Hoover took some actions like funding construction projects and establishing the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to provide credit to businesses, but his primary strategy relied on voluntary cooperation and he was seen as uncaring towards widespread suffering. FDR appealed to voters with his promise of a "New Deal" and large-scale government action to solve problems like the Depression in contrast to Hoover's philosophy. Roosevelt won in a landslide, marking a turning point where the government took a more active role in the economy and society.

1. +
15.4:
The Election of 1932
pp. 524-529

2. +
15.4:
The Election of 1932
 Key Terms:
 Hawley-Smoot Tariff
 Bonus Army
 Key Questions:
 #1) How did Hoover attempt to end the Depression & its hardships?
 #2) Describe FDR’s appeal to voters in 1932.
 #3) Why was the election of 1932 a significant turning point in American
politics?

3. +
1932 Campaign Songs
 Roosevelt—”Happy Days Are
Here Again!”
“Happy days are here again,
The skies above are clear again
Let us sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are her again.”
 Hoover—”Brother Can You
Spare a Dime?”
“Once I built a railroad
I made it run
Made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad
Now it’s done
Brother, can you spare a dime?”

4. +
Hoover’s Limited Strategy
 The key to recovery was confidence
 Depression was due to problems “beyond our control” &
conditions would improve soon
 Hoover banked on voluntary action
 Republicans took a beating in 1930 mid-term elections
 By 1931 many companies were cutting wages
 People started to blame Hoover for misery
 Hoover was forced to take action

5. +
The Government Acts
 Funded dams, roads, buildings, parks, etc.
 Construction began on Boulder Dam (later Hoover Dam) in 1930
 Congress passed Hawley-Smoot tariff in 1930
 Highest import tax in history
 Hoped to protect domestic industries from imports, but backfired as
European countries also raised their tariffs
 International trade stalled & European economies weakened
 Est. Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) in 1932
 Gave gov’t credit to industries, RRs, insurance companies, banks, etc.
 Idea was that prosperity at the top would help the economy as a
whole
 Resented b/c seemed like gov’t helped bankers & big business
leaders while others were hungry

6. Hoover Dam today

7. +
Hoover’s Unpopularity Grows
 Hoover insisted that state & local gov’ts could
handle relief
 Didn’t want too much gov’t bureaucracy
 Seemed cold-hearted
 People went hungry as newspapers showed
Hoover feeding his dog
 More Americans started buying into ideas of
John Maynard Keynes (Brit. economist) ideas
 Massive gov’t spending would help collapsing
economy & encourage more private spending

8. +
Veterans March on Washington
 Hoover’s low point
 Jobless WWI vets & families camped out in Washington, DC;
40K+ in #
 Nicknamed Bonus Army
 Wanted immediate payment of pension bonus (not supposed to
get it until 1945)
 Rejected by Senate (controlled by GOP)
 Thousands of the of the Bonus campers stayed put in their
shacks
 Hoover called in the army
 Led by Douglas MacArthur to clear out Pennsylvania Ave
 MacArthur used tanks & guns against bricks & stones
 1K+ inured, 4 killed; Bonus Army shoved out of Washington

10. +
A “New Deal”
 “I pledge myself to a new deal for the American people.”—FDR @
Democratic National Convention in Chicago in July 1932
 FDR’s Bio
 Born in 1882
 Graduated from Harvard
 NY State Senate
 Assistant Secretary of the Navy under Wilson
 Ran as VP in ’20, but lost
 Struck w/ polio in ’21; spent much of ‘20s recovering @ Warm Springs, GA
 Governor of NY, 1929-1932
 Wealthy background, but concern for ordinary people
 Eleanor’s bio
 Niece of TR & distant cousin to FDR
 Very active politically—gov’t reform, birth control, better work conditions for women

12. +
The Election of 1932
 “This campaign is more than a
contest between two men…It
is a contest between two
philosophies of
government.”—Hoover,
October 1932
 Hoover on the Democratic
platform if its ideas were
adopted,“this will not be the
America which we have known
in the past.”
 *See sidebar on p. 528
 FDR called for a “reappraisal
of values” and controls on big
business
 Contrast of ideologies
 Gov’t should NOT fix people’s
problems vs. large-scale
problems, like the Depression,
required gov’t help

13. +
Election of 1932
 Roosevelt wins easily
 Wins by 7 million popular
votes & 400+ electoral votes
 Supporters: urban workers,
coal miners, immigrants of
Catholic & Jewish descent
 Roosevelt on inauguration day,
“This nation asks for action
and action now.”
 Sweeping changes would soon
come
 “So first of all let me assert my
firm belief that the only thing
we have to fear is fear itself.”

15. +
15.4:
The Election of 1932
 Key Terms:
 Hawley-Smoot Tariff
 Bonus Army
 Key Questions:
 #1) How did Hoover attempt to end the Depression & its hardships?
 #2) Describe FDR’s appeal to voters in 1932.
 #3) Why was the election of 1932 a significant turning point in American
politics?