On the Gettysburg Address

November 19, 2013November 19, 2013 / gouverneurmorris / 2 Comments

To express our devotion we have come to the field of Gettysburg. It ranks as one of the great historic battle grounds of this continent. In the magnitude of its importance it compares with the Plains of Abraham, with Saratoga, and with Yorktown. It is associated with a great battle between the Union and Confederate forces and with one of the greatest addresses ever delivered by one of the greatest men ever in the world, Abraham Lincoln. – See more at: http://www.calvin-coolidge.org/address-at-gettysburg-battle-field.html#sthash.LvYMuGW1.dpuf

The “Nicolay Copy,” earliest known handwritten version of the Gettysburg Address.

One hundred and fifty years ago, President Lincoln ascended the speaker’s platform to give over the course of two, short minutes one of the most eloquent speeches ever uttered. His words stand in timeless tribute to those, on both sides of those vast fields and hills of Gettysburg, who gave all they had to preserve freedom and government by consent.

President Coolidge being presented an original parchment of the Gettysburg Address by the Italian Republican League of New York, February 12, 1927.

President Coolidge being presented an original parchment of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address by the Italian Republican League of New York, February 12, 1927.

One of six Presidents to visit the battlefield at Gettysburg up to that time, Calvin Coolidge came here in 1928, honoring not only what brave men did there but what one man said there,

“We do not come to lament, but to give thanks. With one acclaim the people bestow upon them all that divine salutation, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant.’ To express our devotion we have come to the field of Gettysburg. It ranks as one of the great historic battle grounds of this continent. In the magnitude of its importance it compares with the Plains of Abraham, with Saratoga, and with Yorktown. It is associated with a great battle between the Union and Confederate forces and with one of the greatest addresses ever delivered by one of the greatest men ever in the world, Abraham Lincoln.”

“Why Coolidge is Cool Again”

November 18, 2013November 18, 2013 / gouverneurmorris / Leave a comment

Portrait by Joseph Burgess from the Ercole Cartotto original of President Coolidge

“Why Coolidge is Cool Again”

The Federalist has published this welcome piece by the superbly talented author and Coolidge scholar, David Pietrusza. We are reminded not merely of Coolidge’s connection to Manhattan, where the CCMF hosted the First Annual New York Dinner on November 12, but especially of our thirtieth president’s solid accomplishments in office. Appreciation for his record is justifiably finding renewal and this time, as Mr. Pietrusza notes, not merely in academic circles, but also as a hero among regular Americans. He is fast becoming equally as admired and respected as Ronald Reagan, who himself aspired to Coolidge’s example for leadership. It is great to see why Coolidge is cool again.

“It isn’t”

November 17, 2013November 17, 2013 / gouverneurmorris / 10 Comments

The Massachusetts General Court was in the midst of debate on a bill that drew spirited support from one especially long-winded legislator. He elaborated each point of the legislation and detailed its merits. Having introduced each argument for it with the affirmation, “It is,” the legislator was sure he had thoroughly made his case to the House.

Then Representative Coolidge was given the floor. He stood up and, with the room absolutely quiet, replied, “Mr. Speaker: It isn’t,” immediately sitting back down. A relieved House went up with laughter.

Needless to say, for all the words spent on the bill by the previous legislator, Coolidge’s simple refutation illustrates how the true course to follow is often the most direct, forthright and obvious. It does not take an expert to discern truth for us, it is within everyone’s reach to see and understand it. The bill died upon call of the roll.