On Lindbergh and the Spirit of America

June 11, 2014June 18, 2014 / gouverneurmorris / 1 Comment

It matters not what era or generation we find ourselves, there is an irrepressible impulse to search for and take pride in exceptional deeds, heroic achievements and great examples of character, courage and competence. As Americans we especially prize the opportunity to honor noble men and women. It reminds us that good is still rewarded and it renews our faith. Such was the occasion eighty-seven years ago, when young Charles Lindbergh completed the first ever solo transatlantic flight, a 3,600 mile, 33 and a half-hour feat, from Roosevelt Field in New York to Le Bourge Field, outside Paris, on May 20-21, 1927.

Returning to his homeland, Colonel Lindbergh found a nation ready to recognize what he had done not only for its contributions to aviation but to a much larger degree how he furnished a front-page opportunity to take stock of what was really good and worthwhile about America. Not unlike today, Americans had heard enough negativity and criticism of their ways, their institutions, their shortcomings. Too little regard had been given to her accomplishments, to the things that were genuinely wholesome, admirable and worthy of praise when it came to America. Americans, then as now, loved their country and wanted others to better understand why that love remained justified. It was more than a chance to display scientific acumen, to gloat at what others had failed to do, it was a time to manifest good will, charity and service, especially as the people of France mourned the loss of the two pilots (Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli) sent westward to complete the same challenge just 13 days before Lindbergh’s arrival in Paris. It was not a time to flaunt greatness for its own sake, it was a time to commend bravery and ingenuity in the midst of tangible danger. It was a celebration of what was best about America, not with militaristic nationalism, but with humble circumspection and joy at reaching a human goal that had been years in the striving.

The occasion that bestowed the Distinguished Flying Cross, a medal signed into existence by President Coolidge the summer before, on Colonel Lindbergh was not the result of one man or one city, it was the product of some of America’s finest engineers and innovators, like Fred Rohr, whose design of the fuel system for The Spirit of St. Louis made greater distances reachable for the first time. It was the people of San Diego and the determined folks of Ryan Airlines, who turned a tuna cannery into the creator of one of the most exceptional planes ever constructed. They met Lindbergh’s sixty day deadline, spending hundreds of thousands less than the forest of competitors rushing to build the plane that would make the crossing. It was creative minds like those of Donald Hall, the chief engineer for Lindy’s plane, who devised a way to furnish enough lift despite a fuel load heavier than the aircraft itself. On and on the list could go, recounting the great deeds of those who dreamed big dreams, dared to test the bounds of the possible, and finally reaped the rewards and the risks of what had never been done before but now could be thanks in no small part to America’s freedoms and opportunities.

Welcoming this young American home, President Coolidge addressed the 100,000 gathered on this day on the north side of the Washington monument:

“My Fellow Countrymen:

“It was in America that the modern art of flying heavier-than-air machines was first developed. As the experiments became successful, the airplane was devoted to practical purposes. It has been adapted to commerce in the transportation of passengers and mail and used for national defense by our land and sea forces. Beginning with a limited flying radius, its length has been gradually extended. We have made many flying records. Our Army flyers have circumnavigated the globe. One of our Navy men started from California and flew far enough to have reached Hawaii, but being off his course landed in the water. Another officer of the Navy has flown to the North Pole. Our own country has been traversed from shore to shore in a single flight.

“It had been apparent for some time that the next great feat in the air would be a continuous flight from the mainland of America to the mainland of Europe. Two courageous Frenchmen made the reverse attempt and passed to a fate that is as yet unknown. Others were speeding their preparations to make the trial, but it remained for an unknown youth to tempt the elements and win. It is the same story of valor and victory by a son of the people that shines through every page of American history.

“The absence of self-acclaim, the refusal to become commercialized, which has marked the conduct of this sincere and genuine exemplar of fine and noble virtues, has endeared him to everyone. He has returned unspoiled. Particularly has it been delightful to have him refer to his airplane as somehow possessing a personality and being equally entitled to credit with himself, for we are proud that in every particular this silent partner represented American genius and industry. I am told that more than 100 separate companies furnished materials, parts, or service in its construction.

