Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Coolidge, Calvin

COOLIDGE, CALVIN, an American public official. Republican candidate for vice-president in 1920. He was born in 1872 in Plymouth, Vt., and graduated from Amherst College in 1895. In the fall of that year he began the study of law in the offices of Hammond and Field in Northampton, Mass., and two years later was admitted to the bar. Soon after he entered the practice of law he was elected a member of the Northampton City Council, and has held public office almost continuously since. In 1900 and 1901 he was City Solicitor of Northampton. From 1907-1908 he was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and later Mayor of Northampton. In 1912-1916 he served in the State Senate, being president of that body for two years. From 1916 to 1918 he held the post of Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts, and in 1918 was elected Governor of the State. During 1919 a strike of the Boston police left that city for a few days at the mercy of the lawless elements. Governor Coolidge took vigorous measures to enlist a volunteer force and refused to make any terms with the strikers who were discharged and not re-employed. His action brought him nation-wide fame and was indorsed by a majority of the citizens of

his State, who re-elected him Governor in 1919. He was nominated for vice-president on the first ballot by the Republican National Convention meeting in Chicago in June, 1920, and was elected on Nov. 4, 1920.