Coolidge moderating panel will be Ambassador Richard graber. Richard baker is president and ceo of the blind and Harry Bradley foundation. Previously, he served as ambassador to the czech republic, was an executive at Honeywell International and led the milwaukee based law firm of reinhart barner van doren. Please join me in welcoming ambassador graber and our panelists the stage. Is. Where. Well, good morning and thank you very much for that kind introduction. And thank you for joining us. Also like to welcome our cspan audience for tuning in during coolidges centennial year to learn about coolidge and consider how example and values can guide us today. As was mentioned, the title of our panel is the ideas and ideals that made coolidge. Its a great for me to be part of this centennial celebration honoring. Our nations 30th president , a man who history truly has too overlooked. Thanks to amity and her teams, to necessity and the commitment of the Coolidge Foundation under her leadership, president coolidge is finally, finally receiving long overdue reexamination and that he so richly. President coolidge is origins were really quite a country last from the grandeur of our setting. Today the library of congress in his inauguration didnt even take place in d. C. When Warren Harding passed away. Coolidge was on vacation at his fathers home in a tiny village in vermont. His father happily a notary public and swarm my kerosene light. As i understand, in the middle of the night, that humble inauguration tells you a great deal about president coolidge at a time in america where local deeply the only president born on the 4th of july, coolidge grew in plymouth notch, vermont. From 1872 to 1890, as he it this part of vermont was and still is made up of a series of narrow valleys and hills. It was an isolated a place where everyone helped each other. The towns meetings were held above a general store. Coolidges father owned. As a boy, he was industrious much like his parents and sold apples and popcorn to the townspeople. People during those meetings. In his autobiography, coolidge describes the people of their neighborhood as having exemplary, he said. The speech clean. Their lives were above. They had no mortgages on their farms. If any debts were contracted. They were promptly paid. Credit was good. And there was money in the savings bank. They cherished the teachings of the bible and sought to live accordance with its precepts. Mitch daniels just said i think we know how we would stand on forgiving student debt. This scene will be captured by panelist christopher coolidge, a great grandson of the president. As a young man coolidge attended high school at black River Academy in ludlow and then amherst in massachusetts. While his physical surroundings were very humble, his intellectual formation was influenced by the great writers and philosopher whose names adorn this building. Coolidge in his own words described amherst as classical education. Professor eric adler will speak about what effect that might have had on coolidge. His character and leadership. Third, of course, theres coolidge, his legal training. In contrast to friends from college. Coolidge didnt go to law school like president lincoln. The Young Coolidge read the law clerking a local firm in northampton, massachusetts, and then sat the bar. Judge edith jones will speak about coolidges legal background. Well, weve given you so many of the the story of Calvin Coolidge is the story of every american and village from the period. While listening to our guests today, think about what weve retained from that period as well as what weve lost and what we should to restore. And its now my great pleasure to introduce our first panelist, the great grandson, the president. Chris jeter. Thank you. John Calvin Coolidge was, as youve heard already born on july 4th, 1872, in plymouth notch, vermont he was named after his father. The family referred to him always as calvin or cal. So over the years that john was dropped to better understand calvin. One needs to understand his family in, the environment in which he was raised. First notch is nestled in the Green Mountains of vermont. It is somewhat centrally located in a state 12 miles north of ludlow. Calvin was the fifth generation in the family to live in plymouth. His great great grandfather, captain john coolidge, served in the revolutionary army and later became one of the earliest settlers, the town. Around 1780, the dutch sometimes referred to as an elevated area, surrounded hills and mountains full of natural beauty, with several streams. Brooks running through it. There are a number of farms and open fields, but otherwise the area is largely forested with pines hardwoods. Calvins lived on a farm just down the road from the house where he was born. Calvins father, john coolidge, ran the general store in post office. Family home was attached to the back of the store and was a modest. Five room story and a half cottage. John coolidge, a wellregarded and respected member of the community and served in numerous ways over the years. Calvin had admiration for his father in his many capabilities. Calvin would later write in his autobiography he he trusted nearly everybody but lost a surprisingly small amount. Sometimes people he had not seen years would return and pay him the whole bill. He was a good businessman, a very hard worker, and did not to see things wasted. No surprise there. Calvin went on to add, in addition to his business ability. My father, very skillful with his hands. He worked with a carriage maker for a short time when he was young and the best buggy for 20 years was when he made himself. He had a complete set of tools and can ample do all kinds of building and