“And now, my fellow citizens, this young man has returned. He is here. He has brought his unsullied fame home. It is our great privilege to welcome back to his native land, on behalf of his own people, who have a deep affection for him and have been thrilled by this splendid achievement, a colonel of the United States Officers’ Reserve Corps, an illustrious citizen of our Republic, a conqueror of the air and strengthener of the ties which bind us to our sister nations across the sea, and, as President of the United States, I bestow the distinguished flying cross, as a symbol of appreciation for what he is and what he has done, upon Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh.”

Created in section 12 of the Air Corps Act on July 2, 1926, the eventual design was completed by Miss Elizabeth Will and A. E. DuBois of the Army's Heraldic Section (now called the Institute of Heraldry), who integrated the symbolism of a cross for sacrifice, superimposed with four propellers and completed by five sun rays in each angle of the cross to denote the greatness of the deeds for which bestowed. Finally the red, white and blue drawn from the American flag completes the distinctive yet simple appearance of the medal. Despite criticism of the design by those who did more than most to champion its creation, the rank and file soldier, Marine, sailor and airman always had a strong affection for it. Consequently, despite pressure to alter it, the original design has remained unchanged since its inception eighty-eight years ago.

Created from section 12 of the Air Corps Act on July 2, 1926, the eventual design was completed by Miss Elizabeth Will and A. E. DuBois of the Army’s Heraldic Section (now called the Institute of Heraldry), who integrated the symbolism of a cross for sacrifice, superimposed with four propellers and completed by five sun rays in each angle of the cross to denote the greatness of the deeds for which it would be bestowed. Finally the red, white and blue drawn from our national colors completes the distinctive yet simple appearance of the medal. Despite criticism of the design by those who did more than most to champion its creation, the rank and file soldier, Marine, sailor and airman always had a strong affection for it. Consequently, despite pressure to alter it, the original design has remained unchanged since its inception eighty-eight years ago.

While Lindbergh was the first to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross in medal form on June 11, he was not the first to receive the citation, as the ten pilots of the Pan-American Goodwill flight of 1926 were, seen here. Lindbergh would join a vast assembly of aviators, inventors and entrepreneurs, before and after him, who would take on the unknown and leave their mark on the development of flight. As Coolidge would recount, from the earliest efforts of Wilbur and Orville Wright, along the shores of Kitty Hawk on December 17, 1903, to the circumnavigation of the globe by Major Frederick L. Martin in 1924, the effort to make flight attainable came through much trial and error, failure and success. Commander John Rodgers would begin a transpacific crossing in 1925 and be rescued after ten days at sea off the coast of Hawaii. Commander Richard E. Byrd, joined by Warrant Officer Floyd Bennett, would fly over the North Pole on May 9, 1926. The first shore to shore non-stop flight would be done by Lieutenants John A. Macready and Oakley Kelly from New York to San Diego in May 1923. After signing the legislation that created the Distinguished Flying Cross, President Coolidge would recognize upwards of fifty-eight aviators between 1927 and 1929 whose “act of heroism or extraordinary achievement” merited the honor.

President Coolidge gave the Distinguished Flying Cross certificate for the first time just over a month before the Lindbergh ceremony. Here Major Herbert A. Dargue accepts one of the ten awards bestowed that day, May 2, 1927. Two would be given posthumously in recognition of Captain Clinton Woolsey and Lieutenant John Benton who tragically died from collision with another of the 5 ships to take part in the Pan-American Goodwill Flight, February 26, 1927.

President Coolidge gave the Distinguished Flying Cross certificate for the first time just over a month before the Lindbergh ceremony. Here, at Bolling Field in Washington, Major Herbert A. Dargue accepts one of the ten awards bestowed that day, May 2, 1927. Two would be given posthumously in recognition of Captain Clinton Woolsey and Lieutenant John Benton, who tragically died from collision with another of the 5 ships participating in the Pan-American Goodwill Flight, February 26, 1927.

