The first couple departed for washington. 7 30 a. M. The rest, as they say, is history. Lets get a hand of the cast. Thank you, friends. Welcome, mr. Vice president. My assignment from amity is to give a brief introduction. I im happy to do that. Im an abiding fan of the vice. I think he will go down in history of one of americas greatest Vice President s. Weve had some great ones starting with john adams and Teddy Roosevelt and harry truman. Its hard to think of any who has been more intensely tested than the Vice President. Were to hear from. In fact, i met mr. Pence only back when he was a congressman. I doubt hed remember it. The encounter was on the sidewalk in front of the harvard club of new york. Im not accusing just to be clear, not accusing mr. Pence of having been in the harvard club. This was on the sidewalk he was with a mutual friend, as i recall it, steve forbes, which might be why when we were introduced briefly, i leaned over and said to mr. Pence, did i hear . Youre for the gold standard. Im reluctant to repeat what . Mr. Pence replied because i hadnt informed him that i was with the newspaper. But it was substantive. Several sentences, and i dont think its a violation of ground rules to disclose that. When i got home that evening, i said to amity, i shook hands today with mike pence. He strikes me as a man to watch and he went on to be governor of indiana, of course, and history calling. One day when mr. Pence was Vice President , he showed up without a fanfare. Plymouth notch, vermont, to see where 100 years ago, almost coolidge was sworn by his own father to the president , joe parchment, when the press told him the coolidges father, who said you could swear in the president , he said, who said, i couldnt. A few if any of our leading politicians have come as much as mr. Pence has to embody virtues of coolidge, a commoner of modesty, strong religious faith, a sense budgetary rectitude. And what i like to call constitutional mr. A coolidge famously displayed his courage. One as governor of massachusetts he faced down the Boston Police strike cabling. Samuel gompers, the immortal words there is no right to strike against the Public Safety by anyone, anybody, anywhere, any time Vice President pence famously showed his courage on january six, 2001, amid the riot when amid the riot, he refused to leave the bent as he was on returning to his duty to. As the constitution puts it, open the the certificates, close quote quote. Mr. Pence has given us a deeply affecting account of this in his new memoir, so help me god. Its a wonderful title by the way, and an extraordinary book. It recounts how after a harrowing conversation on january five, when he informed the president that the didnt grant Vice President the powers to do what the president wanted, mr. Pence went back to his own office, sat down and looked around the portraits. Jefferson, adams, Teddy Roosevelt, coolidge and one who wasnt Vice President lincoln. And he himself thinking of the book of hebrews and, the cloud of witness who everything we do, and the call to quote, throw off everything that hinders close quote quote, let us run with perseverance, the race marked out for us close quote. Then the Vice President bowed his head, folded his hands and prayed. Yes, the New York New York sun noted admiringly right there on government property. And then he went on to cleave to the constitution with a greater display of courage than any other Vice President. No, no. Vice president has just shown a greater display of courage and i think it will be studied for generations to come. Mr. Vice president. Sir, thank you for that overly generous introduction. Im deeply humbled by it. Abraham lincoln said his only ambition in life was to be esteemed by people esteemed. And so i thank you for your esteem and and i also want to thank your extraordinary wife, a gifted writer, but someone who loves history. Would you all join me in thanking amity shlaes for her work at the Calvin Coolidge president ial foundation and bringing forward this coolidge centennial conference conference. Credit. She is soft spoken, but shes a Freight Train and ill never forget after i made that visit, seth, you referred to the plymouth march where we thought wed slip in very quietly with our car motorcade. It wasnt too long before i got a phone call. One of my favorite authors who said, i heard you were at plymouth notch, and i would like your help with a Calvin Coolidge foundation as we approach 100 years since he took the oath of office. And here we are with the extraordinary leaders and a rising generation of conservative young people. So thank you, amity. And im and im deeply humbled to be here with a number of my that i would be prepared at back in the days in congress we used to say, i yield the balance of my time. But to be in the room the likes of governor john sununu, one of the great governors, the history of this country, one of the greatest chiefs of staff in the history of the white house. And to be here with chris, who who i served in congress, i think, to this day, remains one of the most optimistic, positive of forward thinking conservatives in america. Congressman chris cox is with us. Thank you, chris. And, of course, to to actually sharing the room with with friend and a colleague who i know has played a a leading role in the work of the Coolidge Foundation. Congressman french hill, thank you. Thank you for caring