Calvin Coolidge Event Timeline

Calvin Coolidge (30) Event Timeline

08/02/1923 – 03/04/1929

1923

08/03/1923

Assumes presidency after the sudden death of President Harding. Sworn in at the Coolidge Home in Plymouth, VT by his father John C. Coolidge, a justice of the peace.

08/24/1923

Appoints commission, headed by Gifford Pinchot to investigate imminent Coal Strike.

08/31/1923

Recognizes Obregon Government of Mexico.

09/01/1923

Anthracite Coal Strike Began in Pennsylvania. Miners return to work on 09/18/1923.

08/21/1923

After ratification by all parties, the Treaty on Limitation of Naval Armament (Washington Naval Treaty) is proclaimed by the United States. (43 Stat 1655;  link HERE to pdf file of the Treaty.)

10/23/1923

Senate Committee on Public Lands begins public hearings on the Teapot Dome scandal.

10/25/1923

By Proclamation creates the Carlsbad Cave National Monument.

12/06/1923

First Annual State of the Union Message. First broadcast of a presidential address. Expresses support for Harding’s policies: adherence to the World Court; reducing spending; enforcing prohibition.

12/11/1923

Accepts invitation for U.S. participation in Reparations Conference.

12/15/1923

Appoints a committee to investigate the financial condition of Germany; the members are Charles C. Dawes, H. M. Robinson, Owen D. Young.

1924

01/07/1924

Proclamation—Exportation of Arms or Munitions of War to Mexico Unlawful. By Proclamation, President Coolidge prohibits the sale of munitions to Mexican rebels.

01/29/1924

Announces the selection of two special counsel to investigate the Teapot Dome scandal. (New York Times, 01/30/1924, p1.)

02/03/1924

By Proclamation, announces the death of former President Woodrow Wilson.

02/08/1924

Signs Joint Resolution charging former Secretary of Interior and Secretary of Navy with fraud and corruption in execution of 1922 oil leases. (43 Stat 5)

02/11/1924

Statement on Passage of a Resolution in the Senate Calling for the Resignation of Secretary of the Navy Denby in connection with the Teapot Dome scandal. Says he will await the advice of special counsel.

02/12/1924

Address before the National Republican Club, New York City. Pledges to pursue all government officials guilty of fraud or corruption; urges adoption of Mellon tax plan.

02/22/1924

Radio Address to the Nation on the Occasion of Washington’s Birthday. First live radio broadcast from the White House. Reflects on the relationship of citizens to the government.

03/22/1924

Proclamation declaring that Exportation of Arms or Munitions to Honduras is Unlawful

04/22/1924

Address to the Annual Luncheon of the Associated Press. Primarily addressed to foreign issues, especially including the Dawes report on German reparations. Condemned corruption in government and called for restrained spending. The address was broadcast by radio.

05/03/1924

Vetoes Pension Increase for Civil War and Spanish-American War Veterans Bill. The Senate sustained the veto.

05/15/1924

Vetoes “Bonus Bill” bill to provide twenty-year annuities for World War veterans. Coolidge stated that he believed that the bill was too financially costly. The House overrode his veto on 05/17/1924 and the Senate on 05/19/0924. (43 Stat 121)

05/26/1924

Signs Immigration Act of 1924 (“Johnson-Reed Act”) with highly restrictive immigration quotas. (43 Stat 153). Bars from entry any alien who because of race or nationality was ineligible for citizenship.

06/02/1924

Signs act authorizing Secretary of Interior to issue certificates of citizenship to all Native Americans. “Indian Citizenship Act of 1924” also known as the Snyder Act. (43 Stat 253) Previously under the Dawes Act of 02/08/1887 Indians could become citizens if they took up separate residence on allotments from (formerly) tribal lands.

06/02/1924

Signs Revenue Act of 1924. The act reduced income taxes by roughly 25 percent. (43 Stat 253)

06/12/1924

Republican Party nominates Coolidge as presidential candidate for the 1924 Election. His formal acceptance Address is on 08/14/1924, below.

