On Runnymede and Keeping Faith in Right to Prevail

June 13, 2015June 13, 2015 / gouverneurmorris / Leave a comment

As we mark the 800th Anniversary since that brave group of men stood up to the King and insisted that law, not arbitrary whim, governs all (including the monarch himself), we are reminded of what Calvin Coolidge once said about the triumph of constitutional liberty on those quiet fields of Runnymede in 1215. It justified his faith that The People who prevailed there, who won again at Marston Moor in 1644 (defeating those who sought to impose a Divine Right of absolute monarchy over the individual), and triumphed yet further with the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the abolition of slavery after the War between the States, were worthy of self-government, and that what is right ultimately succeeds. It serves a warning to despots, tyrants, and arbitrary authority wherever it manifests through the ages. Coolidge retained that faith from history and a wise grasp of human nature. Arbitrary authority may be on the march again eight centuries later but the same resolute will to confront it and the same solemn warnings to monarchs echo from that June 15th at the marshes of Runnymede: Magna Carta est lex, caveat deinde rex (“Magna Carta is the Law: Let the King henceforth look out”).

On Lindbergh and the Spirit of America

June 11, 2015June 11, 2015 / gouverneurmorris / Leave a comment

Here is a reminder on the eighty-eighth anniversary of a great achievement – Lindbergh’s crossing of the Atlantic in 1927 – and how Coolidge’s key role in recognizing the advancement of aviation deserves renewed appreciation. Lindbergh’s undeservedly besmirched legacy, in large part due to the malicious campaign to discredit and impugn him by the FDR administration, is now seeing an overdue revitalization. Lindbergh’s love of America, commitment to her air defenses, diligent work on behalf of American intelligence on the eve of World War II, and his principled stand for our due process of law against arbitrary and reckless executive power could not be reappraised at a better time. For further reading on Lindbergh and the campaign to disgrace him see James P. Duffy’s carefully researched book, “Lindbergh vs. Roosevelt” (Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2010).

The Importance of the Obvious

It matters not what era or generation we find ourselves, there is an irrepressible impulse to search for and take pride in exceptional deeds, heroic achievements and great examples of character, courage and competence. As Americans we especially prize the opportunity to honor noble men and women. It reminds us that good is still rewarded and it renews our faith. Such was the occasion eighty-seven years ago, when young Charles Lindbergh completed the first ever solo transatlantic flight, a 3,600 mile, 33 and a half-hour feat, from Roosevelt Field in New York to Le Bourge Field, outside Paris, on May 20-21, 1927.

Returning to his homeland, Colonel Lindbergh found a nation ready to recognize what he had done not only for its contributions to aviation but to a much larger degree how he furnished a front-page opportunity to take stock of what was really good and worthwhile about America. Not…

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Note the corrections to the record of this day’s events. Unfortunately, the State Archives get the caption wrong as well, attributing this visit to Florida being the same one in which then-President Coolidge dedicated Bok Tower. Florida Memory mistakenly identified the woman to Coolidge’s right as Grace, the good folks over there have since corrected their caption on this photo (https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/26619). This is actually Mrs. Trumbull. Jim Cooke rightly notes that the photo has been flipped.

The Importance of the Obvious

The Coolidges in Florida, January-February 1930

Having visited Florida near the end of his term to dedicate Bok Tower in Lake Wales, February 1, 1929, Calvin, and his wife Grace, came back to visit the state from January 8-February 13, 1930.

They visited a number of places during their brief time here before heading West, reaching California by February 19th. In this picture, snapped on the 24th of January, Mr. Coolidge is touring the Orange Festival in Winter Haven while Mrs. Coolidge is not present, having remained in Mount Dora to plant a cypress for the local Garden Club that day. The Citrus Queen, Ruth Snyder, is presenting former President Coolidge with grapefruit while Mrs. Trumbull, wife of the Connecticut Governor and mother-in-law of Cal’s son John, samples an orange. Lakeside Inn manager, Archie Hurlburt, stands between them and at the far right of the photo, then-Major James Van Fleet, former head coach of the Gators…

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