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 |
|---|
| 0.48 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Philippine independence | Gradual Philippine independence — economic independence first, with duty-free sugar cut from 600,000 tons downward every year |
| 0.41 | 1932 | Norman Thomas | League of Nations and international organizations | Join the League and World Court; lead general disarmament; free the Philippines; withdraw from Nicaragua, Haiti and China; recognize the Soviet Union |
| 0.37 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Amending the Constitution to enlarge (or restrain) federal power | Wages, hours and child labor by State law and interstate compact -- and a constitutional amendment giving the States power if the courts forbid |
| 0.37 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | 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' |
| 0.37 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Local government consolidation and the tax burden on land | Presidential leadership to consolidate local governments and lift the tax burden on land |
| 0.35 | 1932 | Albert C. Ritchie | National Prohibition | Repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment as a matter of states' rights |
| 0.35 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Federal responsibility for relief | Relief through voluntary mobilization and local responsibility, with RFC loans to exhausted states — no federal dole |
| 0.35 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | 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 |
| 0.34 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Politics and patronage in relief administration | Relief will continue, but purged of politics, administered locally on merit, with economies taken from 'the political exploiters' |
| 0.33 | 1932 | Norman Thomas | National Prohibition | Repeal the Eighteenth Amendment — the candidate preferring a binding national referendum |
| 0.32 | 1932 | Norman Thomas | Independence of the Supreme Court | A Workers' Rights Amendment; curb the Supreme Court's power over Congress; proportional representation; direct election of the President |
| 0.32 | 1932 | Albert C. Ritchie | Federal responsibility for relief | States' rights and business-led recovery — no federal intervention in relief |
| 0.32 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Concentrated economic power vs. the average citizen (rhetorical framing) | Take power from the 'economic royalists': the mandate of 1932 is to end economic tyranny |
| 0.31 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Conservation of natural resources | Real soil conservation and a national land-use and flood-prevention program run with the States and 'out of politics' |
| 0.31 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Regulation of utility rates and holding companies | Eight-point federal utility program: publicity, Federal Power Commission control of holding companies, prudent-investment rate base |
| 0.31 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Reorganization of the executive branch | Cooperate with Congress to reorganize agencies, abolish unnecessary ones and eliminate duplication |
| 0.30 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Public works as employment policy | Ratify the St. Lawrence seaway treaty and complete the inland waterway system |
| 0.30 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Antitrust and concentration of economic power | Use the full power of the federal government to break up private monopolies and enforce the antitrust laws 'without fear or favor' |
| 0.30 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Policy toward Latin America and the Western Hemisphere | Non-interference in other nations' affairs and cooperation with Western Hemisphere nations |
| 0.30 | 1936 | William Lemke | Minimum wages | A 'living annual wage' -- $1,800 for a family of five -- by federal law and a constitutional amendment if necessary |
| 0.30 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Public ownership of electric power | The next federal hydro-electric development will be on the Columbia River |
| 0.30 | 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' |
| 0.29 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Overall role and scale of the federal government | Government as a check on concentrated economic power — "individualism" redefined as equality of opportunity |
| 0.29 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Public ownership of electric power | Federal regulation of interstate power; opposition to government operation of the power business |
| 0.29 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Public employment offices | A federally coordinated system of state employment offices (the vetoed Wagner bill) |