07/07/1924

Calvin Coolidge Jr., the second son of President Coolidge, age 16, dies due to an infection in his bloodstream arising from a blister on his foot. This was the first child of a sitting President to die since the death of Lincoln’s son.

07/10/1924

Very early in the morning, John W. Davis wins the Democratic nomination for president on the 104^th ballot.

08/11/1924

John W. Davis Speech Accepting Democratic Presidential Nomination.

08/11/1924

First audiovisual recording of a US President shows Coolidge reading an excerpt from his 08/14/1924 nomination acceptance address.

08/14/1924

Address Accepting the Republican Presidential Nomination.

08/16/1924

Germany agrees to the terms of the “Dawes Plan” (named after the US financier who chaired the committee of experts considering the plan for German Reparations after World War I). The plan had been presented to the Reparations Commission on April 9, 1924.

09/18/1924

American “Forces of Occupation” leave the Dominican Republic following the installation of a “constitutional president.”

09/24/1924

In Address to Holy Name Society, Washington, D.C., discusses the meaning of liberty and American values. “Socialism and communism cannot be reconciled with the principles which our institutions represent.”

11/03/1924

Radio Address from the White House on the Duties of Citizenship. “The right to vote is conferred upon our citizens not only that they may exercise it for their own benefit, but in order that they may exercise it also for the benefit of others.”

11/04/1924

Election Day. Calvin Coolidge defeats Democratic Candidate John W. Davis, winning the Electoral College by 71.9% and the popular vote by 54%.

12/03/1924

Second Annual State of the Union Message.

1925

02/02/1925

Signs Air Mail Act. (43 Stat 805) First major legislation affecting the emergent aviation industry. The act authorized the Postmaster General to contract corporations to transport air mail and set air mail rates.

03/04/1925

Inaugural Address.

03/10/1925

Senate rejects the nomination of Charles Warren as Attorney General. It was the first time in nearly 60 years that the Senate rejected a presidential cabinet nomination.

04/15/1925

In another audio-visual first, makes film recording of a speech that is then presented on 04/21/1925 to the Friars Club and the general public.

04/18/1925

By Radio Addresses the Opening of the Women’s World Fair in Chicago.

05/15/1925

By Executive Order waives or reduces application and visa fees for non-immigrants.

07/02/1925

Negro, Catholic, and Jewish organizations petition Coolidge to halt a march and rally planned by the Ku Klux Klan for Washington DC in August. Coolidge is reported to oppose the Klan gathering but to believe he has no authority to stop the parade. (New York Times 07/03/1925 p1.)

07/10/1925

On this day in Dayton, TN, the trial began of John T. Scopes, accused of violating Tennessee law by teaching evolution—contradicting the teachings of the Bible. The prosecution was led by William Jennings Bryan (former presidential candidate and Secretary of State) and the defense by prominent defense lawyer Clarence Darrow. Scopes was convicted and fined $100. On 01/17/1927 the State Supreme Court ruled that the statute was constitutional but the fine exceeded the Judge’s discretion. The US Supreme Court does not rule on the issues in this case until 1968 (Epperson v. Arkansas).

08/08/1925

Thousands, possibly as many as 40,000 members of the Ku Klux Klan, marching in full regalia, parade on Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. Special trains had carried Klan members from all over the country.

10/20/1925

Address Before the Annual Council of the Congregational Churches, Washington, D.C. “The claim to the right to freedom, the claim to the right to equality, with the resultant right to self-government – the rule of the people – have no foundation other than the common brotherhood of man derived from the common fatherhood of God.”

10/25/1925

General Emiliano Chamorro Vargas begins insurgent operations in Managua, Nicaragua. The US representative informed Chamorro that the U.S. would not recognize any government that assumed power by force.

12/08/1925

Third Annual State of the Union Message.

12/10/1925

In a Special Message urges Congress to encourage aeronautics and the development of commercial aviation.

1926

01/27/1926

Senate Adopts a Resolution on the World Court with 5 conditions to be satisfied. In an Address on 01/30/1926, Coolidge endorses the reservations. He speaks on the benefits of the World Court in a News Conference on 02/02/1926.

02/26/1926

Signs Revenue Act of 1926, which reduced federal income taxes. (44 Stat 9)

05/08/1926

Issues Executive Order authorizing employment of State and Local Officers as Prohibition Agents.

