PLYMOUTH, Vt. (July 3) -- In the Vermont hamlet where Calvin Coolidge was born, folks will celebrate his star-spangled birthday the way they always do.
A Vermont National Guard contingent and a color guard will gather at noon on the village green and walk down to the Plymouth Notch Cemetery, where Coolidge is buried, trailed by hundreds of people - Coolidge descendants, presidential history buffs and locals.
There, Brig. Gen. Matthew McCoy will lay a wreath provided by the White House, a U.S. Army bugler will blow "Taps" and McCoy will lead the procession back up the road to the village, where a chicken barbecue picnic is held for anyone who wants to come.
But this year, the celebration of the only U.S. president born on July 4 won't end with the simple Independence Day ritual.
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Calvin Coolidge is consistently viewed as one of the worst American presidents in polls.
The opening of a new museum dedicated to Coolidge, the renewed cachet of his back-to-basics government philosophy and a symposium revisiting his presidency are prompting new looks at the shy, oft-maligned 30th president known as "Silent Cal."
"We haven't heard much about Coolidge for 60 years, but he's become a heroic figure to the tea partiers because of his strong anti-tax positions," said presidential historian Rogan Kersh, of New York University.
The *** of a village storekeeper, he was a stern Yankee with a dry wit who believed that the best government was one that governed the least. He served as governor of Massachusetts before being tapped for the GOP ticket headed by Warren Harding in 1920.
In 1923, he was swept into history when Harding died of a heart ******. Coolidge, who was spending the summer at his ******'s homestead in Plymouth Notch, was sworn in as president by his ****** - who was a notary public - in the parlor of their house just before 3 a.m. on Aug. 3, 1923.
He was elected to a full term in 1924, but chose not to seek re-election to a second full term. He turned down a $2 million retirement package offered by friends when he left the White House, insisting instead that the money be given to a school for the deaf where his wife had once taught.
Coolidge, who fought to reduce income taxes and business taxes, opposed **** subsidies and thought it wrong to raise money for political campaigning, doesn't get much respect from history books.
He's consistently rated among the worst U.S. presidents in polls.
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