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1932 · election 1932-11-08

Fought in the third year of the Depression with unemployment near 25%. Hoover ran on his record (RFC, moratorium, public works, tariff) and warned that Roosevelt's program would deepen the collapse; Roosevelt ran on a "new deal" whose specifics were deliberately elastic, combining orthodox pledges (balanced budget, sound currency, 25% spending cut) with promises of relief, farm price support, public power, securities regulation and repeal. Roosevelt won 472–59 in the Electoral College and 57.4% of the popular vote; Norman Thomas polled 2.2%.

Context

• National Prohibition 1920-01-17 – 1933-12-05 — 18th Amendment in force; repeal a major 1932 issue.
• The Great Depression 1929-10-24 – 1941-12-07 — Economic collapse following the 1929 crash; ~25% unemployment by 1933.
• Dust Bowl 1930-01-01 – 1940-12-31 — Prolonged drought and soil erosion across the Plains.
• Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act 1930-06-17 — Raised US tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods; widely blamed for deepening the Depression.
• Banking panics of 1930–1933 1930-11-01 – 1933-03-06 — Successive waves of bank failures culminating in the March 1933 bank holiday.
• European war-debt crisis 1931-06-20 – 1934-06-15 — Hoover moratorium (1931), Lausanne conference (1932), general default by 1934.
• Japanese invasion of Manchuria 1931-09-18 – 1932-02-18 — Prompted the Stimson Doctrine of non-recognition.
• Bonus Army march and eviction 1932-05-01 – 1932-07-28 — WWI veterans camped in Washington demanding early bonus payment; evicted by the Army under Hoover's orders.

Candidates