The U.S. Presidential Election of 1932

     Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a distant cousin of Theodore Roosevelt, was one of the most liked people in American history.  Although he was stricken with polio and left paralyzed from the waist down at an early age, he did not give up his desire to become active in politics.  Instead, he became even more determined.  In 1928, which was only seven years after he was stricken with polio, he was elected governor of New York.  When he ran again in 1930, he won by the biggest majority ever.  With this in mind, and his ability to cheer people up, it should be no surprise that in the Democratic convention on 1932, he was chosen to run for president.  So why did the people love him?  Quite simply, he was a wonderful persuader, and he had the ability to reassure Americans that the Depression would soon come an end. 

    Herbert Clark Hoover was an engineer before he got into politics.  Indeed, he was a very intelligent man.  Unfortunately for him, he lacked what was needed most during the depression:  the ability that FDR had to communicate, and to reassure the general public.  Hoover's presidency was dominated by the Great Depression.  He was blamed by many Americans for the Depression, although he really was not the cause of it.  He simply had the misfortune of beginning his presidency just months before the depression hit.  Since Hoover was blamed for the Depression, and it did not seem to the people that he as doing anything to stop it, his fate in the 1932 election was sealed. 

    Now you know why FDR won, but why was it so important?  It marked the beginning of the presidency of who many say was America's greatest leader.  FDR's New Deal programs, although they put the country into debt, drastically reduced the unemployment and restored Americans' trust in banks.  The people liked FDR so much that he was elected for an unprecedented four terms until he died in office in April of 1945.