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 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
The 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence is approaching. Coolidge commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Declaration in 1926 with a speech in Philadelphia titled The Inspiration of the Declaration. In the speech he commented on the principles of America’s founding, saying:
About the Declaration there is a finality that is exceedingly restful. It is often asserted that the world has made a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of that day, and that we may therefore very well discard their conclusions for something more modern. But that reasoning can not be applied to this great charter. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction can not lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers.
Please prepare an essay of 600 words or fewer explaining what you believe Coolidge means in the passage quoted above. To assist in your preparation, please read the full speech and the other related readings included in the links below.
Required Readings
- One of the required readings for Essays II and III is the Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge. The Coolidge Foundation recently published a new edition of the Autobiography, which includes a new introduction and additional supplemental material. The new edition can be purchased from the Coolidge Foundation’s online store at this link. Older editions of the Autobiography are also acceptable for you to read, and can be found at most libraries. A free version of an older edition of Coolidge’s Autobiography can be accessed here from Archive.org. (Note: Archive.org is a third-party site and is not affiliated with the Coolidge Scholars Program.)
- The Inspiration of the Declaration — Speech by President Calvin Coolidge, July 5, 1926
- The Price of Freedom — Speech by Vice President Calvin Coolidge, January 21, 1923
- Speech at the Home of Daniel Webster — Excerpt of speech by Calvin Coolidge, July 4, 1916
- The Principles Fought for in the American Revolution — Prize Essay written by Calvin Coolidge while a student at Amherst College
Essay III
Today the federal individual income tax seems a permanent fixture of American life. But the income tax was relatively young in the 1920s, having been made permanent by the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution and the 1913 Underwood-Simmons Act. Following World War I, tax rates were high and federal tax reform thus 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 pursue tax rate cuts.
The 1920s represent an early experiment in tax reform. In this essay, you are tasked with analyzing this experiment. What was the logic behind the 1920s tax reforms? Reviewing the evidence from this decade, what is your evaluation of 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 need not agree with Coolidge personally, but do try to get into his head and explain the logic of his policy.
Required Readings & Research
- One of the required readings for Essays 2 and 3 is the Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge. The Coolidge Foundation recently published a new edition of the Autobiography, which includes a new introduction and additional supplemental material. The new edition can be purchased from the Coolidge Foundation’s online store at this link. Older editions of the Autobiography are also acceptable for you to read, and can be found at most libraries. A free version of an older edition of Coolidge’s Autobiography can also be accessed here from Archive.org. (Note: Archive.org is a third-party site and is not affiliated with the Coolidge Scholars Program.)
- Chapter 1 of Taxation: The People’s Business by Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon
- Address Before the National Republican Club – Excerpt of speech by President Coolidge, February 12, 1924
- President Coolidge’s 1925 Inaugural Address – Excerpt of speech by President Coolidge, March 4, 1925
- Address at the Fifteenth Regular Meeting of the Business Organization of the Government – Excerpt of speech by President Coolidge, June 11, 1928
- Speech by Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon – Excerpt of speech by Andrew Mellon, October 11, 1928
- Summary of federal income tax rates from 1920-1928; Source: Tax Foundation – Historical Individual Income Tax Rates & Brackets
- Federal income tax receipts by income group during the 1920s; Source: Treasury Department, United States Internal Revenue, Statistics of Income
- Summary of federal receipts, outlays, and surpluses or deficits from 1913 – 1940; Source: White House, Office of Management and Budget
- Additional historical data on the 1920s economy is available in “The U.S. Economy in the 1920s,” by Gene Smiley