| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1932 United States Presidential Election was the 37th quadrennial presidential election that was held on Tuesday, November 8, 1932. The election took place against the backdrop of the Great Depression. The election would see a rematch between Herbert Hoover and Al Smith, who had faced off in the 1928 election 4 years prior. Going into the 1932 election, Smith suffered heavily due to baggage carried over from the 1928 election including his catholic background and association with corruption and the legacy of Tammany Hall. However, Hoover and his perceived handling of the ongoing Great Depression had cost him any advantage he may have had going into 1928. Due to widespread dissatisfaction with Hoover, Smith would win in an electoral landslide, receiving 334 electoral votes to Herbert Hoover's 197.
Course of the election[]
Democratic Nomination[]
The leading candidate for the Democratic nomination in 1932 was New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had won most of the primaries by wide margins. However, the practice of state primaries was still uncommon in 1932, and most of the delegates at the convention were not bound to vote for the nominee based on primary results. Because of this, Al Smith would secure the Democratic nomination due to connections to party bosses and inroads with the party establishment. This would lead to an uproar on the convention floor as many Roosevelt delegates felt the nomination had been stolen from them in a "corrupt bargain" and many of them walked out of the convention.
Speaker of the House John Nance Garner from Texas would be selected as Al Smith's running mate.
| Nominee | Running Mate |
|---|---|
| Al Smith
|
John Nance Garner
|
Republican Nomination[]
The Republican National Convention would easily re-nominate Herbert Hoover and Charles Curtis. Even as Hoover remained unpopular among the American people, he still enjoyed support by the Republican establishment as well as the northeastern business establishment who had been some of Hoover's most loyal supporters since he assumed office in 1929.
| Nominee | Running Mate |
|---|---|
| Herbert Hoover
|
Charles Curtis
|
General election[]
After making an airplane trip to the Democratic convention, Smith accepted the nomination in person. During his speech, Smith directly criticized Hoover and his policies. He blamed Hoover's supposed regulatory policies such as the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act for worsening the depression and resulting in skyrocketing unemployment. Smith declared that the depression must be ended through "free markets and free people" and that government intervention in the economy, as Hoover had done, would not help at all. Despite this rhetoric being divisive within the Democratic Party, it helped to establish Smith as a free market candidate, distinct from the proportedly regulation-heavy Herbert Hoover. In actuality, Hoover himself was very lasseiz-faire and the distinctions between Smith and Hoover was more rhetorical rather than policy-based.
Throughout the course of the election campaign, Smith would attack Hoover as an incompetent leader who's overbearing approaches towards handling the depression were only worsening it. The Hoover campaign would attack Smith as corrupt and would again use Smith's catholicism against him, peddling rumors of Smith being a papal agent who sought to undermine US sovereignty. The agressive smear campaigns would define the 1932 election as the smear campaigns and rumors spread by both sides would overshadow debates over policy and solving the depression.
Outcome[]
Despite being weighed down by his Catholic faith and perceived corruption, Al Smith would defeat Herbert Hoover in a landslide in the electoral college even as the popular vote remained close. Many political commentators of the time attributed Smith's victory to being a result of Hoover's overwhelming unpopularity rather than any strenghths that Smith had as a candidate. The Presidency of Al Smith would begin on March 4th, 1933.
See also:[]
Sources Cited:[]
- Amadeo, Kimberly. “President Herbert Hoover’s Economic Policies.” The Balance, The Balance, 10 Jan. 2019, www.thebalance.com/president-hoovers-economic-policies-4583019.
- “Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act - Overview, Legislative History, Impact.” Corporate Finance Institute, corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/economics/smoot-hawley-tariff-act/.
- “1932 United States Presidential Election.” Wikipedia, 3 May 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1932_United_States_presidential_election.
- “1932 Presidential Election Interactive Map.” 270toWin.com, www.270towin.com/1932_Election/interactive_map. Accessed 5 Jan. 2022.