I awakened in Montpelier to find
hardly a cloud in the sky. The weather could not have been more opposite from
the previous day. The motel sat on a hill a little ways out of town, and its
position displayed the glory of the Green Mountains, illuminated by the
brilliance of the morning sunlight. As I descended the hills into Montpelier,
the golden dome of the Capitol Building glistened in the morning sunlight. The
town was in the throes of Wednesday morning, and everything seemed to be in full
swing. I settled on The Coffee Corner for breakfast, and from there I went to
the Capitol building for the tour, which was given by a volunteer docent.
As one approaches the Capitol,
indeed any capitol in the United States, it is difficult not to be impressed.
The enormous columns and golden dome are impossible to ignore. Such a looming
edifice is inescapable, and I’m sure that to all architects of government
buildings, that is exactly the idea. In the atrium of the Capitol, one enters
into a grand hall with many different portraits and depictions. A bust of
President Abraham Lincoln rests resolutely in front of the entrance. On the
walls facing the entrance, but on either side of the hall in which the statue
of Lincoln sits, are two almost life-sized portraits of our nation’s leaders
from Vermont, President Chester Arthur and President Calvin Coolidge.
Chester Arthur succeeded James
Garfield, who was assassinated. Coolidge succeeded Warren G. Harding after the
latter’s sudden death. Coolidge was then elected in his own right in 1924. The
stories of each of their entrances to the presidency are some of the most
famous.
President Garfield was in
Washington Train station on July 2, 1881 when Charles Guiteau shot him twice. Unfortunately, due to the absence of medical knowledge at the time, the 16 doctors who attempted to help the president did nothing but make the ordeal
more painful. They failed to remove the bullet, and by inserting dirty hands
and instruments into the wound, they aggravated the infection that surely
followed. Several days later, the President complained of pains in his chest,
and most likely died of a heart attack. Because he had only served four months
in office, the public had not yet formed a detailed opinion of him. Recounts
from the doctors of his bravery throughout his ordeal prompted kind words and
sympathy from the public. Chester Arthur then ascended to the presidency, and
led an admirably bipartisan administration.
In the case of Coolidge, Warren G.
Harding had fallen dreadfully ill in San Francisco in August of 1923 while
Coolidge was at his family’s farmhouse in Vermont. Although Harding died in the
early evening, it took several hours for the news to be communicated back to
the East Coast. At 2:30 in the morning, Coolidge’s father received the news
that his son was to assume the presidency. The senior Coolidge, a notary
public, administered the oath of office to his son in their parlor, illuminated
by a kerosene lamp. The privacy of his swearing-in was similar to President
Coolidge’s personality. He became very famous during the roaring twenties for
being a man of few words.
Currently, Vermont is represented in
the federal government by the notable Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described Democratic
Socialist. He is the first person to be elected to both the US House of
Representatives and the Senate.
The State House itself has a
somewhat tumultuous history. In 1805, Montpelier was selected as the seat of
the state legislature due to its central location. At that time the town’s
population was only 1200. The original state house as built that same year. In
response to a need for more space, Ammi B. Young designed a new building in
1836, mostly at the expense of the community. Montpelier’s citizens pledged
$15,000 to support the construction of a new State House, which prevented the
legislature from moving to any other city. In 1857, the second State House
burned down. The third building is standing today in the same location on State
Street.
In recent years, Friends of the
Vermont State House, a non-profit, has been raising money to restore the State
House to its original décor. As one moves through the building, one can see
that some of the panes in the windows are original, while it is also clear that
some have been replaced. All of the furniture, however, is original. The
governor’s desk is particularly grand and impressive. Although it is not the
largest of Capitol buildings, the Vermont State House maintains a dignified air
of history and importance.
After exploring the Capitol
building, I revived myself with some coffee as a batch of afternoon showers
swept into town. Volunteers also run the Vermont History Museum, a small
building next to the Capitol. It is a humble, but interesting museum. In the
room directly next to the front desk at which a modest admission is paid, an
enormous freestanding clock barely fits beneath the high ceiling. I don’t doubt
that the otherwise rather empty room became its home because it would be very
difficult to get it much farther from the front door. I have an affinity for
old clocks, particularly long-case clocks. I have never in my life seen one
more intricate or unique than the one in the Vermont History Museum.
The rest of the museum detailed the
every day lives of Vermonters, as well as the historical people that led to the
state’s formation. Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain boys aided in the
formation of the state by fighting against the New York encroachment into the
region, and worked tirelessly for their independence as a state. Allen, along with his cronies, captured Fort
Ticonderoga from the British troops in 1775. It wasn’t until 1791, 14 years
after Vermont’s constitution had been written, that Congress admitted Vermont
into the federal union.
Although Montpelier is the smallest
state capital by population, it can be considered one of the most progressive.
Vermont was one of the first states to abolish slavery, which it did in its
Constitution in 1777, decades before most other states. It was also the first
to allow civil unions among same-sex couples, which it did on July 1, 2000.
Indeed, an air of acceptance and kindness is noticeable throughout the town.
There was not a single moment during my time in Montpelier that I felt even
remotely unwelcome. Every person I encountered said good morning, smiled, and
wished me a pleasant trip. Every restaurant I ate in was more than
satisfactory. The few shops I entered, I left with a greater sense of
contentment. The next day, I left Vermont feeling revived in my excitement for
my own journey, restored in my faith in human compassion, and renewed in my
confidence in American Democracy. It was a wonderful start to a very long
adventure.
