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.

New federal activities only when legalized by constitutional amendment -- 'the horse and buggy method' — Frank Knox, 1936

Similar by solution solution · rationale

Score	Cycle	Candidate	Issue	Position
0.69	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	National Prohibition	Repeal the Eighteenth Amendment by state conventions; legalize beer now; states control liquor and bar the saloon
0.67	1932	Herbert Hoover	National Prohibition	Resubmit the Eighteenth Amendment so each state may decide, with constitutional guarantees against the saloon and against interference with dry states; enforce the law meanwhile
0.66	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
0.64	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
0.61	1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Amending the Constitution to enlarge (or restrain) federal power	Meet constitutional obstacles by 'clarifying amendment' -- and say nothing about the Supreme Court
0.61	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
0.58	1932	Albert C. Ritchie	National Prohibition	Repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment as a matter of states' rights
0.55	1936	Alf Landon	Unemployment insurance	Leave unemployment insurance to State experiment; no federal tax to compel it
0.55	1932	Herbert Hoover	Regulation of securities issuance and exchanges	No federal 'blue sky' law — securities regulation belongs to the states, and the President should not police booms
0.53	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
0.52	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'
0.51	1932	Alfred E. Smith	National Prohibition	Outright repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment — the issue Roosevelt was downplaying
0.50	1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Civil service and patronage	Immediately extend the merit system to all non-policy-making federal positions
0.49	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
0.49	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Unemployment insurance	Unemployment insurance under state laws
0.49	1932	Norman Thomas	National Prohibition	Repeal the Eighteenth Amendment — the candidate preferring a binding national referendum
0.45	1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Working hours and labor standards	Revive the NRA's principles 'by one device or another' (imputed; the President would not say)
0.45	1932	Herbert Hoover	Adherence to the World Court	Join the World Court with reservations; make the Kellogg-Briand Pact an instrument for consultation — but no commitments to use force
0.45	1932	Herbert Hoover	Public employment offices	Commend and continue the enlarged United States Employment Service
0.45	1932	Herbert Hoover	Farm and home mortgage relief	Reorganize and enlarge the Federal Land Banks to refinance farm mortgages; curb Joint Stock Land Bank abuses
0.45	1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Overall role and scale of the federal government	An "economic declaration of rights" — the right to make a living and the right to safe savings
0.45	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
0.45	1932	Herbert Hoover	Public ownership of electric power	Federal regulation of interstate power; opposition to government operation of the power business
0.44	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
0.44	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