It is interesting to see that Calvin Coolidge has returned to the spotlight among Republican candidates this past week when they were asked “Which former President would you draw inspiration from for your own presidency and why?”

Former Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie declared that, for him, it had to be Ronald Reagan. Promoting his forthcoming book on the fortieth President (“What Would Reagan Do?”), Christie said Reagan was “a slave to the truth.” He was one who “stood up for the truth whether it was popular or unpopular at the moment.” Citing an example, Christie pointed to Reagan’s opposition to extremists in the anti-communist, socially right-wing John Birch Society in 1964, reflecting the kind of Presidency he aspires to have. Of all that could have been illustrative of Reagan, what an interesting choice of anecdote to make, Governor Christie. I suppose it reveals where your priorities rest. Of course, Reagan’s deep affinity for Cal — placing Coolidge’s portrait (by Frank O. Salisbury) in the Cabinet Room — is long known.

Former Governor of South Carolina and U. N. Ambassador Nikki Haley answered with both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. For her, Washington’s sense of responsibility to “take on this great American experiment…intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people” without becoming “all things to all people” illustrates the balance she would seek as President. Reflecting on the challenges and divisions Lincoln faced, she praised his ability “to lead in spite of the loud noises,” exemplifying a call for “what will bring out the best in people to get us to go forward,” supplying vital leadership that is needed “now more than ever.” Presiding at the 1926 sesquicentennial of American independence in Philadelphia, Coolidge learned that the half dollar minted for the occasion featured Washington’s profile alongside his own, an honor few Presidents have enjoyed. It is also consequential that among the possible Presidents recognized on Coolidge’s bookplate, it is Washington whose portrait features in the design. Cal made it clear that Washington deserved his preeminent standing “as the possession of all humanity, the first citizen of all the ages.” Of the sixteenth President, Coolidge also said: “In the greatness of Lincoln the people of this nation are lifted up to their own greatness. As they looked on him they beheld their better selves…The influence of Lincoln did not abide in America alone. The great cause which he led to victory went forth into the world…That vision has not yet been fully realized, but people see it more and more clearly; they strive for it with greater and greater success.”

Vivek Ramaswamy, founder of Roivant Sciences, affirmed his inspiration was Thomas Jefferson. The man who wrote the Declaration at age 33 also invented the swivel chair, Ramaswamy asserted. Technically, the chair he used while writing the Declaration was a Revolving Windsor Armchair purchased the year before in Philadelphia and built according to his specifications. He did not patent the design and thus the now-familiar swivel chair is a later development. Nonetheless, Ramaswamy noted, Jefferson gives expression to that “founding spirit” of pioneers and explorers “that we miss.” Ramaswamy, in wondering what would Jefferson say to today’s Republican Party, averred that “one thing he’d remind us of” would be “freedom of speech” where “you get to express yourself freely no matter how heinous the opinion. Thomas Jefferson understood that. He’s an inspiration for me,” Ramaswamy said. Coolidge certainly felt a very strong link to July Fourth and the man who wrote its resonant Declaration. He could see, however, the ways in which Jefferson’s manifold ideas across a career of more than forty years had limits. When his ideas collided with conditions as they were, the dissonance provided a rich lesson in how governance by theoretical philosophy is not the same as governance by practical experience. As Cal wrote of Jefferson in his Autobiography, “In spite of all his greatness, anyone who had as many ideas as Jefferson was bound to find some of them would not work. But this does not detract from the wisdom of his faith in the people and his constant insistence that they be left to manage their own affairs. His opposition to bureaucracy will bear careful analysis, and the country could stand a great deal more of its application. The trouble with us is that we talk about Jefferson but do not follow him. In his theory that the people should manage their government, and not be managed by it, he was everlastingly right.” Coolidge was both a man of thought and ideas without ever being carried away by lofty abstractions. He kept his anchor, navigated the main currents, and proved how to win and how to govern well. Consequently, he could both sincerely admire and honestly disagree with his predecessors, however different they were from himself.

When Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was asked, he chose Calvin Coolidge. As cheers went up in the hall, he continued, “Now people don’t talk about him a lot but he was one of the few Presidents who got almost everything right. He understood the proper role of the federal government under the Constitution.” DeSantis urged the need to restore the central role of the Constitution to our outlook and the importance of a President who sees how to rein in the administrative state. He summarized: ” ‘Silent Cal’ knew the proper role of the federal government. The country was in great shape when he was President of the United States, and we can learn an awful from Calvin Coolidge.”

One of those lessons for certain candidates might be the choice when not to run. Sometimes a seemingly lesser office is a more meaningful and powerful place for leadership. As Coolidge once said, “The states are the sheet-anchors of our institutions. On them falls the task of administering local affairs.” He also once observed, “What we need is not more Federal government, but better local government.” Some candidates have already recognized this higher principle of service. Despite virtually launching his Presidential campaign in February this past year at the Coolidge Centennial Conference in Washington, D. C., it is evident that former Vice President Mike Pence, another admirer of Cal, took that advice to heart in October.

Ramaswamy noted that while DeSantis may have picked a President born on the Fourth of July, Vivek selected the President who died on that day…on its fiftieth anniversary. There are other lessons to be learned from Cal. Coolidge remains one of the most successful political candidates in American history, winning every contest for elected office except one early in his career: school board. Moreover, he achieved a governance with few mistakes. For candidates looking how to win campaigns, there is little need to go farther than Cal, whose style, strategy, and technique bear study and replication. Perhaps a President who places great value on the spoken word and who refuses to see himself as great or deserving of his turn in office is just what Americans need. If Coolidge were here, there is little doubt he would not be standing on a debate stage touting his own credentials. He would be talking about Jefferson’s Declaration, Washington’s character, and Lincoln’s perseverance, reminding Americans to keep faith with their ongoing experiment in self-government. Whatever choice is made for President next year, however, it is welcome to see Calvin Coolidge back in public discourse.