Coolidge also wielded the veto pen as governor . His most publicized veto prevented an increase in legislators ' pay by 50 % . Although Coolidge was personally opposed to Prohibition , he vetoed a bill in May 1920 that would have allowed the sale of beer or wine of 2.75 % alcohol or less , in Massachusetts in violation of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution . " Opinions and instructions do not outmatch the Constitution , " he said in his veto message . " Against it , they are void . " At the 1920 Republican National Convention , most of the delegates were selected by state party caucuses , not primaries . As such , the field was divided among many local favorites . Coolidge was one such candidate , and while he placed as high as sixth in the voting , the powerful party bosses running the convention , primarily the party 's US Senators , never considered him seriously . After ten ballots , the bosses and then the delegates settled on Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as their nominee for president . When the time came to select a vice presidential nominee , the bosses also made and announced their decision on whom they wanted – Sen. Irvine Lenroot of Wisconsin – and then prematurely departed after his name was put forth , relying on the rank and file to confirm their decision . A delegate from Oregon , Wallace McCamant , having read '' Have Faith in Massachusetts '' , proposed Coolidge for vice president instead . The suggestion caught on quickly with the masses starving for an act of independence from the absent bosses , and Coolidge was unexpectedly nominated
1920 Republican National Convention
1920 Republican National Convention
Calvin Coolidge