United States presidential election, 1932
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The U.S. 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. Across the world, governments felt the pressure for radical - even Socialist or Fascist - solutions to the economic crisis. President Hoover's popularity was falling as voters felt he was unwilling or unable to do what was needed.
Contents |
[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 was able to break a deadlock in part because of a back room deal to make John Nance Garner, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and also a candidate, his Vice President.
| ballot; | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gov. Franklin Roosevelt | 666.5 | 677 | 682 | 945 |
| Former Gov. Al Smith | 201 | 194 | 190 | 190 |
| Speaker of the U.S. House John Nance Garner | 90.25 | 90.25 | 101.3 | - |
| Governor George White | 52 | 50.5 | 52.5 | - |
| Former Gov. Harry F. Byrd | 25 | 24 | 25 | - |
| Melvin A. Traylor | 42.5 | 40 | 40 | - |
| Sen. James A. Reed | 24 | 18 | 27 | - |
| Gov. Albert C. Ritchie | 21 | 23 | 23 | - |
| Gov. William "Alfalfa Bill" Murray | 23 | - | - | - |
| Will Rogers | - | 22 | - | - |
| Newton Baker | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | - |
The Democratic Party Platform included repeal of National 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 and that President Hoover represented their best chance of winning. 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:
| President Hoover | 1126.5 |
|---|---|
| James J. Blaine | 13 |
| Former President 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
Roosevelt 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. Forty years of Republican leadership came to an end, and sixty 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
[edit] External links
[edit] Navigation
| United States Presidential Elections |
|---|
| 1789 • 1792 • 1796 • 1800 • 1804 • 1808 • 1812 • 1816 • 1820 • 1824 • 1828 • 1832 • 1836 • 1840 • 1844 • 1848 • 1852 • 1856 • 1860 • 1864 • 1868 • 1872 • 1876 • 1880 • 1884 • 1888 • 1892 • 1896 • 1900 • 1904 • 1908 • 1912 • 1916 • 1920 • 1924 • 1928 • 1932 • 1936 • 1940 • 1944 • 1948 • 1952 • 1956 • 1960 • 1964 • 1968 • 1972 • 1976 • 1980 • 1984 • 1988 • 1992 • 1996 • 2000 • 2004 • 2008 See also: House • Senate • Governors |
