The Presidential Election 1932

The prosperity of the 1920s ended abruptly on 29 October 1929 when the stock market crash obliterated the savings and confidence of millions of Americans. As the 1932 campaign approached the Republicans met in a joyless convention in Philadelphia – only a miracle could stave off Hoover’s defeat, and the Republicans knew it. The Democrats met in a hopeful, suspense-filled convention in Chicago where they selected Franklin Delano Roosevelt, born into a wealthy New York family, educated at Groton Academy and Harvard. His running mate was leading Southern conservative, the Speaker of the House, John Nance Garner. On election day the American people were eager not so much to vote for Roosevelt, but to vent their frustrations against Hoover. The outcome was a landslide for Roosevelt.