Woodrow Wilson

(1856-1924. Educator and Statesman; Twenty-eighth President of the

United States)

What we seek in education is full liberation of the faculties, and the man who has not some surplus of thought and energy to expend outside the narrow circle of his own task and interest is a

dwarfed, uneducated man. We judge

the range and excellence of every man's abilities by their play outside the task

by which he earns his livelihood. Does he merely work, or does he also look abroad and plan? Princeton for the Nation's Service. Princeton, printed not published, 1903, pp. 32-33. (Address delivered on the occasion of his inauguration as president of Princeton University, Oct. 25, 1902.)

Moral efficiency is, in the last analysis, the fundamental argument for liberal culture. A merely literary education, got out of books and old literature, is a poor thing enough if the teacher sticks at grammatical and syntactical drill; but if it be indeed an introduction into the thoughtful labors of men of all generations it may be made a prologue to the mind's emancipation; its emancipation from narrowness from narrowness of sympathy, of perception, of motive, of purpose, and of hope.-Ibid., p. 38.

We seek in our general education not universal knowledge, but the opening up of the mind to a catholic appreciation of the best achievements of men and the best processes of thought since days of thought set in.-Ibid., p. 21.

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Popular education is necessary for the preservation of those conditions of freedom, political and social, which are indispensable to free individual development. And, in the second place, no instrumentality less universal in its power and authority than government can secure popular education. . . . Without popular education, moreover, no government which rests upon popular action can long endure. The people must be schooled in the knowledge, and, if possible, in the virtues upon which the maintenance and success of free institutions depend. No free government can last in health if it lose hold of the traditions of its history, and in the public schools these traditions may be and should be sedulously preserved, carefully replanted in the thought and consciousness of each successive generation.-The State, etc., rev. ed. Boston [etc.] [1898], pp. 638–39.

The problems of education are really problems affecting the national development and national ideas. I think that no one long associated with the profession of teaching can have failed to catch the inspiration of it, or to see how great a power may be exercised through the classroom in directing the thinking and the ambition of the generations coming on, or can have failed to realize that nothing less than a comprehension of the national life is necessary for a teacher for the great task of preparation and adaptation to the future that education attempts. Journal of Education, vol. 80, July 23, 1914, p. 94.

Warren Gamaliel Harding

(1865-1923. Statesman; Twenty-ninth President of the United States)

Without vision the people perish.

Without education there can be little vision. Of education it must be said that "It is twice blest; it blesseth him that gives and him that takes." It will be greatly worth the effort if we can impress this thought upon the young man

hood and womanhood of the Nation and

redirect their interest and patriotic zeal to the idea of making a proper contribution to educational work. It is regrettable that so few young men and women, equipped for such service, are nowadays disposed to give their time and talents to teaching. Education needs their young eagerness, zeal, and enthusiasm..

The strength and security of the Nation will always rest in the intelligent body of its people. Our education should implant conceptions of public duty and private obligations broad enough to envisage the problems of a greatly distraught world. More than anything else, men and women need the capacity to see with clear eye and to contemplate with open, unprejudiced mind the issues of these times. Only through a properly motivated and generously inspired process of education can this be accomplished. Broadside issued by the U. S. Office of Education for American Education Week, Nov. 18-24, 1923.

I think it is highly important that we contemplate the cause of education from the national viewpoint. I do not mean thereby that there shall be a national trespass upon the right of States in matters of education, but I do think it is exceedingly important

to get the broader viewpoint of the Nation. We have been making notable progress in coming to the realization of the importance of our public schools and are coming to the wholesome awakening about their need of the more generous support. One can only feel amazement that we have been so tardy in coming to a realization of the scant consideration given to the teachers in the American public schools and we have been remiss in understanding the limitless possibilities of our public-school work. Remarks of the Republican nominee for President, in School Life, Aug. 15, 1920, p. 1.

Calvin Coolidge

(1872-1933. Lawyer and Statesman; Thirtieth President of the United States)

The chief defenses of democracy are not material. They are mental and spiritual. At the very foundation of the structure of democracy must be a sound system of public education. The general diffusion of wisdom and knowledge among

the body of the people is a first essential to their welfare. Upon education the Republic must chiefly rely for its political, economic, and social betterment.

A highly enlightened public policy must be adopted if the cause of education is not to break down. It is perfectly clear that the public schools must have the most liberal support, both moral and financial. Particularly must the people exalt the profession of the teacher. That profession must not be abandoned or be permitted to become a trade for those little fitted for it. It must remain the noblest profession. There are no pains too great, no cost too high, to prevent or diminish the duty of the people to maintain a vigorous program of popular education.-Remarks of the Republican nominee for Vice President, in School Life, Aug. 15, 1920, p. 2.

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