The Election of 1932

1
The Election of 1932

• Hoover vs. Roosevelt

2
Democrats

• Republicans blamed for the Depression
• Democrats have an excellent chance for victory
• Convention- July, 1932 in Chicago
• Al Smith believed he would be renominated
  Speaker of the House John Nance Garner from Texas
  was the favorite of the south and west
• Governor Franklin Roosevelt of New York was also
  a candidate
• After 3 ballots, Garner throws his support to
  Roosevelt Garner is V.P. candidate
• Roosevelt flew to Chicago and accepted the
  nomination in person
• I pledge you, I pledge myself to a new deal for
  the American people

3
Democratic Platform

• Outright repeal of Prohibition while Republicans
  wanted a revision of Prohibition
• Promised a balanced budget
• Called for sweeping social and economic changes-
  the New Deal brought to mind the successful
  Square Deal of FDRs Fifth cousin Theodore
  Roosevelt
• Economic and social programs were the ideas of
  Roosevelts brain trust

4
Franklin Delano Roosevelt

• Born in 1882 in Hyde Park, New York
• Died in 1945 in Warm Springs, Georgia
• Graduated from Harvard in 1904
• Went to Columbia Law School and admitted to the
  bar in 1907
• 1911- N.Y. state senator
• 1913- Asst. Sec. Of the Navy
• 1920- unsuccessful V.P. candidate
• 1921-stricken with infantile paralysis
• 1928-1932- governor of New York

5
Roosevelts Assets

• Fought against physical handicap
• Eleanor Roosevelt- FDRs distant relative and
  wife- champion of the dispossessed- FDRs right
  hand woman
• Political appeal- concern for the forgotten man
  charming and a great orator

6
Republicans

• Convention- June, 1932 in Chicago
• Herbert Hoover renominated because the
  Republicans believed that if was not they would
  be admitting that his administration was a failure

7
Election Results

• Roosevelt-22.8 million472 electoral votes
• Hoover- 15.7 million 59 electoral votes- only
  wins 6 states in 1932 while he won 41 in 1928
• Senate- controlled by the Democrats(2/3)
• H/R- controlled by the Democrats(3/4)
• Election did not stop unemployment from rising,
  GNP from falling and businesses and banks from
  closing
• U.S. had to wait 4 months for Roosevelts
  inauguration( 20th amendment ratified in Feb.
  1933)