Calvin Coolidge’s Hands-Off Approach To Dealing With The Great Mississippi Flood Of 1927

A photo of the Cape Girardeau riverfront during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.

In the spring of 1927, the raging waters of the Mississippi River surged violently over its banks and claimed thousands of farms, towns, and lives across the South. While most Americans viewed this flood as a test of the federal government’s ability to handle times of crisis, President Calvin Coolidge remained distant. He believed that “true” American strength—state governments, independence, and voluntary contributions—provided the best relief. Coolidge’s refusal to enforce a strong federal role in handling the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 stemmed from his fear that federal aid would set a precedent of state reliance on the federal government. According to Coolidge, such reliance would cripple “the theory of local self-government” on which America was founded, a system that created the greatest promise to the freedom and development of individuals. He thought that states relying on the federal government would compromise the self-dependence of citizens and strip away their ability to handle regional affairs with nuance, since the federal government was usually too far away to be informed of local needs.

Calvin Coolidge was the 30th president of the United States, and he is primarily remembered for his commitment to limited government and fiscal conservatism. During his term, a series of devastating levee breaches along the Mississippi River, which was coined the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, caused widespread flooding, displaced hundreds of thousands of people, and caused extensive property damage. Perhaps the most notable was Coolidge’s response, which as mentioned before, was quite distant and reluctant. He resisted calls for large-scale federal response, and instead, he pushed for relief to come from private charity and local governments. Unfortunately for Coolidge, despite his staunch stance against federal measures to help the victims of the Mississippi River floods, he did eventually sign the Flood Control Act of 1928. The Flood Control Act of 1928 was a landmark U.S. law that authorized the Army Corps of Engineers to build massive flood control systems, consisting of new levees, spillways, reservoirs, for the Mississippi River, all of which was built with funding from the federal government. 

The heart of Coolidge’s response to the 1927 floods was his unwavering commitment to the principle of limited government. Coolidge viewed extensive federal involvement as a hindrance to his goal of reducing America’s high national debt, which he considered the greater threat, since “public debt was a burden on all the people.” Although it was important to meet the needs of the victims during and after the floods, Coolidge anticipated that federal action would add to the national debt and interest payments, bringing down the economy in the long run. Above all, Coolidge valued relief that was both efficient and reliable for the people. In 1927, the United States lacked a permanent federal agency dedicated to responding to natural disasters, leaving the federal government ill-equipped to handle the large-scale damage that was done by the Mississippi River floods. Coolidge argued that successful disaster relief depended on trained skill and thorough organization for its effective operation. Given the federal government’s lack of institutional capacity and experience, he believed that large-scale federal intervention would risk exacerbating the damage rather than relieving it.

Therefore, rather than entrusting the flood relief to a chance impulse of the occasion from the federal government, Coolidge deliberately placed his trust in long-standing, experienced nonprofit organizations such as the Red Cross. He felt that their experience, specialized training, and logistical preparedness would lead to a more reliable and efficient distribution of aid. More importantly, funding efforts with money raised through organizations like the Red Cross, instead of the federal government’s taxpayer funds, would be proof that the private contributions of Americans were “wisely, economically, and honestly spent...none being used for purposes of administration.” This underscored Collidge’s drive to preserve public trust and transparency.

A portrait of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge.

The choice to rely on private charity over federal intervention wasn’t merely practicality, but a reflection of Coolidge’s broader moral philosophy: He believed that America’s prosperity came from economic and moral independence among its various industries and that striving for independence, not centralized support, was what made America strong. In his view, charity should be temporary but still provide support for long enough to avoid inspiring a permanent reliance on the federal government. After all, this permanent reliance would erode the self-sufficient nature of America that made it so great. As Coolidge saw it, the lack of a strong federal role in the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was imperative to preserving America’s desirable qualities, placing in the hands of Americans the means to satisfy their own needs through their own efforts.

Another important aspect of President Coolidge’s response to the Mississippi River floods was that it was shaped by the broader political atmosphere of the 1920s. Because the nation was still experiencing the effects of World War I, where federal power extended considerably, Coolidge believed it was important to scale back federal authority and return the country to its pre-war normalcy. Therefore, Coolidge feared that emergency actions taken by the federal government following crises would become permanent policies, unnecessarily expanding the role of the federal government beyond its limits. In the case of the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927, Coolidge worried that large-scale federal intervention would breed state reliance on centralized support and reshape people’s expectations regarding the role of the federal government in their everyday lives. He insisted that state governments, local officials, and private organizations should prioritize cooperation in order to preserve the delicate balance between humanitarian compassion and prudent restraint. Fundamentally, Coolidge’s relative inaction during the 1927 floods was aligned with his belief that strong communities, rather than centralized federal power, formed the backbone of America. 

In the harrowing days of the spring of 1927, during the Mississippi River floods, Coolidge made the decision to keep Washington, D.C., on the sidelines to prevent the principles that sustained American prosperity and liberty, including self-governance, economic and moral independence, and personal responsibility, from being tainted. Although Coolidge’s response to the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was controversial at the time, it still remains as an important example of his commitment to limited government and the preservation of individual liberty. Looking back, however, Coolidge’s inactive approach to handling the crisis, while adhering to his beliefs, ultimately resulted in more harm for the victims than good.