05/20/1926

Signs Air Commerce Act, which assigned the Department of Commerce responsibility for the regulation of commercial aviation. (44 Stat 568)

05/25/1926

Signs Public Buildings Act. (Eliot-Fernald Act) The act funded the construction of several federal buildings across the nation including the Federal Triangle in Washington DC. (44 Stat 630)

07/02/1926

Signs act creating the United States Army Air Corps. (44 Stat 780)

07/03/1926

Signs act which increased pensions for Mexican and Civil War veterans. (44 Stat 806)

08/28/1926

US Marines Land at Bluefields, Nicaragua. The US had warned on 08/27/1926 that it would “take such measures as it may deem necessary” for the protection of American lives and property.

09/15/1926

Proclamation—Exportation of Arms or Munitions of War to Nicaragua Unlawful.

10/25/1926

In Myers v. United States the Supreme Court led by former President William Howard Taft, decides 6-3 that the President has the right to remove cabinet members. The power of removal is an inherent part of the President’s executive power.

11/02/1926

Midterm elections. The Republican party lost nine seats in the House and six in the Senate, but retained majorities in both.

11/11/1926

Address at the Dedication of the Liberty Memorial at Kansas City, MO. The venue is one of the major World War I memorial sites.

12/07/1926

Fourth Annual State of the Union Message.

12/28/1926

In a News Conference, rejects the notion that the US is “taking sides” in the Nicaraguan revolution.

1927

01/10/1927

Sends message to Congress stating belief that American intervention in Nicaragua is justified. Coolidge argued that controlling the revolution in Nicaragua was necessary to protect American business interests. Coolidge also argued that the Mexican government was attempting to form a regime in Nicaragua that would be hostile to the United States government.

01/17/1927

In a case growing out of the Teapot Dome Scandal during the Harding Administration, the Supreme Court decides in McGrain v. Daugherty that by presumption congressional investigations have a legislative purpose.

01/28/1927

Vetoes Shoshone Indian Bill. Objects to requiring the government to assume an obligation for interest payments dating from ancient claims. The veto was unchallenged.

02/10/1927

Special Message to Congress on Naval Armament Limitation Negotiations. Will urge treaty partners to expand the classes of vessels covered by the Washington Naval treaty.

02/18/1927

US recognizes Canada as a state independent of the United Kingdom with autonomous control over its foreign relations.

02/22/1927

Address to a Joint Session of Congress in Anticipation of Celebration of the Two Hundredth Anniversary, in 1932, of the Birth of George Washington. Apart from his 1923 State of the Union Addresses, this is Coolidge’s only address to a Joint Session of Congress.

02/23/1927

Signs Radio Control Act, which established the Federal Radio Commission to regulate radio transmissions. (44 Stat 1162)

02/25/1927

Signs National Bank Consolidation Act, which allowed national banks to establish branches. (44 Stat 1224)

02/25/1927

Signs act which grants U.S. Citizenship to certain inhabitants of the Virgin Islands. (44 Stat 1234)

03/02/1927

Signs Naval Appropriation Act, which funded the construction of multiple cruiser ships. (44 Stat 1275)

03/04/1927

Signs Amended Organic Act of Puerto Rico, (44 Stat 1418) which established a path to Puerto Rican citizenship for United States citizens.

03/07/1927

In Nixon v. Herndon, Supreme Court holds a Texas law prohibiting blacks from voting in the Democratic Primary is unconstitutional under the 14^th Amendment.

03/07/1927

Starting about this date, very heavy rains in the lower Mississippi valley prepared the way for record flooding in the next month.

04/06/1927

Using authority granted in the Organic Law of the Philippine Islands, Vetoes Act of Legislature of Philippines. Coolidge stated that he believed that many Filipinos wanted independence yet still needed the protection of the American government.

04/15/1927

On this day, more than 15” of rain fell on New Orleans, LA, in 18 hours. To save the city in the face of vast flooding, levees were dynamited to flood less densely populated areas. This was the “Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.”

