Contributions in Black Studies A Journal of African and Afro-American Studies Volume 8 Article 7 1986 Calvin Coolidge's Afro-American Connection Maceo Crenshaw Dailey Jr. Boston College Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cibs Recommended Citation Dailey, Maceo Crenshaw Jr. (1986) "Calvin Coolidge's Afro-American Connection," Contributions in Black Studies: Vol. 8 , Article 7. Available at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cibs/vol8/iss1/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Afro-American Studies at ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Contributions in Black Studies by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Dailey: Calvin Coolidge's Afro-American Connection Maceo Crenshaw Dailey, Jr. CALVIN COOLIDGE'S AFRO AMERICAN CONNECTION N THE WAKE ofPresident Warren G. Harding's death and the entry of Calvin Coolidge in the White House as chiefexecutive in August, 1923, blacks, like I the bulk of ordinary white Americans, were uncertain of what to expect. Nonetheless, those close to the prior presidential administration, whether black or white, had clear reason to believe that Coolidge was preeminently qualified to carry on in the fashion of his predecessor. They anticipated his continued implementation ofRepublican policies in accord with political promises which had ledto the party's overwhelming electoral victory in 1920. Indeed, Harding's breaking of tradition to allow his Vice President Coolidge to sit with the presidential cabinet ensured that the new chief executive understood and was prepared administratively to deal with tariffissues, tax-reform legislation, meas ures for the reduction of the public debt, and the host ofother political promises Republicans made in 1920.