The pilots of the Pan-American Goodwill Flight, 21 December 1926-2 May 1927

Here is a working list of the 55 individuals who were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross during the Coolidge years. While many are not on this list including those who flew operations during this time period but were recognized later and certain civilians to whom the award was granted prior to revision of section 12 of the Air Commerce Act by Coolidge's Executive Order 4601 effective March 1, 1927. As research best confirms the names are in chronological order by date of award, with a second list noting known recipients by year only.

Here is a working list of the 56 individuals who were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross during the Coolidge years. Many are not on this list including those who flew operations during this time period but were recognized after Coolidge’s term of office ended and certain civilians to whom the award was granted prior to revision of section 12 of the Air Commerce Act by Coolidge’s Executive Order 4601 effective March 1, 1927. As best research confirms the names are in chronological order by date of award, with a second list noting known recipients by year only. The name at the bottom is one whom the President tried unsuccessfully to have approved for the medal by Congress. Mr. Chamberlin declined the requirement of qualification: joining either the Air Corps or Navy as an aviator. As such he was never awarded the DFC. Also absent from this list are the tanker crews who collaborated in the endurance tests of Question Mark but failed to receive official recognition until 1976.

Lieutenant John W. Benton’s Distinguished Flying Cross citation, May 2, 1927, representative of what was given by President Coolidge to the aviators of the Goodwill flight that day.

As pointed out by the Distinguished Flying Cross Society, the law contained three fascinating elements in awarding the DFC:

1. The medal could be bestowed retroactively, as would be done by Coolidge for the Wright brothers, who were recognized on December 18, 1928. Wilbur received it posthumously, having died in 1912. Orville, still alive, would meet Lindbergh and take an active part in the Civil Aeronautics Conference in 1928. Many would carry out their work in aviation during the early 1920s but not be honored until after Coolidge’s time.

2. The medal was not predicated upon combat heroism, it placed an equal esteem for heroism in peacetime. Of the fifty-six given under the Coolidge administration, the vast majority would be for actions done outside of hostilities. James Doolittle would earn his first two Flying Crosses for the first cross-country flight in 1922 and work with acceleration in 1924 but not be officially recognized until August 1, 1929. For the first endurance record, logging 150 hours in air, all five crewmen of the Question Mark would be given the Flying Cross as one of Coolidge’s last official acts in January 1929. Even aviators of other countries were recognized with the medal for their pioneering work, such as Captains Hermann Koehl and James Fitzmaurice with Baron von Hunefeld, who were the first to cross the Atlantic from Europe to America eleven months after Lindbergh landed in Paris.

Captain Koehl of Germany being presented with the Distinguished Flying Cross by President Calvin Coolidge, at noon on May 2, 1928.

Captain James Fitzmaurice of Ireland being presented with the Distinguished Flying Cross by President Calvin Coolidge, at noon on May 2, 1928.

Coolidge also recognized Captain Koehl's co-pilot, Captain James Fitzmaurice of Ireland and Baron von Hunefeld with Flying Crosses for together becoming the first to successfully cross the Atlantic from east to west, proving that in spite of stiffer wind patterns travel could go both ways by air.

Coolidge also recognized Captain Koehl of Germany and the owner of the Bremer, Baron von Hunefeld (between Koehl and Fitzmaurice), with Flying Crosses for making the trek jointly thereby becoming the first to successfully cross the Atlantic from east to west and proving that in spite of stiffer wind patterns travel could go both ways by air.

