was not. He really couldn't hold a conversation at all (Grace would mimic him to their friends and family's delight). It was this time that the ledgend of 'Silent Cal' was born. Once a lady sat down for dinner next to him and told him she had made a bet with her friend she could get him to say more than three words. Cal's response: "You lose." Another time someone asked him why he even went to all of the dinner parties. His response: "Gotta eat somewhere."
But Harding's administration was full of scandals and crooks. We'll learn more about these when it's Harding's birthday, but the most notable of all these scandals was the Tea Pot Dome Scandal. Here's a quick run down: The U.S Navy held valuable oil reserves at Teapot Dome, Wyoming. These reserves were technically owned by the government and kept in case of emergency. Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall (seen here as Mr. Smee- the guy we use for any politician whose name isn't all that important), needed money and decided to secretly sell some of these reserves to oil companies. Which is obviously highly illegal, landed him in jail, and made America distrust the Harding administration.
So Warren Harding, who had been president just over a year and a half, headed out on a tour of the country that he called his "Voyage of Understanding." He wanted to tell everyone he was an honest guy, even if his cabinet maybe was not. But, along the way he got sick.
Some say it was his poor health and high blood pressure, others say his wife poisoned him because she didn't want the embarrassment of him being impeached. (He also was a big time cheater, so there was that.) Either way, Harding was dead in San Francisco, and someone had to send word to Cal that he was now the president.
Calvin was vacationing at his father's house, because for some unknown reason he was STILL trying to get his father's approval. At 2am on August 3 when Cal was sound asleep, a messenger was sent to tell him he had to take the oath of office because the president had died. Calvin's dad (a justice of the peace) administered the oath, and Calvin went back to bed. In case you're keeping track his dad AND mother in-law were still somehow unimpressed.
Calvin returned to Washington and was officially sworn in (in case the justice of the peace didn't actually cover it), this time by William Howard Taft (who you will later found out was on the Supreme Court AFTER he was president). Grace was first lady (she stayed out of politics but threw some great roaring 20's parties!), and the teenage Coolidge boys became the first boy scouts in the White House.
Along with Grace and the boys, Cal brought a zoo with him to the White House. They had some serious pets, including a bobcat and a wallaby! He had two pet racoons that would wander the White House will him, and was even given a pygmy hippo. Though the hippo had to go live at the National Zoo, Cal visited him frequently. Oh, and pretty much every pygmy hippo in the U.S. today can be traced back to Calvin's.
President Coolidge had his work cut out for him, but he fired the corrupt crooks from the Harding administration and earned America's trust back. Calvin believed in small government and lower taxes, and with a prosperous time anyway, Cal's frugality served everyone well. By remaining calm, he convinced the public the government's problems (and the corruption was over.)
It was the roaring 20's of course. Things were excessive, loud, and boisterous (everything Cal was not and the contrast became his greatest asset). Inventions in communications and transportation were changing society. There was Steamboat Willie, Babe Ruther, and Charles Lindbergh. More people than ever before had money to spend and leisure time to fill.
He also spoke out for civil rights. He refused to appoint any Ku Klux Klan members to office, and he made Native Americans, U.S. Citizens (allowing them to keep their rights to tribal lands).
Cal was also suspicious of foreign alliances, and like Harding, refused to recognize the Soviet Union. He wanted to keep the country somewhat isolated, so he came up with the Kellogg-Briand Act. He got France and a few other countries on board, basically saying they're not going to use war as a means of national policy. The problem was there was no way to enforce it, except to go to war. Good effort, but a total failure. (It did nothing to stop Nazi Germany in WWII).
When it came time for re-election in 1924, Calvin ran with the slogan "Keep Cool with Coolidge." The country was prosperous, people were living it up (yay roaring 20's!), and Cal was a shoe in.
But, tragedy struck. During the campaign, Calvin Jr. and John were playing tennis at the White House. Calvin stubbed his toe, and got a blister, the blister got infected, and despite the doctor's best efforts (with no help from penicillin to stop the infection), Calvin Jr. died.
