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 |
|---|
| 0.36 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Civil service and patronage | Immediately extend the merit system to all non-policy-making federal positions |
| 0.33 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Civil service and patronage | Restore, improve and extend the merit system 'virtually destroyed by New Deal spoilsmen' |
| 0.32 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Teachers' loyalty oaths and academic freedom | No loyalty oath for teachers that is not required of all citizens |
| 0.32 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Neutrality, arms embargoes and staying out of foreign wars | Promote peace by all honorable means; no League, no World Court, no plan that could involve the U.S. in a war it had no part in beginning |
| 0.32 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Equal rights and opportunity for Black Americans | Maintain equal opportunity and rights for Negro citizens |
| 0.31 | 1936 | Frank Knox | How to finance old-age and unemployment insurance (contributory reserve vs. pay-as-you-go) | The Social Security Act is 'unworkable and unsound' -- 'lip service to security'; a Republican administration would offer its own legislation |
| 0.30 | 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' |
| 0.30 | 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 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Overall role and scale of the federal government | Restore confidence by 'unshackling initiative': steady, open, non-partisan administration that stops 'fumbling with recovery' |
| 0.29 | 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 |
| 0.28 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Independence of the Supreme Court | Preserve the independence of the Supreme Court from party control |
| 0.27 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Reorganization of the executive branch | A long-range plan consolidating the federal government's scattered public-health and welfare agencies |
| 0.27 | 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 |
| 0.26 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Federal youth work and education programs (CCC, NYA) | Continue the Civilian Conservation Corps, add education fitting enrollees for private jobs, and take the politicians out of its administration |
| 0.26 | 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 |
| 0.26 | 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' |
| 0.26 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Reorganization of the executive branch | Cooperate with Congress to reorganize agencies, abolish unnecessary ones and eliminate duplication |
| 0.25 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Regulation of securities issuance and exchanges | Keep federal regulation of securities marketing and interstate utilities, vested in independent tribunals under definite standards subject to court review |
| 0.25 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Balancing the federal budget | A balanced budget as 'the foundation of all public and private financial stability' |
| 0.25 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Child welfare and schooling | Maintain the Children's Bureau; keep children in school to sixteen; expand vocational education |
| 0.25 | 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 |
| 0.24 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Equal rights and opportunity for Black Americans | Equal opportunity for colored citizens: protect their economic status and personal safety; further their employment |
| 0.24 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Housing and slum clearance | Slum clearance and modern housing for the urban poor as a "human necessity" among public works |
| 0.24 | 1936 | Frank Knox | Overall role and scale of the federal government | Fair, honest, economical and efficient government; preserve free enterprise against 'amateur economic planners' |
| 0.23 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Child welfare and schooling | Federal aid to states for child protection and health; continued White House conferences on children, homes and illiteracy |