Perhaps one of the best ways to spend Tax Day, April 15, was observed this past Wednesday at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida, with the dedication of a bronze statue of President Calvin Coolidge by Governor Ron DeSantis. Honoring not only Cal’s Sunshine State connections but his highly underrated accomplishments as the POTUS #30, the occasion was marked by a well-attended gathering of Coolidge friends, Secretary of State Cord Byrd, Bok Tower leaders, representatives of the FDOT, Polk County educators, the Chairman and Board representatives from the Coolidge Presidential Foundation, and other honored guests. The Governor furnished a detailed consideration of Cal’s career and lasting legacy with the reasons for so deserving a distinction struck in such an enduring and masterful form by sculptor Austin Weishel. The Governor sees in Coolidge a President whom, more than any other in the last hundred years, the Founders would have identified as the most powerful representative of the vital and equitable balance encapsulated in constitutionalist leadership.

The care and precision with which Mr. Weishel crafted the work is but a part of the affecting impression his active bronze of Cal imprints upon the viewer. We are confident this statue — capturing Coolidge in motion — completed with the beauty and exactness of the lost wax method, will accomplish what all great public monuments should, as the sculptor himself puts it, “preserve memory” and “inspire learning.”

That spirit pervaded the event on Wednesday. Cal, ever a unifier, brought together this diverse gathering around the emphasis upon restoring civic literacy in K-12 and an informed, elevated public discourse from the educational landscape upward. These were, after all, priorities that Coolidge cherished and embodied through more than a quarter century of service in local, state, and national government. They have a needed place again as we have entered this 250th anniversary since Independence, an initiative underscored by the Governor and Secretary of State Byrd in their remarks following the statue’s unveiling.

It was likewise fitting that while Florida leads such efforts to take inventory of who we are as a nation, what principles and values need renewed practice, and how a recommitment to engaged civic participation and respectful debate can and will raise the caliber of future Americans across the country. It can be only the beginning of an American renewal at the start of the next 250 years of this experiment in self-governance. Governor Jim Douglas of Coolidge’s home state of Vermont followed with a superb tribute to Cal and the partnership around principles that bring Americans together, underscoring Governor DeSantis’ encouragement to break free of the staleness of political tribalism and educational orthodoxy answering Coolidge’s summons to a higher citizenship.

Suitably, Eithan Ackerman, Coolidge Cup Declamation Winner, presented a moving performance of Cal’s Bok Tower dedication as the event neared conclusion. The performance by Geert D’hollander, the carillonneur at Mr. Bok’s Tower, of “Yankee Doodle” at the close of the dedication was another remarkable gift to an incredible day commemorating an incredible statesman.

A “fireside chat” between Governor DeSantis and Amity Shlaes, the Chairman of the Coolidge Presidential Foundation, well-attended by a room of many of Cal’s remarkable friends, followed the dedication. It was a wonderful way to observe Tax Day, in honor of the last President to leave a budget surplus every year he was in office while simultaneously paying down the national debt by one-third. The magic of this beautiful place atop Florida’s highest point, Iron Ridge, certainly captures us every visit and remains a fitting place for the thirtieth President to continue his ongoing work, elevating our citizenship and challenging us all to leave America better than we found it.