Work in progress — cycles are added one at a time. Every quote is machine-verified against an archived source; follow the links to read it.
| Score | Cycle | Candidate | Issue | Position |
|---|
| 0.57 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Regulation of securities issuance and exchanges | No federal 'blue sky' law — securities regulation belongs to the states, and the President should not police booms |
| 0.51 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Working hours and labor standards | Revive the NRA's principles 'by one device or another' (imputed; the President would not say) |
| 0.49 | 1932 | Albert C. Ritchie | Federal responsibility for relief | States' rights and business-led recovery — no federal intervention in relief |
| 0.48 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Public ownership of electric power | Federal regulation of interstate power; opposition to government operation of the power business |
| 0.48 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Independence of the Supreme Court | An independent Supreme Court secure from executive or legislative invasion; maintain the balance between States and nation |
| 0.47 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Unemployment insurance | Unemployment insurance under state laws |
| 0.47 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Public works as employment policy | 'Employment for all surplus labor at all times' through self-liquidating public works (the Shearon letter, as Hoover read it) |
| 0.45 | 1932 | Norman Thomas | Unemployment insurance | Compulsory unemployment insurance funded by employers and by higher income and inheritance taxes |
| 0.44 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Tariff levels | Unconditional most-favored-nation treatment; no reciprocal bargains or preferences |
| 0.44 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | European war debts and reparations | No cancellation of the war debts — make payment possible by restoring trade |
| 0.44 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | National Prohibition | Repeal the Eighteenth Amendment by state conventions; legalize beer now; states control liquor and bar the saloon |
| 0.44 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Right to organize and bargain collectively | Collective bargaining by representatives of the employees' own choice, 'without the interference of any one' |
| 0.43 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Old-age pensions and social insurance | Build on the Social Security Act toward economic security for all |
| 0.43 | 1936 | Alf Landon | How to finance old-age and unemployment insurance (contributory reserve vs. pay-as-you-go) | Repeal the compulsory old-age insurance plan; pay every needy citizen over 65 a pension from a direct, widely distributed tax |
| 0.42 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Federal responsibility for relief | Relief through voluntary mobilization and local responsibility, with RFC loans to exhausted states — no federal dole |
| 0.42 | 1932 | Albert C. Ritchie | National Prohibition | Repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment as a matter of states' rights |
| 0.42 | 1936 | Alf Landon | National economic planning | End federal regimentation: no revival of NRA or AAA controls, no more emergency powers over production, wages and hours |
| 0.42 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Communism, radicalism and "alien isms" as a political issue | Repudiate Communist support; the New Deal is the answer to Communism, not its ally |
| 0.42 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | 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' |
| 0.41 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Restriction of immigration | Continue immigration restriction to protect labor, but end abuses against individual families in enforcement |
| 0.41 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | How to finance old-age and unemployment insurance (contributory reserve vs. pay-as-you-go) | Defense of the payroll-tax financing: the employer pays an equal share and the reserves are safe |
| 0.41 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Amending the Constitution to enlarge (or restrain) federal power | Meet constitutional obstacles by 'clarifying amendment' -- and say nothing about the Supreme Court |
| 0.41 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Benefits for disabled and service-connected veterans | Full justice and generosity for veterans disabled by actual wartime service — silence on the bonus |
| 0.41 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Overall role and scale of the federal government | An "economic declaration of rights" — the right to make a living and the right to safe savings |
| 0.40 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Overall role and scale of the federal government | "A new deal for the American people" — work and security through liberal, planned government action |