carpenter. He knew how to lay bricks and was an excellent stonemason. The lines he laid were true and straight and the curves regular. And the curves regular. The work he did endured. If there was any physical requirement, country life which he could not perform. I do not know what it was. Watching him and assisting him, i gained an intimate knowledge. All this kind of work. Shortly after calvin was born, his father was elected the state legislature and served it for several two year terms. Calvin sister abigail, better known as abby, was born in 1875, a year. The family moved across the street to a home now known as the homestead. This would be home to calvin, the rest of his youth and his spiritual home for the rest of his life. It was also the place, as you just heard, where he would happen to be vacationing. Vice president. Receive word the death of president harding and take oath of office from his father. Calvins mother was victoria. Josephine moore. She was not in good health. Most of calvins life and sadly died in march on 39th birthday. When calvin was just 12 years old, she likely suffered from tuberculosis. Calvin spent good amount of time with his grandparents on their. They hope to see him grow up and work the land as they and progenitor nations had. But over time, calvin hoped to follow in his fathers footsteps and keep store, as he put it. Calvin attended the one room schoolhouse which, was just up the road from his house. He was an average student. In february of 1886, when he was 13 years old, calvin went away for high school to attend black River Academy in neighboring ludlow, vermont. As he put it, going away to school was my first great adventure in life. One class he found particularly interesting was in civil government, which provided his first exposure to the constitution of the United States. During the summers would return to plymouth and work on his grandparents farm. There he developed fondness for riding horses and march of calvin senior at black River Academy. Abbey passed away. His abbey passed away and joined mother. She was sick for only a week and probably died of appendicitis. That fall calvin was going to attend Amherst College, but on his way there he developed a bad cold which interfered with his entrance examinations. So he came home to which took a few months. In the spring he Saint Johnsbury academy boarding school. That summer, he traveled with his father to the dedication of the bennington battle monument. There was much fanfare. Public officials from vermont and new york in attendance, president harrison gave an address. This was the first u. S. President calvin had seen in person or his own life. Calvin to himself at that time, how it felt to bear so much response ability. Later that year, in the fall of 1891, he was able to enter amherst. There he studied calculus, latin and greek, european history and u. S. History to name a few. One of his most influential teachers, charles garment, professor, moral philosophy and metaphysics. In june of 1895, calvin graduated from amherst. In summary, calvins upbringing and small america grounded him with many fundament values, which would serve as an Excellent Foundation for the rest of his life. The importance of ethics strong character selfsufficiency. Pairing for others, having trust in others and Community Service were among some of these values. Calvin reflected on his youth in his autobiography country, life not always have breadth, but it does have depth. It is neither artificial nor superficial but is kept close to the realities. I can think of many pleasures. We did not have in many nicest niceties of culture which we were unfamiliar with. Yet if i had the power to order my life anew, i would not dare to change that period it if it did not afford me the best that there was and abundantly provided the best that there was for me. Thank you. Thanks. Chris will now hear from adler, professor and chair of the Classics Department at the university of maryland. Eric, thank you very much. In a speech delivered in 1921 to the american classic colleague Calvin Coolidge, content that quote all theories of education teach us that the mind in the same way rising through the various stages that have marked the ascent of mankind from the lowest savagery to highest civilization. This is a compelling reason for the continuance of classics as the foundation of our educational system and quote, coolidge offered that sentiment at a strange time. By 1921, colleges in the u. S. Made great efforts to remove the as the foundation of. Our educational system as coolidge must have recognized. He was engaged in a losing battle, a lost cause that tells much about coolidges concerns about the effects on Human Flourishing that stemmed from the diminishment of classical tradition. Calvin coolidge had himself been a student at the most volatile time in the history of american Higher Education. As a student at black river st Johnsbury Academy and Amherst College had been caught between two curricular worlds one that harkened back to the dawn american Higher Learning and one of seismic change coolidges intellectual formation and lifelong respect for the classics must be seen in this broader educational context before we turn to the specific of coolidges own education, some remarks about the history of american of Higher Learning are in order. Colleges and america were very different sorts institutions from the professionalized universities with which we are accustomed. Thanks to the influence renaissance humanism, these colleges saw the development of good character as their chief goal. Educators believed this project was best accomplished through the study of the masterpieces ancient greek and roman literature. When