Coolidge has often been criticized for his actions during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 , the worst natural disaster to hit the Gulf Coast until Hurricane Katrina in 2005 . He initially declined the request of six governors to provide federal assistance and visit the site of the flooding . Although he did eventually name Secretary Hoover to a head a federal commission in charge of flood relief , scholars argue that Coolidge overall showed a lack of interest in federal flood control . Coolidge did not believe that personally visiting the region after the floods would accomplish anything , and that it would be seen as mere political grandstanding . He also did not want to incur the federal spending that flood control would require ; he believed property owners should bear much of the cost . Congress , meanwhile , favored a bill that would place the federal government completely in charge of flood mitigation . When Congress passed a compromise measure in 1928 , Coolidge declined to take credit for it and signed the Flood Control Act of 1928 in private on May 15
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
Presidency of Calvin Coolidge