Calvin Coolidge's Exaltation of Thrift and Hard Work

Thrift and hard work were very much a part of the Puritan Ethic that framed Calvin's growing up years and became part of who he was as an adult.

Although his family was economically upper middle class and "Whatever was needed never failed to be provided,"1 nothing was wasted that could be used "Waste not, Want not!" The ideal was the self-sufficient small farm that Calvin's father operated after spending thirteen years as a successful storekeeper at Plymouth Notch, Vermont.

It had been John Galusha Coolidge's farm that his son, John C. Coolidge took over when Calvin was a little over six years of age. They had been living in what is now known as the Coolidge Homestead since 1876. Besides running the farm Calvin's father opened the old Blacksmith Shop and hired a blacksmith at $1.00 a day. The blacksmith did most of the "smithing" and assisted with some of the farm work like haying. John liked to work in the shop but only went there when a project demanded precision work like careful welding. As Calvin relates, "If there was any physical requirement of country life which he could not perform, I do not know what it was. From watching him and assisting him, I gained an intimate knowledge of all this kind of work." (12)

Calvin also grew up participating in and observing the workings of local government because in addition to all the other work he did, John Coolidge was also a Constable or a Deputy Sheriff, and sometimes both nearly all his life as well as being a notary public and at times a Justice of the Peace! (24)

Calvin writes that his father had "such a broad knowledge of the practical side of the law that people of the neighborhood came to him seeking his advice, to which I always listened with great interest. He always counseled them to resist injustice and avoid unfair dealing, but to keep their agreements, meet their obligations and observe strict obedience to the law." (25)

Haying at the Homestead
Calvin, his two sons and Father, John

Calvin's work ethic was exactly what he had learned from his father!

His value of thrift can be seen in the fact that he and his wife Grace moved to one half of a duplex on Massasoit Street in Northampton, Massachusetts shortly after their marriage, lived there continuously from August 10, 1906 until he became President of the United States on March 4, 1925. When his second term as President was up they returned there from March 4, 1925 until May 17, 1930.

Lack of Privacy after his Presidency trumped his thriftiness and on May 17, 1930 they bought their first home, The Beeches on Hampton Terrace in Northampton, Massachusetts and moved there. It was there that Calvin died suddenly on January 5, 1933.

Endnote

The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge, Cosmopolitan Book Corporation, New York, N.Y., 1929, 1989 edition, p. 9. This and subsequent quotations from the Autobiography are used with the gracious permission of the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation, Plymouth Notch, Vermont.