3. The medal was the first to be universal to all branches of the service. Up to then, medals were distinct to the specific part of the military to which one was attached. The Distinguished Flying Cross, representing sacrifice and flight, is not only the oldest military aviation medal but, perhaps more than any other, encapsulates America. In a unique way the medal brought down artificial barriers and reminded us of our obligations to others, celebrating what is best about our country and most noble in human nature itself. Maybe that is why Coolidge liked it so much. He understood more enduring good could be secured not by fixating on her imperfections but by reflecting on the reasons America inspires and remains worthy of respect and admiration. If our nation was to improve, it remained with us not to tear down but build up, not nurse old hatreds and envies but contribute by first being better people, better neighbors, and better citizens ourselves.

Lindbergh and his mother hosted by the Coolidges at DuPont Circle, where the President and his wife stayed during repairs to the White House roof that spring of 1927. Notice how everyone is cheerful except the unexpectedly sober figure on the right. Lindbergh, about to appear in a light suit, was corrected by Coolidge who chose a dark suit for him as better befitting the formality of the occasion. Even returning heroes need to take care of the way they dress. They set a deeper example than even they may realize. It is one that should not be treated flippantly.

On the Business Organization of the Government

June 1, 2014June 5, 2014 / gouverneurmorris / Leave a comment

While this source parrots much the same accepted narrative for Coolidge’s supposed “do nothing” time in the White House, these numbers comprise part of a sizable record contradicting that biased claim, shattering much of the shallow veneer plastered up against the Coolidge Era for far too long by New Deal “historians” like Art Schlesinger, William Leuchtenburg and those who echo their assumptions. http://us-presidents.findthebest.com/l/12/Calvin-Coolidge.

This month, like January, held a special place during the Coolidge years. It was the continuance of a tradition begun under Harding but abruptly ended with his successor, Hoover. It would come to carry the resolute Vermonter’s unique imprint on its importance to transparent and sound government. It was the bi-annual meeting for the Business Organization of the Government. Held for eight years in various auditoriums around Washington, from the Interior Department offices to the Continental Hall, Coolidge would take part in no less than ten such gatherings.

The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, shepherded to passage by Harding and its first Director, General Charles G. Dawes, brought what had been an arbitrary and chaotic budget process to order. Some years would see more than twelve competing budgetary packages presented to the Congress from the various bureaus, departments and agencies in Washington. Requests would often be made for the same appropriated amounts, with Congress left to sort out and streamline the tangled mess. The Budget Act changed all of that, restoring authority for Executive Branch responsibilities to the President. Now it was through the Chief Executive that all Cabinet heads and bureau chiefs had to request their respective budgeted funds, not the Congress. It served to reaffirm the Constitution’s separation of powers but also to put the brakes on a random exchange of favors and hold the Federal Government to the discipline of time-tested household budgeting. Harding and Director Dawes would lead the first meeting on June 29, 1921. As Harding’s momentum slowed, it would fall to Coolidge, even as Vice President, to present the case for what would come to be called “scientific economy.” It would be the preparation of Calvin Coolidge that particularly qualified him more than any of his contemporaries in the White House to exercise the necessary perseverance to follow-through with a consistent restraint of Congressional spending on one side and Executive regulation on the other.

Graph encompasses the final year of President Wilson through the third year of President Hoover. Notice the consistent retirement of debt each year of the Harding and Coolidge administrations. It was so strong a system that it carried forward into Hoover’s first year, until spending resumed its climb from 1930 onward.

Unlike many of his peers however, his accomplishments did not end with rhetoric. He practiced what he preached, holding firm grasp on the White House staff budget, a duty he viewed as under his own personal purview. He left office having saved most of his $75,000 annual paycheck. He achieved what so many, even the great Ronald Reagan, failed to do: actually reduce Federal spending while paying down the nation’s debt from $25.9 to $16.9 billion in six years. He did so not by “wheeling and dealing” with the very recalcitrant Republican Congress of his day, but by winning their respect with his honesty, political experience and courage. He did not flinch when lesser men did. While he left many wondering at how he was able to co-opt allies and neutralize opponents, he never exchanged what was right for everyone in place of personal electoral advantage. In this way he proved successful in anticipating what Congress would see and do, as Dawes later noted of him, better than the House and Senate themselves most of the time. Yet, Hoover, in part because of his refusal to recognize Congress’ role as legitimate, would see his work frustrated and his goals repeatedly redirected. On the other hand, it was Coolidge’s fairness, good sense and integrity that equipped him to overcome each challenge and keep the agenda moving.

