1932 United States presidential election

Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 1932. This election happened during a very hard time for the country called the Great Depression. The person who was president then, Herbert Hoover from the Republican Party, tried to stay in office, but he lost badly to Franklin D. Roosevelt from the Democratic Party.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was the governor of New York and promised to help the country recover with something called a "New Deal". His team also included John Nance Garner, who was the Speaker of the House. Roosevelt worked hard to bring people together and win the election.

Roosevelt won by a large margin, getting more votes than any Democratic candidate before him. He won almost everywhere except some states in the Northeast. This election changed the way politics worked in the United States for many years, starting a time when the Democratic Party was very strong. It ended a long period when the Republican Party had been very powerful in choosing presidents.

Background

Herbert Hoover, the incumbent president in 1928, whose term expired on March 4, 1933

Herbert Hoover, the Republican nominee who had won the 1928 presidential election, faced big challenges. He had won very strongly back then, but things changed after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the start of the Great Depression. Because of these tough times, many people were unhappy with the Republicans.

In the elections of 1930, the Democratic party made big gains. They took control of the United States House of Representatives, reduced the Republican numbers in the United States Senate, and won most of the state leadership positions. This showed that many people were looking for new leadership.

Nominations

Democratic Party nomination

Main articles: 1932 Democratic National Convention and 1932 Democratic Party presidential primaries

The Democratic Party had several candidates for president in 1932. The main candidates were Franklin D. Roosevelt, the governor of New York; Al Smith, a former governor of New York; John Nance Garner, the Speaker of the House from Texas; and William H. Murray, the governor of Oklahoma.

Franklin D. Roosevelt won the nomination after a contest at the convention. He chose John Nance Garner as his running mate for vice president.

President Herbert Hoover and White House Press Secretary Theodore Joslin

Republican Party nomination

Main article: 1932 Republican National Convention

The Republican Party nominated incumbent President Herbert Hoover for re-election. His main opponent was Joseph I. France, a former senator from Maryland. Hoover won the nomination easily.

Hoover chose Charles Curtis as his vice-presidential running mate.

A Socialist Party campaign poster featuring Norman Thomas and James H. Maurer as candidates for president and vice president

Other candidates

Socialist Party

The Socialist Party nominated Norman Thomas for president and James H. Maurer for vice president.

Communist Party

A Communist Party campaign poster featuring William Z. Foster and James W. Ford as candidates for president and vice president, along with the party's demands

The Communist Party nominated William Z. Foster for president and James W. Ford for vice president.

Farmer-Labor Party

Frank Webb and Jacob S. Coxey Sr. were initially nominated by the Farmer-Labor Party, but Webb was later replaced by Coxey as the presidential nominee.

Liberal Party

There were efforts to form a new Liberal Party, but these did not succeed in creating a national party.

Franklin D. Roosevelt	John Nance Garner
1932 Democratic Party ticket
for President	for Vice President

44th Governor of New York (1929–1932)	39th Speaker of the House (1931–1933)

1st ballot	2nd	3rd ballot	4th ballot
666.25	677.75	682.75	945
201.75	194.25	190.25	190.50
90.25	90.25	101.25	0
52	50.5	52.5	0
42.25	40.25	40.25	3
25	25	24	0
24	18	27.5	0
23	0	0	0
21	23.5	23.5	0
8.5	8	8.5	5.5
0	22	0	0
0	0	0	1
0	4.5	3.5	0

Herbert Hoover	Charles Curtis
1932 Republican Party ticket
for President	for Vice President

31st President of the United States (1929–1933)	31st Vice President of the United States (1929–1933)

1st ballot	Vice-presidential ballot	1st ballot
1126.5	Charles Curtis	633.75
13	Hanford MacNider	178.75
4.5	James Harbord	161.75
4	Edward Martin	75
1	Alvan T. Fuller	57
1	Bertrand Snell	55
	Patrick J. Hurley	25
	J. Leonard Replogle	22.75
	Charles G. Dawes	9.75
	James J. Couzens	2
	William S. Kenyon	2
	David Sinton Ingalls	2
	Hiram Bingham III	1
3	Not voting	0
1	Absent	1

General election

Campaign

Franklin D. Roosevelt accepted the Democratic nomination in person after traveling by airplane to the convention. In his speech, he talked about needing liberal ideas, planned action, and helping many citizens. His trip to Chicago was the first of many moves to show he was a candidate of change. Big crowds greeted Roosevelt as he traveled the country, and his campaign song "Happy Days Are Here Again" became very popular and an unofficial anthem of the Democratic Party. Democratic leaders in the eastern United States wanted Roosevelt to stay home and give speeches, but Roosevelt and leaders in the western United States wanted him to travel actively. Roosevelt gave twenty-seven major speeches during the campaign, while Herbert Hoover planned to give only three, later increasing to ten and traveling over 10,000 miles.