04/22/1927

Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover is appointed to head a Special Presidential Cabinet Committee to deal with the Mississippi flooding disaster. Government emergency response actions involved action by the Interstate Commerce Commission, Navy Department, and the Veterans Bureau. This was an important precedent in Federal government disaster response.

05/21/1927

Charles Lindbergh completes the first solo, nonstop flight from New York to Paris. Coolidge comments in a News Conference on 05/24/1927.

06/13/1927 – 09/11/1927

With his family, takes an extended vacation in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

08/02/1927

Announces he will not run for another presidential term. “. . . dramatically and unexpectedly, and without consultation with friends, issued the following statement to correspondents here: ‘I do not choose to run for President in nineteen twenty-eight.’” (New York Times 08/03/1927, p. 1)

08/10/1927

Address at the Opening of Work on Mount Rushmore in Black Hills, SD. Comments at the laying of the cornerstone characterizing the four presidents to be depicted. “We cannot hold our admiration for the historic figures which we shall see here without growing strong in our determination to perpetuate the institutions which their lives revealed and established.”

10/03/1927

Address at the Annual Meeting of the American Red Cross. One of the few instances in which Coolidge spoke about the Mississippi flooding and the government response.

10/10/1927

In Mammoth Oil v. United States, the Supreme Court rules that the contracts provided to Mammoth Oil by Harding Interior Secretary Albert Fall “were procured. . .through fraud. . .” (see Harding Timeline 04/07/1922).

12/06/1927

Fifth Annual State of the Union Message.

1928

01/16/1928

Delivers opening address at Pan-American Conference in Havana, Cuba. Participants in the conference express rejection of the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. (See State Department background on modifying US understanding of the Roosevelt Corollary.)

02/04/1928

Delivers opening address at the dedication of National Press Club Building, Washington D.C.

05/04/1928

Nominates Genevieve R. Cline, first woman to serve on the federal judiciary on the United States Customs Court. She is confirmed by the Senate on 05/25/1928 and sworn in on 06/06/1928.

05/15/1928

Signs Flood Control Act (45 Stat 534) authorizing the Army Corps of Engineers to design projects to control Mississippi River flooding.

05/18/1928

Vetoes two bills relating to the Post Office, one providing allowances for “postmasters of the fourth class” and another providing a pay differential for night work. In both instances he argued the expenses were unjustified. Both were overridden. One on 05/24/1928, and one on 05/25/1928 (see 45 Stat 724, and 45 Stat 725).

05/22/1928

Signs Merchant Marine Act. (45 Stat 689)

05/22/1928

Vetoes bill providing retirement for “emergency officers” of the World War. Objects that the bill will violate a principle of compensating injured soldiers based on their disability, not on their rank. The veto is overridden 05/24/1928 (45 Stat 735).

05/29/1928

Signs Revenue Act of 1928. (45 Stat 791) The act reduced Federal income taxes down to a maximum of 12%.

06/29/1928

Democrats Nominate Alfred E. Smith for President. He formally accepts in an address on 08/22/1928.

07/25/1928

The U.S. signs a treaty regulating tariff relations with the Chinese Nationalist Government, thereby recognizing the Chinese government.

08/27/1928

Statement on (and text of) the Kellogg-Briand Pact is signed by the United States and other nations. The treaty was described as a “frank renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy.”

09/21/1928

“Vermont is a State I Love” speech in Bennington, VT.

11/06/1928

Election Day. Herbert Hoover defeats Democrat Alfred E. Smith, winning 83.6% of the Electoral College and 58.2% of the popular vote.

12/03/1928

Sixth and final State of the Union Message. Notes that the Senate’s objections to the Court of International Justice have been incorporated, and he will return the signed protocol to the Senate for approval.

12/21/1928

Signs “Swing-Johnson” bill authorizing the Boulder Canyon Project calling for construction of a dam on the Colorado River. This project had been considered by Congress for nearly seven years. (45 Stat 1057).

1929

02/22/1929

Final public address at commencement ceremonies at George Washington University.

03/02/1929

Signs Amended Prohibition Enforcement Act. The act increased penalties for offenders of Federal prohibition laws and took effect immediately. (45 Stat 1446)