Coolidge made it plain in his Autobiography that he refused to take reprisals or exert coercion on those who disagreed with him (p.232). He simply exercised his responsibilities justly and impartially, keeping his door open to everyone. If they passed disagreeable legislation, he had the veto, which was used fifty times during his tenure. He hardly operated alone, appointing able men like C. Bascom Slemp and Everett Sanders, former Congressmen, who knew the political topography like few did. He also had the determined General Lord, whom he consistently backed with each decision to cut, eliminate and chip away at Washington’s wasteful expenditures. When the issue, no less contentious than now, concerned budgeting and taxes, he was particularly apt at taking his reasons directly to the American people on these two grand occasions each January and June, letting them see and especially hear the logic behind and importance of “scientific economy.”

A look at the Federal Budget Surpluses and Deficit totals from Harding through Hoover after the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921. Coolidge maintained healthy surpluses all six years of his tenure. It was Hoover who ended that achievement and suspended the bi-annual meeting of the Business Organization of the Government.

In the coming weeks, we will showcase some of the highlights of the ten speeches he made before the Business Organization of the Government as President, most of which were carried over the radio for millions of Americans to listen in for the first time. Marshaling his talent for this new medium combined with a very genuine passion for strict economy, Coolidge even infused a strong sense of dramatic flare to make his case directly to us. In this impressive fusion of salesmanship and substance, it marked an incredible time in American history when none less than the President of the United States championed good governance and constructive economy.

On John Ericsson and What It Means to be American

May 30, 2014June 1, 2014 / gouverneurmorris / Leave a comment

“Friends and Fellow Citizens:

“It is one of the glories of our country that we all have the privilege of being Americans. Some of us were born here of an ancestry that has lived here for generations. Others of us were born abroad and brought here at a tender age, or have come to these shores as a result of mature choice. But when once our feet have touched this soil, when once we have made this land our home, wherever our place of birth, whatever our race, we are all blended in one common country. All artificial distinctions of lineage and rank are cast aside. We all rejoice in the title of Americans. But this is not done by discarding the teachings and beliefs or the character which have contributed to the strength and progress of the peoples from which our various strains derived their origin, but rather from the acceptance of all their good qualities and their adaptation to the requirements of our institutions. None of those who come here are required to leave any good qualities behind, but they are rather required to strengthen and fortify them and supplement them with such additional good qualities as they find among us.

“While it is eminently proper for us to glory in our origin and to cherish with pride the contributions which our race has made to the common progress of humanity, we can not put too much emphasis on the fact that in this country we are all bound together in a common destiny. We must all be united as one people. This principle works both ways. As we do not recognize any inferior races, so we do not recognize any superior races. We all stand on an equality of rights and of opportunity, each deriving just honor from their own worth and accomplishments. It is not, then, for the purpose of setting one people above another that we assemble here to-day to do reverence to the memory of a great son of Sweden, but rather to glory in the name of John Ericsson and his race as a preeminent example of the superb contribution which has been made by many different nationalities to the cause of our country. We honor him most of all because we can truly say he was a great American.

John Ericsson, 1862

“Great men are the product of a great people. They are the result of many generations of effort, toil, and discipline. They do not stand by themselves; they are more than an individual. They are the incarnation of the spirit of a people. We should fail in our understanding of Ericsson unless we first understand the Swedish people both as they have developed in the land of their origin and as they have matured in the land of their adoption.”

