Newly sworn in President Coolidge wearing black armband in mourning for President Harding. John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4, 1872 - January 5, 1933) was the 30th President of the United States (1923-1929). A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. Soon after, he was elected as the 29th Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the sudden death of Warren G. Harding in 1923. 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. He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. Some later criticized Coolidge as part of a general disapproval of laissez-faire government. His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Reagan administration, but assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government programs and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating and controlling the economy. He died suddenly from coronary thrombosis in 1933 at the age of 60. National Photo Company Collection, 1923.