so much our history and this great legacy. And finally, when i think about Economic Freedom, when i think about a defense of free markets and in print and on the airwaves and in the public debate, there are few names in that pantheon of greater consequence than the name of steve forbes. And steve, thank you for defending Economic Freedom for all these years and for honor of being with us today. And thank you all all bright young people. Ill be available a few more selfies later. Thank you for such an incredibly warm welcome. You know, Calvin Coolidge wrote we draw our president s from the people and its a wholesome thing for them to return to the people. And i have. Thats frankly whats true of president s is, also true of congressmen and governors and Vice President s. And i am i am here today from my home in indiana, which you may have seen on television recently. After four years of extraordinary services, your Vice President , were back in the heartland where we belong. And my life has changed lot since we were last together. Not only did we move back home, but also, i bought a riding mower. John deere, 54 inch deck, zero turn radius. I get to drive my own lawn. One of the nice parts about no longer being Vice President is you get to drive your own car. One of the bad parts is you get to pay for your own gas. But the biggest news in our life is that in our first year out of office, we welcomed our first grandchild. And last week we welcomed two new granddaughters. In two days. Depends family is growing. We couldnt be more blessed. Karen and i figured out we actually had children so we could have grandchildren. And its a joy to be with all of you. I must tell you. Holding little elaina marie. Born last week to the second daughter to our maureen and his incredible wife holding little etta rose more to my daughter charlotte and my unworthy son in law lieutenant henry. It gives you pause, doesnt it . Gives you pause about the importance of reflecting on past knowing. Knowing where weve come from, but also gives you even greater weight of responsibility about the future and preserving our inheritance of freedom and the values have made this country great come into higher focus. And thats why i didnt want to miss today the opportunity to say thank you, thank you to of you for supporting the coolidge. And its Important Mission of teaching this next generation to love our country, to cherish our constitution cushion and to advance principles and values. With americas 30th president , Calvin Coolidge. Thank you all. Im especially honored to be here with so many coolidge scholars, young people that are wearing the badges whove are among the best and the brightest that this country has to offer. You were selected through a tremendous competitive process and chosen by merit. And i know i everyone here is proud of you. Were counting on you. Its going to be your turn one of these days. And i know youre going to serve america with great distinction. Join in thanking all these coolidge scholars for stepping up. You know, a lot of people consider Calvin Coolidge one of the forgotten president s, but he was never forgotten. To me. Especially during my time as Vice President. As seth just shared, i the first time i walked into my office in the west wing, i saw portraits of john adams and Thomas Jefferson on the walls for my predecessor, ad hoc, the first and the second Vice President s. They remain there for the rest of the tenure in office. But i added a couple more paintings. One was of Teddy Roosevelt, who his contemporaries described him pure energy, which concluded must come out of new york about. 100 years. The other portrait i could relate to a little more. And that was the portrait of Calvin Coolidge. And i must tell you, my love for calvin dates back to my youth and my study of history, but it was greatly enlivened by the epic biography by amity shlaes. I believe her book perfectly captures silent kells character, his personality, and his philosophy. He, in fact, when i was Vice President , theres a Small Library of works about and by Vice President s thats in the library at the naval observatory. And i remember one sunny sunday when i had a few moments after church to grab a book, and i pulled Calvin Coolidge, his autobiography off the shelf, first edition, and sat down and read it in an afternoon. And i want to thank the Coolidge Foundation for putting Calvin Coolidge, his autobiography, back in print and available for every american in. Amity. Your words about him, his words in a book much shorter than my book. A lot shorter than my book. Evidence of his brevity and economy of words or my lack of. Inspired me greatly. And ive been inspired since by his humility, his principled conservative leadership that resonates into our time in new and renewed ways and by his deep devotion to the constitution of the United States. You know, there were many times when i was Vice President that i would look around the room at those luminaries on the wall and be inspired them. But seth said in one particular moment, i reflected on those words of the bible that remind us that we are surrounded, by a great cloud of witnesses. So let us throw off everything that hinders in the senate. So easily entangles and run with perseverance. The race marked out for us is surely he did it his time and inspires us. Still. Surrounded by those portraits, remembering those who have gone before we set