Coolidge proceeded to recount precisely that development of the Swedish people. From the rugged terrain under the Arctic these hardy people have demonstrated “independence, courage and resourcefulness” since ancient time, taking to the seas, defending greater and greater religious freedom and leaving a fixed imprint on the growth and success of America. Establishing a colony here in 1638, they “laid the basis for a religious structure, built the first flour mills, the first ships, the first brickyards, and made the first roads, while they introduced horticulture and scientific forestry into the Delaware region.”

“Landing of the Swedes” by Stanley M. Arthurs, depicting the first contact in 1638 between Swedish settlers and Delaware Indians along the Christina River in what is now Wilmington.

They not only cleared and cultivated the forests and prairies but they built churches and charities, established schools and businesses. Despite being “few in numbers…they supported the Colonial cause and it has been said that King Gustavus III, writing to a friend, declared, ‘If I were not King I would proceed to America and offer my sword on behalf of the brave Colonies.’ “ John Mortenson was among the Signers of the Declaration and John Hanson among those to hold the office of “President of the United States in Congress Assembled.” It would be Sweden to become the “first European power which voluntarily and without solicitation tendered its friendship to the young Republic” in 1783. But also, with the removal in 1843 of restrictions in their native land, the large number of Swedish immigrants began their move to America and greater liberty.

“As these Americans of Swedish blood have increased in numbers and taken up the duties of citizenship, they have been prominent in all ranks of public life.” They have served with equal distinction not only as governors and mayors, generals and admirals but also painters and musicians. Yet, Coolidge took the occasion to name one of many who exemplified that “old Norse spirit, a true American,” Irvine L. Lenroot of Wisconsin. While it is ironic that Senator Lenroot was supposed to be the Vice Presidential choice alongside candidate Harding at the 1920 Republican convention, the rank and file delegates had very different ideas of who was best qualified. Of course, we know their choice fell enthusiastically and spontaneously upon Calvin Coolidge. It is noteworthy that now as President in his own right, Coolidge exacts no political gloating or grandstanding. Instead, Mr. Coolidge recognizes his earliest national rival with respect and selfless praise, making his point of American exceptionalism even stronger.

Irvine Luther Lenroot, Senator from Wisconsin, 1918-1927, was the man who "might have been the thirtieth president of the United States." Coolidge exemplified dignity and class in his actions as much as his words, like in the dedication message here.

Irvine Luther Lenroot, Senator from Wisconsin, 1918-1927, was the man who “might have been the thirtieth president of the United States.” Coolidge, despite being decisively chosen by the delegates over Lenroot, exemplified dignity and class as his words at this dedication of Ericsson’s memorial illustrate.

“…Such is the background and greatness of the Swedish people in the country of their origin and in America that gave to the world John Ericsson. They have been characterized by that courage which is the foundation of industry and thrift, that endurance which is the foundation of military achievement, that devotion to the home which is the foundation of patriotism, and that reverence for religion which is the foundation of moral power. They are representative of the process which has been going on for centuries in many quartered of the globe to develop a strain of pioneers ready to make their contribution to the enlightened civilization of America.” The strength of America is not in its multicultural diversity, the non-essentials that keep us divided, but in its ability to attract and assimilate so many good qualities around a shared identity, a common set of principles, creating a new union of peoples called Americans.

John Ericsson validates that long-proven tradition. “The life of this great man is the classic story of the immigrant,” Coolidge reminds us, “the early struggle with adversity, the home in a new country, the final success.” Ericsson’s focus and fascination with engineering made possible the accomplishment of the Princeton, “which was the first man-of-war equipped with a screw propeller and with machinery below the water line out of reach of shot.” Ericsson did not stop there, however. His next great achievement “steamed into Hampton Roads late after dark on the day of March 8, 1862. It arrived none too soon, for that morning the Confederate ironclad Virginia, reconstructed from the Merrimac, began a work of destruction among the 16 Federal vessels, carrying 298 guns, located at that point.” The Cumberland had been pummeled to submission, the Congress was grounded and aflame, and the Roanoke and Minnesota were “damaged and run ashore.” Europe watched and stood ready to recognize the Confederacy with the next swift victory. Yet, the unprecedented success of the Merrimac would be matched with an equally “new and extraordinary naval innovation” in the Monitor. As Admiral Luce would observe years later, it was the Monitor which “exhibited in a singular manner the old Norse element in the American Navy,” since it was Ericsson “who built her,” Dahlgren “who armed her,” and Worden “who fought her.”

