Why did Roosevelt win the 1932 election?

​Roosevelt's Charisma and dynamic election campaign: Roosevelt was a charismatic and dynamic individual who connected with voters. His party ran an effective and organized campaign that mobilized voters across the country.
​​Roosevelt's New Deal Platform: Roosevelt campaigned on a platform known as the New Deal, which promised a series of programs and reforms to provide relief, recovery, and reform for the American people. This platform resonated with voters who were desperate for solutions to the economic hardships they were facing.
​Public Dissatisfaction with Herbert Hoover: Herbert Hoover, was widely criticized for his perceived inability to effectively tackle the economic crisis. Many Americans blamed Hoover and the Republican Party for the severity of the Depression, creating a strong desire for change among voters.

1932 Election 'facts'

  • Held November 8, 1932
  • Contested between Herbert Hoover (Republican) and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Democrat)
  • Roosevelt won 42 / 48 of the States - A 'landslide victory'
  • Roosevelt was the first Democrat in 80 years to win both the POULAR vote (57% c, 23 million votes, 1.5 million more than Hoover in the 1928 election) and the ELECTORAL COLLEGE  vote. (472 to Hoover's 59)
  • In 1928 Hoover had won 58% of the popular vote - in 1932 this fell to 39%.
  • Both Parties spent c 20% of their campaign funds on RADIO campaigning.
  • The national swing from Republicans  to Democrats was 17.5 % (1 sixth of the electorate making the switch)
  • The Republicans 'lost' the black African - American vote (which they could previously rely on)
  • Michigan voted Democratic for the first time since the emergence of the Republican Party in 1854!
  • The election would mark the dominance of the Democrats in politics for the next 20 years.

Two Campaigns

Republican

‘The people themselves, by their own courage, their own patient and resolute effort in the readjustments of their own affairs, can and will work out the cure. It is our task as a party, by leadership and a wise determination of policy, to assist that recovery’.
Republican Party Campaign Statement
Democrat

‘’The only hope for improving present conditions, restoring employment, affording permanent relief to the people, and bringing the nation back to the proud position of domestic happiness and of financial, industrial, agricultural and commercial leadership in the world lies in a drastic change in economic governmental policies’.
Democratic Party Campaign Statement