United States presidential election, 1932
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The United States presidential election of 1932 took place as the effects of the 1929 Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression were being felt intensely across the country. President Hoover's popularity was falling as voters felt he was unable to reverse the economic collapse, or deal with prohibition. The Democrats led by Franklin D. Roosevelt promised a New Deal (but left the specifics vague). Roosevelt won by a landslide, and this "critical election" marked the collapse of the Fourth Party System or Progressive Era. The voters soon were realigned into the Fifth Party System, dominated by Roosevelt's New Deal Coalition.
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[edit] Nominations
At the Democratic Party Convention in Chicago, Franklin D. Roosevelt succeeded in getting the party's nomination on the fourth ballot, triumphing over 1928 Democratic candidate Al Smith. Roosevelt, achieved this by making a deal with media baron William Randolph Hearst in which FDR would make John Nance Garner, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and also a candidate, his Vice President.
As the fourth ballot progressed, William G. McAdoo, whose own presidential ambitions were twarted by Smith eight years before, gleefully changed California's votes from Garner to Roosevelt, and, as seen on the chart below, everyone's supporters but Smith's followed suit.
| Presidential Balloting, DNC 1932 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ballot | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| New York Gov. Franklin Roosevelt | 666.5 | 677 | 682 | 945 |
| Former New York Gov. Al Smith | 201 | 194 | 190 | 190 |
| Speaker of the U.S. House John Nance Garner | 90.25 | 90.25 | 101.3 | - |
| Ohio Governor George White | 52 | 50.5 | 52.5 | - |
| Former Virginia Gov. Harry F. Byrd | 25 | 24 | 25 | - |
| Melvin A. Traylor | 42.5 | 40 | 40 | - |
| Missouri Sen. James A. Reed | 24 | 18 | 27 | - |
| Maryland Gov. Albert C. Ritchie | 21 | 23 | 23 | - |
| Oklahoma Gov. William "Alfalfa Bill" Murray | 23 | - | - | - |
| Will Rogers | - | 22 | - | - |
| Newton Baker | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | - |
The Democratic Party Platform included repeal of Prohibition (devolving the decision of allowing or prohibiting alcohol to the individual states to decide for themselves).
[edit] Republican Party nomination
As the year 1932 began, the Republican Party still had hopes that the worst of the Depression was over; in any case President Herbert Hoover controlled the party. Little-known former U.S. Senator Joseph I. France ran against Hoover in the primaries, often unopposed. His primary wins were tempered by two events: first, Hoover entered the Maryland primary and defeated France in his home state; second, few delegates to the national convention were chosen in the primaries.
Hoover's managers at the Republican National Convention ran a tight ship, not allowing expressions of concern for the direction of the nation. Hoover was nominated on the first ballot with 98% of the delegate vote.
The tally was:
| Presidential Ballot, RNC 1932 | |
|---|---|
| President Herbert Hoover | 1126.5 |
| James J. Blaine | 13 |
| Former President Calvin Coolidge | 4.5 |
| Former U.S. Senator Joseph I. France | 4 |
| James W. Wadsworth | 1 |
Both the agricultural Republicans and the extreme hard money Republicans (the latter hoping to nominate Coolidge) balked at the floor managers and voted against the renomination of Vice President Charles Curtis, who won with just 55% of the delegate votes.
[edit] General election
[edit] Campaign
After making a dangerous airplane trip from his Hyde Park Home to the Democratic convention, Roosevelt accepted the nomination in person. In this history-making speech, he committed himself to battling the Great Depression in the United States with a "New Deal" when he stated: "I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people."
President Hoover was widely blamed for the depression; for over 2 years Hoover had been issuing statements that the worst was over, only to have the economy make further downturns.
The election was held on November 8, 1932. Maine held separate state elections in September.
1932 was a realigning election. Roosevelt and the Democratic ticket won a sweeping victory over Hoover and the Republicans, extending their control over the U.S. House and gaining control of the U.S. Senate. Twelve years of Republican leadership came to an end, and twenty years of Democratic control would ensue. The vote for Roosevelt was nearly 8 million higher than that for Smith in 1928, an increase of 52%. Hoover's popular vote was reduced by 26% from his result in the 1928 election. In addition, the vote for most minor parties rose dramatically: increases of 230% for the Socialist Party (Norman Thomas's highest raw vote total of his campaigns); an increase of 112% for the Communist Party; an increase of 305% for the Prohibition Party; and an increase of 57% for the Socialist Labor Party.
[edit] Results
| Presidential Candidate | Party | Home State | Popular Vote | Electoral Vote | Running Mate | Running Mate's Home State |
Running Mate's Electoral Vote |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | Percentage | |||||||
| Franklin Roosevelt | Democratic | New York | 22,829,277 | 57.4% | 472 | John Nance Garner | Texas | 472 |
| Herbert Clark Hoover | Republican | California | 15,761,254 | 39.7% | 59 | Charles Curtis | Kansas | 59 |
| Norman Thomas | Socialist | New York | 884,885 | 2.2% | 0 | James H. Maurer | Pennsylvania | 0 |
| William Zebulon Foster | Communist | Illinois | 103,307 | 0.3% | 0 | James W. Ford | Alabama | 0 |
| William D. Upshaw | Prohibition | Georgia | 81,905 | 0.2% | 0 | Frank S. Regan | Illinois | 0 |
| William Harvey | Liberty | Arkansas | 53,425 | 0.1% | 0 | Frank Hemenway | Washington | 0 |
| Verne L. Reynolds | Socialist Labor | New York | 33,276 | 0.1% | 0 | J.W. Aiken | Massachusetts | 0 |
| Other | 12,569 | 0.1% | 0 | Other | 0 | |||
| Total | 39,751,898 | 100.0% | 531 | Total | 531 | |||
| Needed to win | 266 | Needed to win | 266 | |||||
Source (Popular Vote): Leip, David. 1932 Presidential Election Results. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections (July 31, 2005).
Source (Electoral Vote): Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996. Official website of the National Archives. (July 31, 2005).
[edit] Bibliography
- Kristi Andersen, The Creation of a Democratic Majority: 1928-1936 (1979), statistical
- James McGregor Burns, Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox (1956)
- Frank Freidel, Franklin D. Roosevelt: The Triumph (1956)
- Frank Freidel, "Election of 1932", in Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., ed., The Coming to Power: Critical Presidential Elections in American History (1981),
- Harold F. Gosnell, Champion Campaigner: Franklin D. Roosevelt (1952)
- Hoover, Herbert, The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover: The Great Depression, 1929-1941 (1952)
- Peel, Roy V. and Thomas C. Donnelly, The 1932 Campaign: An Analysis (1935)
- Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. The Crisis of the Old Order (1957),
[edit] See also
- United States Senate election, 1932
- United States House election, 1932
- History of the United States (1918-1945)
[edit] External links
[edit] Navigation
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