The Monitor battles the Virginia, formerly the Merrimac, Hampton Roads, March 8, 1862. Depiction by J. O. Davidson.

The USS Monitor battles the CSS Virginia, formerly the USS Merrimac, Hampton Roads, March 8, 1862. Depiction by J. O. Davidson.

“After a battle lasting four hours in which the Monitor suffered no material damage, except for one shell which hit the observation opening in the pilot house, temporarily blinding Lieutenant Worden, the commanding officer, the Merrimac, later reported to have been badly crippled, withdrew, never to venture out again to meet her conqueror. The old spirit of the Vikings, becoming American, had again triumphed in a victory no less decisive of future events than when it had hovered over the banner of William the Conqueror…That engagement revealed that in the future all wooden navies would be of little avail…The great genius of Ericsson had brought about a new era in naval construction…Great as were these achievements, they are scarcely greater than those which marked the engineering and inventive abilities of this great man, which were to benefit the industry, commerce, and transportation of the country. He was a lover of peace, not war. He was devoted to justice and freedom and was moved by an abiding love of America, of which he had become a citizen in 1848.”

Admiral John A. Dahlgren, beside one of his inventions, a 50-pounder Dahlgren rifle. His "soda bottle" design ensured greater safety and accuracy in artillery operation.

Admiral John A. Dahlgren, beside one of his inventions, a 50-pounder Dahlgren rifled gun. His “soda bottle” design ensured greater safety and accuracy in artillery operation. The Monitor had two such guns.

Lieutenant John L. Worden, commander of the Monitor in that historic match between steam-powered ironclads, March 8-9, 1862.

“Ericsson continued his labors in his profession with great diligence, even into his eighty-sixth year, when he passed away at his home in New York City on the 8th of March, 1889, the anniversary of the arrival of Monitor in Hampton Roads. At the request of the Royal United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, all that was mortal of the great engineer was restored to his native land during the following year.” In debt to what we owed to Sweden for what Admiral Schley called “the gift of Ericsson,” his body was returned to “his native country.” “Crowned with honor” by not only the land in which he was born but also America, “the land of his adoption, he sleeps among the mountains he had loved so well as a boy. But his memory abides here.”

It was this occasion that rejoined both America and Sweden in the dedication of “another memorial to the memory of this illustrious man.” President Coolidge would stand with Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf and Crown Princess Louise “to be present…and join with us in paying tribute to a patriot who belongs to two countries. It is significant that as Ericsson when he was a young soldier had the friendship and favor of the Crown Prince of that day, so his memory has the marked honor of the Crown Prince of to-day.”

“As the ceaseless throng of our citizens of various races shall come and go,” Coolidge concluded, “as they enter and leave our Capital City in the years to come, as they look upon their monument and upon his and recall that though he and they differed in blood and race they were yet bound together by the tie that surpasses race and blood in the communion of a common spirit, and as they pause and contemplate that communion, may they not fail to say in their hearts, ‘Of such is the greatness of America.’ “

John Ericsson Memorial, sculpted by James Earle Fraser from pink Milford granite. Fraser would create some of the most iconic images of modern time, from the Buffalo nickel, the bronze of General Patton at West Point, the Franklin Memorial in Philadelphia and the Contemplation of Justice atop the Supreme Court Building in Washington.

The John Ericsson Memorial, sculpted by James Earle Fraser from pink Milford granite. Fraser would create some of the most iconic images of modern time, including the Indian head on the Buffalo nickel, the bronze of General Patton at West Point, the Franklin Memorial in Philadelphia and the Contemplation of Justice atop the Supreme Court Building in Washington.