MAP 21.1 The Election of 1924 Republican Calvin Coolidge, who became president in August 1923 on the death of Warren Harding, continued Harding’s policies of limited government regulation and corporate tax cuts. Coolidge easily defeated Democrat John Davis, whose strength was confined to the South. Running as the Progressive Party candidate, Senator Robert La Follette won 16 percent of the popular vote but carried only his home state of Wisconsin, with 13 electoral votes.