Some Republican leaders changed their support, and many Democrats united behind Roosevelt. He was seen as a fresh voice compared to Hoover, who many blamed for the Great Depression. Hoover’s attempts to campaign were often met with negative reactions from the public.

Results

Roosevelt won the election, defeating Hoover. This marked a big shift in American politics, ending twelve years of Republican leadership and starting twenty years of Democratic control of the White House. Roosevelt received more votes than any candidate before him, and Democrats also gained seats in Congress.

Roosevelt won in most of the country, except for some northeastern states. His victory was the largest for a first-time presidential candidate at that time, and he would go on to win even more votes in future elections. This election showed a big change in voter support, with many switching from the Republican to the Democratic Party.

States/districts won by Roosevelt/Garner

States/districts won by Hoover/Curtis

State	EV	Roosevelt/Garner Democratic			Hoover/Curtis Republican			Thomas/Maurer Socialist			Other			Margin		Total votes
State	EV	Votes	%	EV	Votes	%	EV	Votes	%	EV	Votes	%	EV	Votes	%	Total votes
Alabama	11	207,910	84.74	11	34,675	14.13	–	2,030	0.83	–	739	0.30	–	173,235	70.61	245,354
Arizona	3	79,264	67.03	3	36,104	30.53	–	2,618	2.21	–	265	0.22	–	43,160	36.50	118,251
Arkansas	9	189,602	85.96	9	28,467	12.91	–	1,269	0.58	–	1,224	0.55	–	161,135	73.06	220,562
California	22	1,324,157	58.39	22	847,902	37.39	–	63,299	2.79	–	32,608	1.44	–	476,255	21.00	2,267,966
Colorado	6	250,877	54.81	6	189,617	41.43	–	13,591	2.97	–	3,611	0.79	–	61,260	13.38	457,696
Connecticut	8	281,632	47.40	–	288,420	48.54	8	20,480	3.45	–	3,651	0.61	–	−6,788	−1.14	594,183
Delaware	3	54,319	48.11	–	57,073	50.55	3	1,376	1.22	–	133	0.12	–	−2,754	−2.44	112,901
Florida	7	206,307	74.68	7	69,170	25.04	–	775	0.28	–	–	–	–	137,137	49.64	276,252
Georgia	12	234,118	91.60	12	19,863	7.77	–	461	0.18	–	1,148	0.45	–	214,255	83.83	255,590
Idaho	4	109,479	58.66	4	71,417	38.27	–	526	0.28	–	5,203	2.79	–	38,062	20.39	186,625
Illinois	29	1,882,304	55.23	29	1,432,756	42.04	–	67,258	1.97	–	25,608	0.75	–	449,548	13.19	3,407,926
Indiana	14	862,054	54.67	14	677,184	42.94	–	21,388	1.36	–	16,301	1.03	–	184,870	11.72	1,576,927
Iowa	11	598,019	57.69	11	414,433	39.98	–	20,467	1.97	–	3,768	0.36	–	183,586	17.71	1,036,687
Kansas	9	424,204	53.56	9	349,498	44.13	–	18,276	2.31	–	–	–	–	74,706	9.43	791,978
Kentucky	11	580,574	59.06	11	394,716	40.15	–	3,853	0.39	–	3,920	0.40	–	185,858	18.91	983,063
Louisiana	10	249,418	92.79	10	18,853	7.01	–	–	–	–	533	0.20	–	230,565	85.77	268,804
Maine	5	128,907	43.19	–	166,631	55.83	5	2,489	0.83	–	417	0.14	–	−37,724	−12.64	298,444
Maryland	8	314,314	61.50	8	184,184	36.04	–	10,489	2.05	–	2,067	0.40	–	130,130	25.46	511,054
Massachusetts	17	800,148	50.64	17	736,959	46.64	–	34,305	2.17	–	8,702	0.55	–	63,189	4.00	1,580,114
