• Location: in the bedroom with Abby
• Mood: awake
• Music: Moxy Fruvous-"King of Spain"

Silent Cal and Civil Rights

Calvin Coolidge became President upon the death of Warren Harding. He had a reputation as a man of integrity and helped to restore confidence in the office of the Presidency following the scandals that dogged the Harding administration. Coolidge addressed Congress when it reconvened on December 6, 1923, and gave a speech that echoed many of Harding's themes. The speech was the first Presidential speech to be broadcast to the nation over the radio



Included in those policies were Harding's support for civil rights for African-Americans. Coolidge also spoke out in favor of greater civil rights for African Americans as well as for Catholics who were also a target of the Ku Klux Klan. Coolidge refused appointment of any known members of the Ku Klux Klan to government office and the Klan lost most of its influence during his term.
In one famous anecdote, in 1924 Coolidge responded to a letter that claimed the United States was a "white man's country". He wrote in a published response:

"I was amazed to receive such a letter. During the war 500,000 colored men and boys were called up under the draft, not one of whom sought to evade it. [As president, I am] one who feels a responsibility for living up to the traditions and maintaining the principles of the Republican Party. Our Constitution guarantees equal rights to all our citizens, without discrimination on account of race or color. I have taken my oath to support that Constitution."

Coolidge repeatedly called for anti-lynching laws to be enacted, something that Harding had also tried to do. Unfortunately, Congressional attempts to pass this legislation were filibustered by Southern Democrats. Coolidge appointed some African Americans to federal office. He retained Harding's choice of Walter L. Cohen of New Orleans, Louisiana, as the comptroller of customs and offered Cohen the post of minister to Liberia, but Cohen declined the offer.

Coolidge was also a very strong supporter of fairer treatment of native Americans. On June 2, 1924, he signed the Indian Citizenship Act, which granted full U.S. citizenship to all American Indians, while permitting them to retain tribal land and cultural rights. Coolidge met with native leaders and even went so far as to be photographed in a native head-dress and buckskin.



Coolidge chose not to run for re-election in 1928. He wasn't a big fan of his successor, Herbert Hoover. Coolidge said "for six years that man has given me unsolicited advice—all of it bad." Although best remembered for being a man of few words, Coolidge was actually a pretty good President. He presided over a strong economy, kept the nation at peace, and expressed a genuine concern for the rights of disenfranchised Americans.