August 2nd was a busy day for the Coolidge Foundation, with annual meeting, Plymouth Old Home Day, Reeve Lindbergh’s lecture, and the homestead inaugural keeping us occupied from sun up to sun down. We were pleased to round out the day with our annual Gala Dinner “Under the Tent,” which featured remarks by former Vermont Governor James H. Douglas, who spoke about the unfortunate degree of incivility that exists in the contemporary public discourse. The dinner also included a recitation of President Coolidge’s famous speech “Have Faith in Massachusetts,” which was performed by Kathryn Bassette, a 12th grade student from Hartland, VT, and Rebecca Black, an 11th grade student from Tyngsborough, MA, who both attended our home school debate camp.

“Calvin Coolidge took the Presidential oath in his father’s home and by his father’s hand with only the awed faces of a tiny group of witnesses to share the solemnity.”Donald Tobin

August 1, 2014 was a big day for the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation. We welcomed 108 high school debate students from all over the country attending the Debate Institutes at Dartmouth to Plymouth Notch. Additionally, we had 30 home school debate students from all over the northeast along with them. The students toured the Historic Site, learned from nationally and internationally-renowned experts, and debated property rights. The top teams from DDI and the home school camp faced off in a championship round before the entire assembly, and the affirmative was triumphant in that debate.

“You lose.” These words, the punch line of one of the most famous anecdotes about President Coolidge, are often trotted out as evidence that our thirtieth president should be remembered for nothing more than how little he both said and did. This is a pity, for while “Silent Cal” certainly was terse and to-the-point, mostly eschewing small talk and idle remarks, it is clear from the treasure trove of speeches Coolidge wrote that he could be counted on to deliver stirring, important remarks when called upon to do so.