He remained in the Senate until he was elected vice president alongside Joseph James Cheeseman on the True Whig ticket in 1892.

As part of this policy, he worked with his friend, Dr. Edward Wilmot Blyden, to re-open Liberia College in Monrovia.

Other decisions included increasing the national government's power over the interior sections of the country, reorganizing the customs service, and attempting to further advance resource extraction.

Coleman was successful in establishing control over the interior region north and west of the Saint Paul River.

[3] As his term progressed, he faced gradually increasing opposition from the citizenry for his execution of policies concerning the interior and the native tribes.

[3] His son Samuel David Coleman was also involved in politics and was killed by government forces on June 27, 1955, after accusations of a failed coup.