to do our duty. And let me just take this moment to say to all of you gathered here, it the greatest honor of my life to serve your Vice President. And i couldnt be more proud of the record of the Trump Pence Administration and everything that we accomplished for the American People. I actually think silent count would be pretty proud of the record of the Trump Administration. When you think about he was someone who like our administration taxes and let americans keep more of they earn like coolidge we confronted a deadly pandemic in our time mobilized a whole of america response and demonstrate the extraordinary capacity of innovation in america, compassion that saved lives and like coolidge, we got government out of the way, rolled back, more regulation. Any administration in American History and our economic policies like his did in the 1920s unleash an era and a period of economic growth. 7 million good paying jobs, unemployment at a 50 year low, and more than 10 Million People lifted from welfare to work. The policies of Less Government and less taxes and Economic Freedom worked in Calvin Coolidge. This time, and we put them into practice under the Trump Administration every single day, and they worked again again. But how times have changed. So we stand here today two years into a new administration that seems in sense to have taken our country in the direction of the of our 13th president and out of our administration. Were taxing more spending, more and debt is going up while wages are going down. Theres lawlessness on our southern border and in the streets of our major cities. And is breaking the backs of families budgets now more than ever. America needs to rediscover the timeless wisdom of Calvin Coolidge and give us renewed good leadership that will take us back to the days of security and prosperity for all of the american. But even as we face these historic challenges. Im more optimistic. Ever before. As i travel all across this country, i see renewed energy everywhere i go. The American People look at the record of our administration, despite the challenges of those final days, the American People see the difference in the reckless, Big Government liberalism of the biden administration. Im because i know the character of the American People that when given a choice between, more government or more freedom, theyll choose freedom every time. And im optimistic because i see this new generation rising. I call them the freedom generation. Its a generation that intuitively the power of human freedom and human dignity. And i believe this generation will be the ones that stand on the ramparts of freedom as never before. But im here to give them an admonition from my own experience, because the truth is, nothing is ever accomplished in the cause of freedom without a fight. So i want to the young people here today and the extra Energy Leaders that are gathered here, we need to redouble our commitment to freedom and to its cause and prepare for the fight that lies ahead. To the young, i say, wrap your minds and around not only the example of Calvin Coolidge, the timeless wisdom of the american founding, the ideals enshrined in the declaration of independence and the republic described in the constitution of the United States come Calvin Coolidge said the constitution is the sole source and guarantee of national freedom, and so it is you know, every Office Holder in this, members of our military in Public Safety all take the same oath to support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, to bear true faith and allegiance to the same. They take the obligation freely without. Any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. And they pledge well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office theyre about to enter. And it ends custom and tradition with a prayer. So help me god. I took that oath many times, serving along side congressmen cox as member of congress. I took it as a governor in indiana and i took it as your vice. And i in each moment, it was not just a promise that i was making to the American People. For me in my house. It was a promise we were making to almighty god. And im going to challenge each and every one of you here today to approach promise as american citizens in the same spirit. Because the truth is, we lose faith in the founding principles of this country. If we lose our commitment to our constitution. We wont just lose our way. Well lose our country. The truth is, this generation may well be the last line of defense for the constitution of the United States or forces afoot in politics today. That would have us abandon the principles enshrined in the constitution and the bill of rights. There are forces afoot that would pack the courts to rewrite the constitution. But we must say, as our first president said, the constitution, the guide, i will never abandon and live that out every day in the people must know those of you that aspire to leadership that youll keep your oath. The bible says. In psalm 15, he keeps his oath even when it hurts. And that must be your standard as well. Calvin coolidge said once those want their rights respected under the constitution ought to set the example them selves of observing the constitution and you must. Its always been my and so it will ever remain whatever life has in store for us in the future. I, i know ive been much in the news lately. I thought i might speak to that.