From Foundations of the Republic

CALVIN COOLIDGE

“Silent” Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) assumed the presidency of the United States in 1923 upon the death of President Warren G. Harding, eventually winning election in 1924. Although known for being a man of few words, Coolidge was a prolific author, and his careful adherence to simple yet virtuous living compensated for his lack of bombast on the campaign trail, making him popular with many Americans. Often forgotten in the annals of presidential history, Coolidge believed in a limited government, hoping that a moral and politically robust citizenry would continue to preserve the best characteristics of America and guard against misrule. His 1926 book, Foundations of the Republic, reflects these attitudes. He believed, as should we all, that “American citizenship is a high estate” and that service to the polis is an honor.

309

When each citizen submits himself to the authority of law he does not thereby decrease his independence or freedom, but rather increases it. By recognizing that he is part of a larger body which is banded together for a common purpose, he becomes more than an individual, he rises to a new dignity of citizenship. Instead of finding himself restricted and confined by rendering obedience to public law, he finds himself protected and defended and in the exercise of increased and increasing rights.

American citizenship is a high estate. He who holds it is the peer of kings. It has been secured only by untold toil and effort. It will be maintained by no other method. It demands the best that men and women have to give. But it likewise awards to its partakers the best that there is on earth. To attempt to turn it into a thing of ease and inaction would be only to debase it. To cease to toil and struggle and sacrifice for it is to not only cease to be worthy of it but is to start a retreat toward barbarism. No matter what others may say, no matter what others may do, this is the stand that those must maintain who are worthy to be called Americans.

I am well aware that it is impossible to maintain in time of peace the same exalted spirit of patriotism that exists in time of war, and yet, although it may be in a less degree, the country has need of devotion to the same ideals. In our land the people rule. The great truth cannot be too often repeated that this nation is exactly what the people make it. It is necessary to realize that our duties are personal. For each of us our country will be about what we make it. The obligation of citizenship is upon each one of us. We must discharge it in the actions of our daily life. If we are employed, we must be true to that employment. If we are in business, then we must be true to that business. What is always of the utmost importance, if we have the privilege to vote we must inform ourselves of the questions at issue and going to the ballot box on election day there vote, as we claim the sacred rights of Americans to live, according to the dictates of our own conscience. You who have offered your blood that these supreme rights and privileges must be maintained as a standard of human conduct on this earth must continue to be their chief exponents by what you say and what you do. The coming generations will reverence your example.