An American politician and the 30th President of the United States of America, Calvin Coolidge (July 4, 1872 - January 5, 1933), served as governor of Massachusetts during the Boston Police Strike of 1919. Coolidge was a supporter of civil rights. On June 2, 1924, he signed the Indian Citizenship Act giving Native Americans citizenship, although two-thirds had already gained citizenship through marriage or military service. He also spoke in favor of civil rights for African Americans, saying their rights were "just as sacred as those of any other citizen" in his first State of the Union address and later emphasized tolerance of differences, thanking immigrants for their contributions to American society.
During 1927, the NAACP several times directed the attention of President Coolidge to atrocities of lynching and the failure of the states to prosecute those responsible for them.
In his message of Congress, he responded accordingly regarding African Americans:
. . . They have especially been made the target of the foul crime of lynching. For several years these acts of unlawful violence had been diminishing. Every principle of order and law and liberty is opposed to this crime. The Congress should enact any legislation it can under the Constitution to provide for its elimination.
NAACP Annual Report, 1927, 18.
While Coolidge repeatedly called for laws to make lynching a federal crime, Congress refused to pass any such legislation.