Gevenny Fernandez
THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1932
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The Republicans controlled the White House
 In 1930, the Democrats took over the House of
Representatives with a majority of 51%, for the
first time in over a decade
 They were also one seat away from gaining
Senate majority

INCUMBENT NOMINEE- HERBERT HOOVER
8 negative keys according to The Keys to the White
House
 According to the keys, need 6 or more negative
keys for the incumbent president to be defeated
 Negative keys: 1- incumbent-party mandate, 5short-term economy, 6- long-term economy, 7policy change, 8- social unrest, 11-foreign/military
success, 12- incumbent charisma, 13-challenger
charisma

HISTORICAL CONTEXT- ISSUES

The Great Depression was the biggest issue of
that time
 From
1921-1929: many economic advances, which
Hoover expected to continue
 However, over the next 3 years, the economy and
market declined steadily

Prohibition was also a prominent issue
 People
wanted to bring back alcohol for the tax
revenues
HISTORICAL CONTEXT- SOCIAL CLIMATE

Social Unrest
 Protests
by farmers, unemployed workers, and
displaced individuals (“wandering population”) in
1931 and 1932
 “Bonus Expeditionary Force”- veterans demanding
to be allowed to cash in their veterans’ bonuses set
up camp in the capital
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Incumbent president Hoover’s popularity had
fallen greatly since his victory in 1928 and
people did not think he could handle the
economic crisis or prohibition
 The Republican party had been dominant for
decades

 Fourth

Party System
Result: “Time for a change” effect
PARTY PRIMARIES AND NOMINATIONSDEMOCRATIC PARTY
Roosevelt had the support of the majority of
delegates at the Democratic convention
 However, he did not have the 2/3 majority to
win the nomination
 Main opposition- Smith and John Nance Garner
(Speaker of the House in 1931)
 First ballot- short by 100 delegates
 After 3 ballots, Garner released his delegates
 Fourth ballot, Roosevelt won the party
nomination

PARTY PRIMARIES AND NOMINATIONSREPUBLICAN PARTY
Hoover was easily re-nominated as the
Republican candidate
 However, there was a battle over the vice
presidential nominee

 Vice
President Charles Curtis was challenged by
James Harbord
 Curtis won
PARTY PRIMARIES AND NOMINATIONS
No significant third party nominees
 Americans were not interested in third party
nominees
 They joined the Democrats

CANDIDATES- ROOSEVELT

Well known for being the governor of New York
 He
had been reelected governor in a landslide in
1930
People still remembered his cousin, Theodore
Roosevelt
 FDR had been the losing vice presidential
nominee in 1920
 Downplayed his polio so that the public would
think he was fit to run the country

 Polio
was seen as a lower class disease
CANDIDATES- ROOSEVELT
Although not that well-known, he was very
charismatic
 Tried to avoid controversial issues like religion
and the KKK
 Tried to appeal to everyone, even some
republicans
 Tried to unite the Democratic party

 The
Democratic Party was more united during the
1932 election than they had been throughout the
whole Fourth Party System, partly due to
Roosevelt’s efforts
CANDIDATES- HOOVER

Just months after his inauguration, the Stock
Market Crash of 1929 occurred and caused the
Great Depression


Considering Hoover’s commitment to limited
government, his policies demonstrated boldness


Most of his presidential term was spent in the
depression
Hoover did more to fight the economic depression than
any previous president
However, it was not enough

Many democratic leaders, including Roosevelt criticized
him for not taking it far enough
CANDIDATES- HOOVER

His programs:
Federal loans to businesses and banks
 Purchases of farm commodities
 Selected increases in federal spending
 Banking reform

His policies did little to help the economic
situation. Some actually made it worse
 1930- Republicans enacted the Hawley-Smoot
Tariff, which raised import duties to the highest
rates ever
 Hoover also imposed a major tax increase, which
reduced funds to consumers and investors

CANDIDATES- HOOVER
Very unpopular, to the point where people
threw rotten vegetables at him during his
speeches around the country, during his
campaign
 Also unpopular among his own party
 His party was divided

 Many
of the more prominent Republicans did not
support him and some even strongly opposed him
 Some of them even supported Roosevelt instead
GENERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN- ROOSEVELT
Roosevelt accused Hoover of being a socialist for
his protectionist policies
 Roosevelt attacked Hoover for not improving the
economic situation and blamed him for the Great
Depression
 Roosevelt’s strategy was very successful because
of Hoover’s overwhelming unpopularity
 Candidate of Change
 FDR made a historically significant speech when
he personally accepted the Democratic party
nomination


Famous words: “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new
deal for the American people”
GENERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN- ROOSEVELT
In the same speech, Roosevelt promised to
"abolish useless offices" and "eliminate
unnecessary functions of Government"
 Also promised to restore international trade –
as opposed to Hoover’s protectionist trade
policies
 His campaign song was “Happy Days are Here
Again” and became the most popular in
American political history, while also becoming
the Democratic Party’s unofficial anthem

GENERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN- HOOVER
He promised recovery, but this quickly became
a joke when no improvement was seen
throughout his presidency
 Hoover could not do much more than to defend
himself and promise recovery
 Hoover increased taxes and restricted trade
 Hoover criticized Roosevelt and said he would
only worsen the Depression by decreasing
taxes, reducing government intervention in the
economy, and promoting international trade

ELECTION OUTCOME

FDR won by a landslide
 Broke
records by winning 472 electoral votes
The region that held the most support for
Hoover was the northeast and the New England
area
 Most of the Rest of the United States,
especially in the electoral vote, supported
Roosevelt

ELECTION OUTCOME
ELECTION OUTCOME






Popular Vote
Franklin Roosevelt
Herbert Hoover
Norman Thomas
William Foster
Other (+)
22,821,277
15,761,254
884,885
103,307
181,175
57.41%
39.65%
2.23%
0.26%
0.46%
ELECTION OUTCOME
Electoral Vote
 Franklin Roosevelt
 Herbert Hoover
 Norman Thomas
 William Foster
 Other (+)

472
59
0
0
0
88.9%
11.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Realigning election
 Many states which were previously Republican
became Democratic states
 Ended a long era of Republican dominance and
started a streak of Democratic dominance (Shift
from Fourth Party System to Fifth Party System)

The republicans would not return to the White House
until the nomination of war hero Dwight D. Eisenhower
in 1952
 For all but 6 years after 1932, the democrats controlled
the House of Representatives, too
