Coolidge, Calvin. Thirtieth president of the United States. Born at Plymouth, VT, July 4, 1872, of Puritan New England stock, the family having first settled in Watertown, MA, in 1630. Coolidge was graduated from Amherst College, 1895. Entered the law office of Hammond and Field, Northampton, MA, and was admitted to the bar in 1897. The greater part of his time during the ensuing 20 years was given to public service in the city of Northampton and the state of Massachusetts. He served as city councilman, 1899; city solicitor, 1900-01; clerk of courts, 1904. Coolidge was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, 1907-08; was mayor of Northampton, 1910-11; member of the state senate, 1912-1915; president of the senate, 1914-15; and lieutenant governor, 1916-18. Elected governor of Massachusetts, 1919, Coolidge attracted nationwide notice by his forceful executive policy, and particularly through his firm stand for law and order during the Boston police strike. Coolidge was elected vice president of the United States in 1920, and assumed that office March 4, 1921. At the invitation of President Harding, Mr. Coolidge inaugurated the novel custom of the attendance of the vice-president at cabinet meetings. This practice not only brought his long experience to the service of the administration, but enabled him to represent administration policies before the people. On the death of President Harding, August 2, 1923, Coolidge succeeded to the presidency.

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