Coolidge, Calvin | Calvin Coolidge congratulates Myron Herrick, the U.S. Ambassador to France, on his speech at Saint-Nazaire, defending the Mellon-Bérenger Accord

Property from the Collection of Elsie and Philip Sang

Coolidge, Calvin 

Typed letter signed ("Calvin Coolidge") as thirtieth President, to the American Ambassador to France, Myron T. Herrick, congratulating him on a speech concerning France's war debt

One page (223 x 175 mm) on a leaf of blue-embossed blue White House letterhead, "Paul Smiths, New York," 15 July 1926; integral leaf detached, very lightly wrinkled and soiled.

Myron T. Herrick was a Republican politician from Ohio, elected as that state's governor from 1904 to 1906 (his reelection campaign was undone by his anti-prohibition stance). He subsequently served two stints as United States Ambassador to France: 1912 to 1914 and 1921 until his death in 1929. Although he was popular with the French, Herrick faced criticism for his representation of the Coolidge administration position that France should repay her World War I debt to the United States. The Mellon-Bérenger Accord of April 1926 negotiated a reduced amount of debt, as well as a rate of repayment, but it had little support among the French people, many of whom believed the debt should be forgiven.

Two months after the Mellon-Bérenger Accord was reached, Ambassador Herrick was invited to speak at the dedication of American Expeditionary Forces Memorial at St. Nazaire in Brittany. Designed by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, the statue commemorated the first debarkation of American troops in World War I and depicted a doughboy with outstretched arms standing atop an eagle; it was destroyed in World War II. 

In his remarks, Herrick spoke initially about the memorial ("With a great artist's insight, she has here depicted the American soldier borne on the powerful wings of a nation's changeless purpose, landing sword in hand upon these shores of France. There is religion in his attitude as well as warlike prowess. He looks—as later on he proved himself—fearless, confident, and kind"), but quickly shifted to a defense of the American position on France's war debt: "A few years ago we were hailed throughout Europe as leaders in the realm of idealism, pioneers in its application to world affairs; we have lately been proclaimed as materialists whose influence in the family of nations rests upon our financial power. But I often ask myself, I ask you now, if the last statement be true have we thereby forfeited all claims upon the other? I think not. The essential characteristics of a vigorous nation untouched by any catastrophe do not so quickly change. If we were rash idealists in 1917, have we lost that attribute to-day? If rank materialists now, is it possible that a few years of praise from without and prosperity within have been able to effect this harsh reversal of our character? I find these exaggerations repulsive intellectually and harmful practically" (T. Bentley Mott, Myron Herrick: Friend of France, Garden City: Doubleday, Doran, 1929).

News of the speech reached Coolidge at his summer White House at White Pine Camp, where he wrote this letter of appreciation: "Thank you for your letter of July 1st, enclosing copy of your speech at St. Nazaire on June 26th, together with the newspaper comments thereon. I think it is exceptionally well stated and I am sure it must be gratifying to you to know that it has been so well received both here and in France.

"Mrs. Coolidge and I have been for a week in the Adirondacks and are immensely enjoying the change. We shall remain here for the Summer, except for a brief visit to my birthplace in Vermont. I hope it may be possible for you to secure some vacation before the hot weather is over."

In practical terms, Herrick's speech, persuasive as it might have been, had little effect. The French parliament did not ratify Mellon-Bérenger until 1929 (and then by a vote of 300−292), and, with the onset of the global Great Depression, most of the debt—the negotiated value of which was more than a billion and half dollars—was never repaid.