Calvin Coolidge (1872 – 1933), the 30th President of the United States, was Warren G. Harding's Vice President and became president after Harding's death. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative, and also as a man who said very little, earning him the nickname "Silent Cal." During Coolidge's presidency the United States experienced the period of rapid economic growth known as the "Roaring Twenties". Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast. He did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require, believing property owners should bear much of the cost. Coolidge spoke in favor of the civil rights of African Americans and Catholics. Coolidge repeatedly called for laws against lynching to be enacted, calling it a "hideous crime". However, most Congressional attempts to pass this legislation were filibustered by Southern Democrats. Coolidge was the first President to appear in a sound film.
