The Confederate Memorial at Arlington

As we have featured before here, President Coolidge’s address at the Confederate Memorial inside Arlington National Cemetery on May 25, 1924, warrants a place in our solemn remembrance and patriotic celebrations today. Standing before the aged veterans who wore the gray, joined by their families, friends, and even some who wore the blue, Calvin Coolidge calls to mind that our history summons us to unity as Americans all. It is honor of principle and conviction, the duty we commonly share to one God and Father, that should bring us together again.

It is not history that divides us, it is the prideful self-righteousness and ignorant prejudices of the human heart that we seek to escape by denying and suppressing the past when we really seek to to lay our guilt at the feet of other generations. The sins of those who came before us are not ours to bear, anymore than it is their obligation to make us feel clean and justified. We have our own responsibility and until we have the maturity and honor to carry our own load, we will always fail to respect how history unites us. We will find that history should be honored because it keeps us humble and shows us the firm ground of goodness, rightness, and truth from the shifting sands of evil, injustice, and expediency.

President Coolidge presents the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, 1927

Coolidge said,

“If I am correctly informed by history, it is fitting that the Sabbath should be your Memorial Day. This follows from the belief that except for the forces of Oliver Cromwell no army was ever more thoroughly religious than that which followed General Lee. Moreover, these ceremonies necessarily are expressive of a hope and a belief that rise above the things of this life. It was Lincoln who pointed out that both sides prayed to the same God. When that is the case, it is only a matter of time when each will seek a common end. We can now see clearly what that end is. It is the maintenance of our American form of government, of our American institutions, of our American ideals, beneath a common flag, under the blessings of Almighty God.

“It was for this purpose that our Nation was brought forth. Our whole course of history has been proceeding in that direction. Out of a common experience, made more enduring by a common sacrifice, we have reached a common conviction. On this day we pause in memory of those who made their sacrifice in one way. In a few days we shall pause again in memory of those who made their sacrifice in another way. They were all Americans, all contending for what they believed were their rights. On many a battlefield they sleep side by side. Here, in a place set aside for the resting place of those who have performed military duty, both make a final bivouac. But their country lives.

“The bitterness of conflict is passed. Time has softened it; discretion has changed it. Your country respects you for cherishing the memory of those who wore the gray. You respect others who cherish the memory of those who wore the blue. In that mutual respect may there be a firmer friendship, a stronger and more glorious Union.

General J. S. Carr, 1923. Courtesy of Gettyimages.

“When I delivered the address dedicating the great monument to General Grant in the city of Washington, General Carr was present, with others of his comrades, and responded for the Confederacy with a most appropriate tribute. He has lately passed away, one of the last of a talented and gallant corps of officers. To the memory of him whom I had seen and heard and knew as the representative of that now silent throng, whom I did not know, I offer my tribute. We know that Providence would have it so. We see and we obey. A mightier force than ever followed Grant or Lee has leveled both their hosts, raised up an united Nation, and made us all partakers of a new glory. It is not for us to forget the past but to remember it, that we may profit by it. But it is gone; we cannot change it. We must put our emphasis on the present and put into effect the lessons the past has taught us. All about us sleep those of many different beliefs and many divergent actions. But America claims them all. He flag floats over them all. Her Government protects them all. They all rest in the same divine peace.”

Mr. Bill Federer over at The Moral Liberal provides some excellent insights from the most underrated President of the twentieth century, Calvin Coolidge.

Coolidge’s wisdom, competence, and firm grasp of the obvious are qualities not chained to some obsolete and distant past but belong here, at this moment, at this time. They both strengthen our resolve and illuminate our path at this pivotal year of all years. America is determining what it will be, for better or for worse. If we turn away our ears from Coolidge’s instruction, especially when it is still in our power to effect the final outcome, exiling his sober-minded sense of duty and integrity to all (not merely the powerful few), we do not merit honor and greatness but infamy and shame.

Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.

In his feature of the Calvin Coolidge Homestead a year ago, Bob Villa presents the unmistakable character of Vermont architecture as it continues to live on in the Plymouth Notch home of the former President. While it no longer includes the addition put on by Coolidge in the summer of 1932, to house his library and the overflow of gifts acquired during their stay in the White House, it remains a visual testament to the practical sense and organic growth – form following function in a sense – that is such a trademark of the Notch in particular and Vermont in general.

Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.

It bears the same kind of structural signature that recurs all across our nation wherever the sensible prevails over the ostentatious and the practical over the polished, where accomplishing the task against the challenge of the elements means more than a showy appearance or photogenic exterior. Isn’t that simply a reflection of the character of the men and women who lived there? They were more concerned about the day-to-day work and demands of the land and farm than packaging the house as an ornamental showpiece or gauge of status. This emphasis on the down-to-earth things is an outlook on life that captures its own beauty, don’t you agree?

As Coolidge thought about the house where he grew up, he wrote,

“About it were a considerable number of good apple trees. I think the price paid was $375 [this house stood across the street from where he was born, the Homestead pictured here being built upon two acres with a number of barns and a blacksmith shop, all bought by his parents when he was about 4 years old]. Almost at once the principal barn was sold for $100, to be moved away…Some repairs were made on the inside, and black walnut furniture was brought from Boston to furnish the parlor and sitting room. It was a plain square-sided house with a long ell, to which the horse barn was soon added. The outside has since been remodeled and the piazza built…Whatever was needed never failed to be provided.”

What does your childhood home – whether it still physically stands or not – reveal about you and your people? Perhaps, if we took a moment to listen carefully, we may hear what the walls have to say.

Photo courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.