President Calvin Coolidge was not a Freemason, but while Governor of Massachusetts he had this to say about the fraternity when he addressed the Grand Lodge there: "It has not been my fortune to know much of Freemasonry, but I have had the great fortune to know many Freemasons, and I have been able in that way to judge the tree by its fruits. I know of your high ideals. I have seen that you hold your meetings in the presence of the open Bible and I know that men who observe that formality have high sentiments of citizenship, of worth and of character. That is the strength of our commonwealth and nation."
