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 |
|---|
| 0.40 | 1936 | Frank Knox | Overall role and scale of the federal government | Fair, honest, economical and efficient government; preserve free enterprise against 'amateur economic planners' |
| 0.39 | 1932 | Newton D. Baker | European war debts and reparations | Entry into the World Court and cancellation of the war debts (the record that made him 'politically unpopular') |
| 0.37 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Level of federal spending | Defense of the eight-billion-dollar deficit as an investment in America |
| 0.31 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Tariff levels | Protect the farmer against imports of livestock, dairy and farm products; keep non-competing goods on the free list |
| 0.31 | 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' |
| 0.29 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Veterans' bonus and benefits | Oppose cash prepayment of the veterans' bonus, especially by fiat money |
| 0.27 | 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 |
| 0.27 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Level of federal spending | Cut federal spending $1.5 billion below fiscal 1932 and reorganize the executive branch |
| 0.26 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Veterans' bonus and benefits | No early payment of the veterans' bonus until the budget is balanced with a cash surplus |
| 0.25 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Federal action against organized crime and narcotics | Rigid federal penal laws against gangsters, racketeers and kidnappers; relentless war on narcotics |
| 0.24 | 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 |
| 0.24 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Balancing the federal budget | Balance the federal budget annually within revenues |
| 0.24 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Tariff levels | Maintain — and if necessary widen — the protective tariff; reject the Democratic 'competitive tariff for revenue' |
| 0.23 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Policy toward Latin America and the Western Hemisphere | Non-interference in other nations' affairs and cooperation with Western Hemisphere nations |
| 0.23 | 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) |
| 0.23 | 1936 | Earl Browder | Communism, radicalism and "alien isms" as a political issue | Popular Front: nominal opposition to Roosevelt, real opposition to Landon and 'fascism' |
| 0.23 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Income and inheritance tax progressivity | Taxes levied according to ability to pay; lower taxes for 99 percent, higher at the top |
| 0.22 | 1932 | Alfred E. Smith | National Prohibition | Outright repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment — the issue Roosevelt was downplaying |
| 0.22 | 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 |
| 0.22 | 1936 | Norman Thomas | Communism, radicalism and "alien isms" as a political issue | Keep the Socialist vote independent; chide the La Follettes for handing Roosevelt 'everything on a silver platter' |
| 0.21 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Balancing the federal budget | Balance the budget within a year or two out of rising national income, without new taxes |
| 0.21 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Federal responsibility for relief | Federal leadership in distress relief — federal credit to states whose resources are exhausted |
| 0.20 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | 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 |
| 0.20 | 1932 | Norman Thomas | Equal rights and opportunity for Black Americans | Economic, political and legal equality for the Negro; a federal anti-lynching law; enforce the First Amendment |
| 0.20 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Antitrust and concentration of economic power | Vigorously enforce the antitrust laws and restore their efficacy against new corporate devices |