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Herbert Hoover · 1932 · Republican nominee
31st President; Republican nominee for re-election in 1932, running on his record against the Depression.
Renominated on the first ballot at Chicago in June. Initially planned a limited campaign from the White House ("Statement on Campaign Plans," June 18); by October, alarmed by the polls, made nine major addresses, defending his anti-Depression record and arguing that the Democratic program (tariff reduction, currency tinkering, spending) would deepen the crisis. Only the Northeast and a few small states stayed with him.
Positions (43)
| Issue | Position | Kind | Strength | Attribution | Ev. | First | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farm prices and agricultural surplus | Farm prices can be restored only by general recovery and markets — no production control, no subsidies; repeal Farm Board stabilization | pledge_forward | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Planned use of land and retirement of marginal farmland | Support a sound program to divert land from unprofitable to profitable use | pledge_forward | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Short-term and marketing credit for agriculture | Restore short-term farm credit through the new agricultural credit corporations, RFC loans to processors and financing of export sales | defense_of_record | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-10-04 | not_applicable |
| Regulation of banks and securities | Reform the banking laws; stop credit flowing to speculation; relieve depositors of closed banks | pledge_forward | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Farm and home mortgage relief | The Federal Home Loan Bank system to stop home foreclosures and finance new homes | defense_of_record | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-06-14 | kept |
| Federal guarantee of bank deposits | Oppose a federal guarantee of bank deposits | pledge_forward | directional_stance | party_platform | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Regulation of banks and securities | The RFC and the 'shield of Government credit' saved 5,000 institutions and must continue — but no direct government lending to everyone | defense_of_record | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-08-11 | not_applicable |
| Farm and home mortgage relief | Reorganize and enlarge the Federal Land Banks to refinance farm mortgages; curb Joint Stock Land Bank abuses | pledge_forward | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-10-04 | not_applicable |
| Regulation of securities issuance and exchanges | No federal 'blue sky' law — securities regulation belongs to the states, and the President should not police booms | pledge_forward | directional_stance | candidate_direct | A | 1932-11-04 | not_applicable |
| Level of federal spending | Cut federal spending $1.5 billion below fiscal 1932 and reorganize the executive branch | pledge_forward | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Balancing the federal budget | A balanced budget as 'the foundation of all public and private financial stability' | defense_of_record | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-08-11 | not_applicable |
| Equal rights and opportunity for Black Americans | Maintain equal opportunity and rights for Negro citizens | pledge_forward | vague_gesture | party_platform | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Civil service and patronage | Keep the merit system 'unassailable' | pledge_forward | directional_stance | party_platform | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Federal action against organized crime and narcotics | Rigid federal penal laws against gangsters, racketeers and kidnappers; relentless war on narcotics | pledge_forward | directional_stance | party_platform | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Naval arms and disarmament | Cut world armaments by one-third through the Geneva conference while keeping forces strong enough that 'no foreign soldier will land' | pledge_forward | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Policy toward Latin America and the Western Hemisphere | Withdraw the Marines from Nicaragua after the 1932 election and from Haiti under the Forbes Commission plan; 'no imperialistic ambitions' | defense_of_record | specific_pledge | party_platform | A | 1932-06-14 | kept |
| Adherence to the World Court | Join the World Court with reservations; make the Kellogg-Briand Pact an instrument for consultation — but no commitments to use force | pledge_forward | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| International economic and monetary conferences | A world economic conference on monetary stabilization and trade, with an agricultural representative | pledge_forward | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| European war debts and reparations | The 1931 German moratorium and standstill agreements stemmed European collapse and will be built upon | defense_of_record | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-08-11 | superseded |
| Non-recognition of territorial gains by aggression (Stimson Doctrine) | Never recognize territory gained in violation of the peace pacts (the Stimson Doctrine) | defense_of_record | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-08-11 | kept |
| European war debts and reparations | No cancellation of war debts; apply any annual payment to opening foreign markets for American farm products | pledge_forward | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-08-11 | not_applicable |
| Philippine independence | Gradual Philippine independence — economic independence first, with duty-free sugar cut from 600,000 tons downward every year | pledge_forward | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-11-07 | blocked |
| Child welfare and schooling | Federal aid to states for child protection and health; continued White House conferences on children, homes and illiteracy | pledge_forward | directional_stance | candidate_direct | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Public ownership of electric power | Federal regulation of interstate power; opposition to government operation of the power business | pledge_forward | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Conservation of natural resources | Conserve natural resources, including antitrust revision to end waste in oil, coal and timber | pledge_forward | directional_stance | candidate_direct | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Overall role and scale of the federal government | Preserve 'ordered freedom' and equality of opportunity; reject a state-controlled or state-directed economy as 'tyranny' | pledge_forward | directional_stance | candidate_direct | A | 1932-08-11 | not_applicable |
| Independence of the Supreme Court | Preserve the independence of the Supreme Court from party control | pledge_forward | directional_stance | candidate_direct | A | 1932-10-28 | not_applicable |
| Restriction of immigration | Continue the executive order practically prohibiting immigration except relatives of residents | defense_of_record | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Public works as employment policy | Ratify the St. Lawrence seaway treaty and complete the inland waterway system | pledge_forward | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Public works as employment policy | Federal construction at three times normal and $1.5 billion of RFC loans for self-liquidating works — but no pork-barrel or non-productive projects | defense_of_record | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-08-11 | not_applicable |
| Right to organize and bargain collectively | Collective bargaining by representatives of the employees' own choice, 'without the interference of any one' | pledge_forward | directional_stance | party_platform | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Public employment offices | Commend and continue the enlarged United States Employment Service | defense_of_record | directional_stance | party_platform | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Maintenance of wage levels in depression | Uphold wages and spread work by voluntary agreement of employers and labor; shorter hours in government service | defense_of_record | directional_stance | candidate_direct | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Gold standard and currency basis | Hold the gold standard and the 'honest dollar'; no fiat money, no 'rubber dollar' price-fixing | pledge_forward | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| National Prohibition | Resubmit the Eighteenth Amendment so each state may decide, with constitutional guarantees against the saloon and against interference with dry states; enforce the law meanwhile | pledge_forward | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-06-14 | superseded |
| Federal responsibility for relief | Relief through voluntary mobilization and local responsibility, with RFC loans to exhausted states — no federal dole | defense_of_record | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-08-11 | not_applicable |
| Local government consolidation and the tax burden on land | A national review of federal-state-local taxation to relieve farms and homes of property taxes | pledge_forward | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Tariff levels | Preserve the bipartisan Tariff Commission's flexible power to adjust rates without congressional log-rolling | defense_of_record | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Tariff levels | Unconditional most-favored-nation treatment; no reciprocal bargains or preferences | pledge_forward | specific_pledge | party_platform | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Tariff levels | Maintain — and if necessary widen — the protective tariff; reject the Democratic 'competitive tariff for revenue' | pledge_forward | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Railroad regulation and consolidation | Revise the railway transportation laws for stability, while RFC loans avert receiverships | pledge_forward | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Benefits for disabled and service-connected veterans | Full relief for service-disabled veterans and dependents; review existing veterans' laws to remove inequalities and effect economies | pledge_forward | directional_stance | party_platform | A | 1932-06-14 | not_applicable |
| Veterans' bonus and benefits | Oppose cash prepayment of the veterans' bonus, especially by fiat money | pledge_forward | specific_pledge | candidate_direct | A | 1932-10-04 | not_applicable |