The Coolidge Scholarship application includes three essays. Essays two and three both have required readings which can be found below.

Please note: while the below readings are required, you are certainly permitted to reference other sources when preparing your essays — a good place to start is our About Coolidge page, the new Coolidge documentary available on Amazon Prime Video, and the Coolidge Virtual Library.

Essay I

You have learned and achieved much up to this point in your life. What are the next intellectual frontiers you hope to explore in your college years? How do you envision you might use the knowledge you gain?

Note: this essay does not simply ask what you hope to major in during college and what job you want as a career. Instead, please write about the ideas that interest you most, what you still have to learn about them, and what you envision you might do with the knowledge you gain in college. Please limit your essay to 400 words.

Essay II

When natural disasters strike, Americans expect the president to leap into action, providing relief and federal support to impacted states and communities. In 1927 two major natural disasters struck — both floods — one in the Mississippi River valley and the second in President Coolidge’s home state of Vermont. In both cases the destruction was immense.

Yet in both cases, Coolidge pushed back against efforts for extensive federal involvement. The President did not visit either flood site. He believed charity from private citizens should be primarily relied upon to raise rescue funds. Americans did give $17 million, then a significant sum, to help Mississippi Flood victims. The year after the floods, proposals were introduced in Congress calling for the federal government to address flood control. Coolidge resisted many components of these proposals, though he did eventually sign the Flood Control Act of 1928.

Please write an essay of 600 words or fewer explaining and evaluating the rationale behind Coolidge’s response to the 1927 floods. How did Coolidge imagine the problems presented by the floods would be solved absent a strong federal government response? To assist in your preparation for this essay, please study the materials provided below. You may, of course, augment these resources with research of your own. Note: although personally you may not agree with Coolidge, try to get inside his head and explain his reasoning.

Required Readings

Essay III

Today the federal individual income tax seems a permanent fixture of American life. But the tax is just over 100 years old. The Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution and the 1913 Underwood-Simmons Act introduced the levy, starting with a top rate of 7%. Congress quickly discovered the power of the income tax, and raised rates on individuals dramatically to fund World War I. Following World War I, federal tax reform became a major policy priority for both parties. The 1920 Republican platform called the load of taxes on Americans “staggering,” and the Democratic platform likewise advocated reform. Upon becoming president in 1921, Warren Harding made tax reduction a key goal of his administration. When Harding passed away in 1923, President Coolidge and his Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon continued to lead Congress in passage of tax rate cuts. Some suggested that lower rates would never raise enough revenue. Others claimed that the rich would shoulder less of the tax burden under the Harding-Coolidge-Mellon plans.

Write a 600-word essay describing and evaluating the tax reforms under Harding and Coolidge, which they called “Scientific Taxation.” What was the logic behind the 1920s tax reforms? What does evidence from the Harding and Coolidge years tell us about the impact of the 1920s tax reforms? Please find resources available at the link below to assist in your research. You may augment these materials with additional research if you like. Please limit your essay to 600 words. Note: You do not have to agree with Coolidge, but do try to get into his head and explain the logic of his policy.

Required Readings & Research