The presidency of Calvin Coolidge began on August 2, 1923, when Calvin Coolidge became President of the United States upon the sudden death of Warren G. Harding, and ended on March 4, 1929. A Republican from Massachusetts, Coolidge had been Vice President of the United States for 2 years, 151 days when he became the 30th President of the United States. He blocked passage of the McNary–Haugen Farm Relief Bill, which would have involved the federal government in the persistent farm crisis that affected many rural communities. Coolidge became the Vice President of the United States after the Republican ticket was victorious in the 1920 presidential election. According to Nathan Miller, 'the postwar years ushered in an age of consumerism with a broader base of participation than had ever existed before in America or anywhere else.' The number of automobiles in the United States increased from 7 million in 1919 to 23 million in 1929, while the percentage of households with electricity rose from 16 percent in 1912 to 60 percent in the mid-1920s.