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 |
|---|
| 0.50 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Regulation of banks and securities | Separate investment banking from commercial banks; tighter national-bank supervision; faster payouts to depositors of closed banks |
| 0.49 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | European war debts and reparations | No cancellation of war debts; apply any annual payment to opening foreign markets for American farm products |
| 0.49 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Gold standard and currency basis | A permanently sound currency stabilized against wide fluctuations |
| 0.47 | 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 |
| 0.46 | 1932 | Alfred E. Smith | European war debts and reparations | A twenty-year moratorium on the war debts, writing them off in proportion to each nation's purchases of American goods |
| 0.45 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Balancing the federal budget | Balance the budget by cutting expenditures, not by raising taxes |
| 0.45 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | European war debts and reparations | No cancellation of the war debts — make payment possible by restoring trade |
| 0.43 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Tariff levels | Maintain — and if necessary widen — the protective tariff; reject the Democratic 'competitive tariff for revenue' |
| 0.43 | 1932 | Norman Thomas | European war debts and reparations | Cancel the war debts (against cancellation of reparations) and raze the tariff wall |
| 0.43 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Regulation of banks and securities | Reform the banking laws; stop credit flowing to speculation; relieve depositors of closed banks |
| 0.42 | 1932 | Norman Thomas | Working hours and labor standards | The six-hour day and five-day week without reduction in wages |
| 0.42 | 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 |
| 0.42 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | International economic and monetary conferences | A world economic conference on monetary stabilization and trade, with an agricultural representative |
| 0.42 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Public works as employment policy | Federal construction at three times normal and $1.5 billion of RFC loans for self-liquidating works — but no pork-barrel or non-productive projects |
| 0.40 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Veterans' bonus and benefits | No early payment of the veterans' bonus until the budget is balanced with a cash surplus |
| 0.40 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Income and inheritance tax progressivity | Raise revenue by graduated income, inheritance and profits taxes, not taxes on necessities |
| 0.40 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Railroad regulation and consolidation | Six-point railroad program — conditional federal support, receivership reform, ICC regulation of trucks and holding companies, consolidation |
| 0.39 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Balancing the federal budget | Balance the federal budget annually within revenues |
| 0.39 | 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) |
| 0.39 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | European war debts and reparations | The 1931 German moratorium and standstill agreements stemmed European collapse and will be built upon |
| 0.39 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Gold standard and currency basis | Sound currency 'at all hazards'; no further devaluation; repeal the laws delegating the money power to the Executive |
| 0.39 | 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 |
| 0.38 | 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 |
| 0.38 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Balancing the federal budget | A balanced budget as 'the foundation of all public and private financial stability' |
| 0.38 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Tariff levels | Revise the tariff downward through reciprocal trade agreements |