Inquiry, Not Rage
“If society lacks learning and virtue, it perishes.” —Calvin Coolidge
Welcome to the Coolidge Review.
Why has the Coolidge Foundation started this publication? For two reasons.
First, the Foundation exists to illuminate the values that guided our nation’s thirtieth president. Those values often get lost in what Calvin Coolidge called “the clamor of the hour.” Too few Americans encounter commonsense ideas such as government restraint, fiscal responsibility, and free enterprise. In the Coolidge Review—both in print and online—top contributors as well as outstanding Coolidge Foundation students will explore the principles that shaped our country.
Second, the Coolidge Foundation provides a community for students and supporters like you. This publication embodies the spirit of thoughtful inquiry that draws people to the Coolidge community.
The Coolidge Review will also provide opportunities for the community to connect. The young people so vital to the Foundation’s mission will play a prominent role in the publication, contributing to the print issue as well as the website.
Meanwhile, the Review will allow the fast-growing Coolidge alumni community to check in with updates and catch up with peers. See here to find out what Coolidge alumni have been up to. And if you’re an alum, please be sure to send us an update.
The Review will, of course, take stock of Coolidge’s leadership and legacy. The debut print issue centers on a symposium marking the centennial of the Coolidge presidency.
What should Calvin Coolidge’s legacy be? When Coolidge died, H. L. Mencken— usually a harsh critic—wrote, “If the day ever comes when Jefferson’s warnings are heeded are last, and we reduce government to its simplest terms, it may very well happen that Cal’s bones now resting inconspicuously in the Vermont granite will come to be revered as those of a man who really did the nation some service.”
Today, with the federal debt soaring past $34 trillion, it is fair to say that we have not reduced government to its simplest terms. That’s all the more reason to learn from Calvin Coolidge.
If you’d like to receive a complimentary copy of the debut print issue, just fill out this simple form.