Michigan	19	871,700	52.36	19	739,894	44.44	–	39,205	2.35	–	13,966	0.84	–	131,806	7.92	1,664,765
Minnesota	11	600,806	59.91	11	363,959	36.29	–	25,476	2.54	–	12,602	1.26	–	236,847	23.62	1,002,843
Mississippi	9	140,168	95.98	9	5,180	3.55	–	686	0.47	–	–	–	–	134,988	92.44	146,034
Missouri	15	1,025,406	63.69	15	564,713	35.08	–	16,374	1.02	–	3,401	0.21	–	460,693	28.62	1,609,894
Montana	4	127,286	58.80	4	78,078	36.07	–	7,891	3.65	–	3,224	1.49	–	49,208	22.73	216,479
Nebraska	7	359,082	62.98	7	201,177	35.29	–	9,876	1.73	–	2	0.00	–	157,905	27.70	570,137
Nevada	3	28,756	69.41	3	12,674	30.59	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	16,082	38.82	41,430
New Hampshire	4	100,680	48.99	–	103,629	50.42	4	947	0.46	–	264	0.13	–	−2,949	−1.43	205,520
New Jersey	16	806,394	49.49	16	775,406	47.59	–	42,988	2.64	–	4,719	0.29	–	30,988	1.90	1,629,507
New Mexico	3	95,089	62.72	3	54,217	35.76	–	1,776	1.17	–	524	0.35	–	40,872	26.96	151,606
New York	47	2,534,959	54.07	47	1,937,963	41.33	–	177,397	3.78	–	38,295	0.82	–	596,996	12.73	4,688,614
North Carolina	13	497,566	69.93	13	208,344	29.28	–	5,591	0.79	–	–	–	–	289,222	40.65	711,501
North Dakota	4	178,350	69.59	4	71,772	28.00	–	3,521	1.37	–	2,647	1.03	–	106,578	41.58	256,290
Ohio	26	1,301,695	49.88	26	1,227,319	47.03	–	64,094	2.46	–	16,620	0.64	–	74,376	2.85	2,609,728
Oklahoma	11	516,468	73.30	11	188,165	26.70	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	328,303	46.59	704,633
Oregon	5	213,871	57.99	5	136,019	36.88	–	15,450	4.19	–	3,468	0.94	–	77,852	21.11	368,808
Pennsylvania	36	1,295,948	45.33	–	1,453,540	50.84	36	91,223	3.19	–	18,466	0.65	–	−157,592	−5.51	2,859,177
Rhode Island	4	146,604	55.08	4	115,266	43.31	–	3,138	1.18	–	1,162	0.44	–	31,338	11.77	266,170
South Carolina	8	102,347	98.03	8	1,978	1.89	–	82	0.08	–	–	–	–	100,369	96.13	104,407
South Dakota	4	183,515	63.62	4	99,212	34.40	–	1,551	0.54	–	4,160	1.44	–	84,303	29.23	288,438
Tennessee	11	259,473	66.49	11	126,752	32.48	–	1,796	0.46	–	2,235	0.57	–	132,721	34.01	390,256
Texas	23	760,348	88.06	23	97,959	11.35	–	4,450	0.52	–	669	0.08	–	662,389	76.72	863,426
Utah	4	116,750	56.52	4	84,795	41.05	–	4,087	1.98	–	946	0.46	–	31,955	15.47	206,578
Vermont	3	56,266	41.08	–	78,984	57.66	3	1,533	1.12	–	197	0.14	–	−22,718	−16.58	136,980
Virginia	11	203,979	68.46	11	89,637	30.09	–	2,382	0.80	–	1,944	0.65	–	114,342	38.38	297,942
Washington	8	353,260	57.46	8	208,645	33.94	–	17,080	2.78	–	35,829	5.83	–	144,615	23.52	614,814
West Virginia	8	405,124	54.47	8	330,731	44.47	–	5,133	0.69	–	2,786	0.37	–	74,393	10.00	743,774
Wisconsin	12	707,410	63.46	12	347,741	31.19	–	53,379	4.79	–	6,278	0.56	–	359,669	32.26	1,114,808
Wyoming	3	54,370	56.07	3	39,583	40.82	–	2,829	2.92	–	180	0.19	–	14,787	15.25	96,962
Total	531	22,821,277	57.41	472	15,761,254	39.65	59	884,885	2.23	–	284,482	0.72		7,060,023	17.76	39,751,898
Total	531	Roosevelt/Garner Democratic			Hoover/Curtis Republican			Thomas/Maurer Socialist			Others			Margin		Total votes