On October 26, 1929, the Dollar Steamship Line ordered the President Coolidge, and her identical sister ship, the President Hoover, from the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Virginia. Built as trans-pacific ships by the Dollar Steamship Line for $7,050,000 each, the ships were the largest passenger ships built in the United States at that time. At the onset of the Great Depression, the Dollar Steamship Line had the largest fleet of passenger and cargo liners operating under US flag.

The two new ships were designed by Carl Petersen of Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company. Construction on the SS President Coolidge began on April 21, 1930 with the assembly of Hull No. 340 of the keel. At 11:29:45 am on Saturday, February 21, 1931, Mrs. Grace Anna Coolidge, wife of Calvin Coolidge, 30th president of the United States, launched the SS President Coolidge with the smash of a bottle of water from her husband's Vermont farm. Since the launching took place during Prohibition, the traditional bottle of champagne was not used.

The SS President Coolidge was completed on September 10, 1931 and delivered to the Dollar Steamship Line on October 1, 1931-almost four months ahead of schedule. Two weeks later, on October 15, 1931, she took her maiden voyage from New York to Pier 42, San Francisco, her new home port, under the command of Captain Karl A. Ahlin. The ship was 654 feet 3 inches long, 81 feet wide, 34 feet deep and had a gross tonnage of 21,936 tons. As a passenger liner, the Coolidge had capacities of 214 to 307 in First Class, 133 in Special Class, 170 in Third Class, and 380 in Steerage Class. Along with a crew of 324, the maximum capacity of the ship was 1,312 people. Displacement was 30,924 tons and cargo capacity was 608,850 cubic feet. Powered by turbo-electric engines turning twin props, the Coolidge had a cruising speed of over 20 knots. With a capacity of 6,240 tons of fuel oil, the ship a range of 19,500 nautical miles at cruising speed and 14,500 nautical miles at full speed. The ship also carried 2,320 tons of fresh water and 1,181 tons of coconut oil.

The Coolidge ran the Sunshine Route, from San Francisco to Honolulu, Yokohama, Kobe, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Manila. The very first trip was from San Francisco to the Far East on November 6, 1931 and took five days from San Francisco to Honolulu and a further nine days on to Yokohama, Japan. In early 1932, the Coolidge set a new "official" record for a crossing of the Pacific (from east to west) when she steamed from Yokohama to San Francisco in just over 12 days, taking four hours and four minutes off the record set by the Asama Maru. In January 1933, the Coolidge set a new Honolulu to San Francisco record of 4 days, 2 hours and 58 minutes, shaving 14 hours off the previous record set by the SS President Hoover.

On March 6, 1937 the Coolidge left the port in San Francisco and collided with and sank the oil tanker SS Frank H. Buck as she approached the Golden Gate Bridge. The Coolidge sustained fairly severe damage. After being taken to the pier to remove passengers and cargo, the ship was towed to the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation Dry Dock at Hunters Point for repairs. The repair estimate was $250,000 and take 10 days to fix. After repairs, the Coolidge left San Francisco on March 25, 1937. Her next voyage to the Far East started on May 10, 1937 and carried on board General Douglas Macarthur and his new wife following their recent marriage in New York. General Macarthur was voyaging from San Francisco to Manila in the Philippines to resume his post as special US Military Adviser.

By June 1937, the Coolidge had made up the lost time and was back on her normal schedule. Later in 1937, the repaired vessel lowered the Trans Pacific record to 9 days, 9 hours and 51 minutes on a trip from Yokohama to San Francisco. This trip was a full two and a half days quicker than the official record she set in 1932.