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 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Civil service and patronage | Keep the merit system 'unassailable' |
| 0.36 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Restriction of immigration | Continue the executive order practically prohibiting immigration except relatives of residents |
| 0.35 | 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 |
| 0.33 | 1932 | Norman Thomas | Public works as employment policy | A $5 billion federal public-works program — roads, reforestation, slum clearance, workers' housing — and idle factories and land turned over to the unemployed |
| 0.30 | 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 |
| 0.29 | 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 |
| 0.28 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Right to organize and bargain collectively | Labor's right to organize in any union it prefers, free from coercion by employer, fellow employee or anyone else; organizers' lawful activity protected |
| 0.28 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Child labor | No return to sweatshops or children working in factories |
| 0.28 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Public employment offices | A federally coordinated system of state employment offices (the vetoed Wagner bill) |
| 0.28 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Level of federal spending | Reduce the expenses of government as relief needs decline |
| 0.27 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Direct relief for the unemployed | Provide useful work at prevailing wages for the needy unemployed rather than a dole |
| 0.26 | 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 |
| 0.26 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Reorganization of the executive branch | Cooperate with Congress to reorganize agencies, abolish unnecessary ones and eliminate duplication |
| 0.25 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Public works as employment policy | Public works spending is only a stopgap, not a cure for unemployment |
| 0.25 | 1936 | Alf Landon | European war debts and reparations | Use every effort to collect the war debts due from foreign countries |
| 0.24 | 1932 | Norman Thomas | Federal responsibility for relief | A $5 billion federal appropriation for immediate relief of those in need |
| 0.24 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Benefits for disabled and service-connected veterans | Full relief for service-disabled veterans and dependents; review existing veterans' laws to remove inequalities and effect economies |
| 0.24 | 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' |
| 0.24 | 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) |
| 0.24 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Benefits for disabled and service-connected veterans | Continue just treatment of war veterans and dependents |
| 0.22 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Naval arms and disarmament | Cut world armaments by one-third through the Geneva conference while keeping forces strong enough that 'no foreign soldier will land' |
| 0.22 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Working hours and labor standards | Shorter hours, higher wages, end child labor and sweatshops |
| 0.21 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Farm prices and agricultural surplus | Restore purchasing power to the farming half of the nation |
| 0.21 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Regulation of banks and securities | Reform the banking laws; stop credit flowing to speculation; relieve depositors of closed banks |
| 0.21 | 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' |