1932 Presidential Election

• In the 1932 election President Hoover paid the price for

being unable to solve the problems of the Depression.

• It was partly his own fault. Until 1932 he refused to accept

that there was a major problem. He insisted that ‘prosperity

is just around the corner’.

• A famous banner carried in a demonstration of Iowa farmers

said: ‘In Hoover we trusted and now we are busted’.

Hoover’s Solutions to the Depression

• Hoover was regarded as a ‘do nothing’ President.

• This was not entirely fair on Hoover. He tried to restart the economy in

1930 and 1931 by tax cuts.

• He tried to persuade business leaders not to cut wages.

• He set up the Reconstruction Finance Company, which propped up

banks to stop them going bankrupt.

• He tried to protect US industries by introducing tariffs, but this simply

strangled international trade and made the Depression worse.

Hoover’s Solutions to the Depression

• To most observers these measures looked like mere tinkering.

• Hoover and most Republicans were very reluctant to change their basic

policies.

• They believed that the main cause of the Depression had been economic

problems in Europe, not weaknesses in the USA’s economy.

• They said that business should be left alone to bring back prosperity.

Government help was not needed.

• They argued that business went in cycles of boom and bust, and therefore

prosperity would soon return.

Hoover’s Solutions to the Depression

• Even more damaging to Hoover’s personal reputation, however, was

how little he tried to help people who were suffering because of the

Depression.

• He believed that social security was not the responsibility of the

government.

• Relief should be provided by local government or charities.

• The Republicans were afraid that if the government helped individuals,

they would become less independent and less willing to work.

“Never before in this country has a government fallen to so low a place in popular estimation or been so universally an object of cynical contempt. Never before has [a President] given his name so freely to latrines and offal dumps, or had his face banished from the [cinema] screen to avoid the hoots and jeers of children.”

Written by a political commentator after the event

The Republican Party was widely hated.

The President was singled out and personally blame for

America’s problems.

This poster was published by the Democrat Party (FDR) and mocks the Republican Presidency (Hoover). During the depression the Republicans adopted a laissez-faire attitude to solving the USA’s economic problems. They argued that grit and a positive attitude would enable a turn around in America’s economic fortunes. At a time of mass unemployment and social hardship the idea seemed ridiculous and grossly insensitive. In comparison the Democrats promised intervention and pro-active measures to tackle the great depression.

Bonus Marchers

• Hoover’s reputation was particularly damaged by an event in June 1932. Thousands of

servicemen who had fought in the First World War marched on Washington asking for their war

bonuses (a kind of pension) to be paid early.

• The marchers camped peacefully outside the White House and sang patriotic songs. Hoover

refused to meet them. He appointed General Douglas MacArthur to handle the situation.

• MacArthur convinced himself (with little or no evidence) that they were Communist agitators.

• He ignored Hoover’s instructions to treat the marchers with respect. Troops and police used

tear gas and burned the marchers’ camps. Hoover would not admit he had failed to control

MacArthur.

What did FDR Offered American Voters?

There could be no greater contrast to Hoover than his opponent in the 1932 election,

the Democrat candidate, Franklin D Roosevelt. Roosevelt’s main characteristics as a

politician were:

• He believed strongly in ‘active government’ to improve the lives of ordinary people.

• He had plans to spend public money on getting people back to work.

• He was not afraid to ask for advice on important issues from a wide range of

experts, such as factory owners, union leaders and economists.

“Millions of our citizens cherish the hope that their old standards of living have not gone forever. Those millions shall not hope in vain. I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a New Deal for the American people. This is more than a political campaign; it is a call to arms. Give me your help, not to win votes alone, but to win this crusade to restore America . . . I am waging a war against Destruction, Delay, Deceit and Despair . . .”

Roosevelt’s pre-election speech, 1932

FDR offered the American people hope and prosperity for the

future.

He presents himself of action, a man of boundless energy

and dedication.

The Campaign

• With such ill-feeling towards Hoover being expressed throughout the country, Roosevelt was

confident of victory, but he took no chances. He went on a grand train tour of the USA in the

weeks before the election and mercilessly attacked the attitude of Hoover and the Republicans.

• Roosevelt’s own plans were rather vague and general. But he realised people wanted action,

whatever that action was.

• In a 20,800 km campaign trip he made 16 major speeches and another 60 from the back of his

train. He promised the American people a ‘New Deal’.

• The election was a landslide victory for Roosevelt. He won by 7 million votes and the Democrats

won a majority of seats in Congress. It was the worst defeat the Republicans had ever suffered.