encountered in their original, accordingly, the study of greek and latin dominated the curricula of the early u. S. Colleges and the secondary educations of the college bound. Since these institutions promoted the notion that particular classical texts were the key to moral improvement. The early colleges insisted on prescribed curricula. The foundation or role of the classical languages in Higher Education had always been controversial. Many Americans Associated this sort of with the aristocratic ethos europe and hungered for a curriculum more in keeping with american pragmatism, partly as a response to such critiques, the american colleges slowly altered their curricula over granting more pedagogical attention to other subjects. The resistance to the classical curriculum came to a head in the decades following the civil war. By this time, a generation of academic took their pedagogical bearings from the German Research universities. The spirit of professionalization had first reared its head at these institutions, which encouraged rigorous training in particular disciplines and led the attainment of a ph. D. In the late 19th century. Numerous academic leaders in america reoriented Higher Education towards the spirit of professionalization. Typical of german institutions. Of Higher Learning. They aimed to reduce the influence of the classical humanities. The american colleges creating institutions in which the Scientific Method would dominate. Importantly, these reformers, the prescribed classical with the elective. Undergraduates were now free to choose virtually all their own classes. By the closing years of the 19th century, even at many of the most established american colleges, greek and latin, were no longer required for a bachelor of arts degree. It is in this that we must put the educational and sentiments of calvin. Although a principal certificate exempted coolidge from having to take Amherst Colleges admissions examination before matriculating in 1891. We can tell very much about his secondary school from the vicissitudes of this exam. Academies such as the ones coolidge attended could serve as training for prospective undergraduates american colleges, and they therefore taught to the test the College Catalog for the Academic Year of 1892 1891 provides much detail about the subjects tested on its admissions examination and therefore about the content Prospective Students would have encountered in their secondary schooling. The nature of this exam underscores that amherst remained a comparatively tradition New England College in coolidges day. Amherst admissions necessitated much experience with classical latin and ancient greek. The exam included passages to be translated from such works as ciceros and aryans. Virgils aeneid, xenophons anabasis and homers iliad. Although test takers had to demonstrate their abilities in a variety of other subjects. The comparative attention granted to latin and greek demonstrates that amherst still considered classical studies the cakewalk known for its candidates for a bachelor arts degree. The Amherst College catalog from coolidge as freshman year further testifies that it was an institution in limbo still deferential to earlier traditions of american Higher Education but also changing with. Zeit geist the catalog spells out a curriculum that remained wedded the tenets of renaissance humanism while also moving in the direction of greater curricular breadth and elective coursework. The freshman year at amherst seems comparatively traditional, except for a choice between the study of french and german. All coursework in the freshman year was prescribed in ancient greek and latin dominated, starting with the sophomore year. However, an increasing of coursework was elective. Had coolidge chosen to attend, say, Harvard University rather than Amherst College, it is likely that his education would have differed markedly. Harvard, after all, had removed ancient greek from the subjects required for its admissions examinations in 1886, and it was beholden above all, to the elective system. By 1894, harvard required one class of all undergraduates, a class in english rhetoric. Coolidge have been looking back wistfully at his education when in 1921 he told an audience at the American Classical League that, quote, it is unthinkable that any institution founded for the purpose of teaching literature should neglect the and quote even in Calvin Coolidge as day. That prospect was very thinkable indeed. Thank you very much much. That was great. Thank you, professor. Our panelist is judge edith jones fifth circuit judge for the states court of appeals. Judge, thank you. Already heard coolidges undergraduate education was during a time of foment. He became a lawyer at what is just what i would call the fulcrum of american legal history. The founders view of law was being challenged by the scion pick approach which spread among law schools from its home base. Harvard. Progressive theories about direct democracy in active government regulation, Economic Affairs were pressing constitutional change, but largely at the framework of constitutional amendment. Coolidge, however, his ideas and ideas from the common law tradition and homage to the written constant fusion. His lessons law were first taught at home and school. John coolidge, his young son with not just local governance as you have heard from schooled to the town council as well as officers of justice of the peace and county sheriff john held. Coolidge in his autobiography that his Broad Knowledge of local law led many people to seek his by observing fathers public service. Quote came to have a working knowledge of the practical side government. I understood it consisted of restraint which the people