Cal was devastated. Unlike Andrew Jackon who found strength in his tragedies, Calvin let it destroy him. He won the election, of course, but he wasn't the same president. When Calvin Jr, was alive, President Coolidge was dynamic, and progressive. But afterwards, he was uninterested, angry (at the White House staff and poor Grace), and made weird demands. He'd only request visitors to the White House that were 16 year old boys (the same age Calvin Jr. was when he died), and when other diginaties or anyone came to the White House, Calvin would tell them the terrible news of his son's death, as if they hadn't heard. He spent his days napping (after sleeping 11 or 12 hours at night), and got almost nothing done. In 1928, he made a statement that only said "I do not choose to run for president in 1928".
Next up was Herbert Hoover, who won despite Cal's disdain for the guy. He said of Hoover "for six years that man has given me advice, all of it bad.". Cal's tax cuts would eventually become a big problem for Hoover. Some historians have blamed Coolidge's laissez-faire ideology for the Great Depression. Allowing the wealthy to pay less taxes, helped them invest in businesses. What the frugal president hadn't realized though, was that these people would begin taking foolish risks with their money in the hopes of getting higher returns. And then, you know, Stock Market Crash of 1929. Ooopsies.
So Cal retired to Massachusetts where he spent his time going out on his boat and writing his very short (awfully fitting) auto biography. He did say of Grace " For almost a quarter of a century she has borne with my infirmities, and I have rejoiced in her graces."
On January 5, 1933, just short of four years after having left the office, Calvin had a sudden heart attack and died. He was buried in Plymouth Notch, Vermont. We don't know his last words (again fitting for a guy who never said much), but just before he died he had told a friend "I feel I no longer fit in with these times".
So where does history put President Coolidge? Somewhere in the middle of the pack. His policies helped contribute to the Great Depression, and that whole Kellogg-Briand Pact was a total failure. But, nothing crazy happened during his presidency,and life was good in the 20's (until that whole stock market crash), and he did restore America's faith in government. He was Ronald Reagan's favorite 20th century president, so there's that. Grace died in 1957, and was buried next to her husband. Their only remaining child, John, died in 2001. But, there are three living great grand children of Calvin Coolidge alive and well today. (Asa says I should Facebook them!)
Because Calvin was born on the fourth of July, he gets the star filled poster board section of our american flag. We added our props.....
...along with his famous quotes.
...and fun facts!
The boys made birthday cards, and they kept them very short (because Cal was a man of few words, they thought he would like that.)
We have a two day project that spans two presidents, so today they did the first part. We'll see how they turn out, but because Calvin was such an animal lover, they traced animal stencils with glue on watercolor paper. You'll have to wait and see what we do with them tomorrow. Calib picked an alligator (and I did a zebra).
Peyton went with a kangaroo.
And Hayden went with a turtle.
Cal would never want a twitter account, he'd have nothing to say! We settled on "140 characters is too many #Youlose"
Calvin was a fan of simple foods and it was hard to find much beyond that. But, he did keep a chicken coop just outside the White House kitchen. Rumor has it the chickens tasted minty because the coop was put over what used to be Teddy Roosevelt's mint garden, so Asa made chicken with mint. He also made maple glazed carrots in a nod to Cal's favorite chore as a child. We also did find a recipe for Grace Coolidge's corn muffins, so he made those too. It looks like a simple dinner, but it was SO good. I would eat this all again, for sure. Everyone cleared their plates.
Grace wasn't a cook, but she did make the corn muffins and she did make ice box cookies. We had planned on doing those, but between everything yesterday, and a facetime call with my mom and grandma, Asa wasn't in the mood for mixing them yesterday. I had made an icebox cake for the fourth, but when we impromptu-ed dinner at the neighbors, we didn't get to it. I said we could just have that instead. It's the same concept, and it's themed for his birthday anyway!
That's it for Calvin Coolidge. It is kind of fun to do the president's I don't know anything about (and we have a lot of those upcoming!) And now it's time to be done blogging and doing stuff, it's been a really busy day for me and tomorrow proves more of the same.
Next Up: Tomorrow we have another presidential birthday: George W. Bush! See you then!
No comments:
Post a Comment