U.S. presidential election, 1936

[A18]

No hindsight.

The election of 1936 pitted Democratic incumbent Franklin Roosevelt against Alf Landon of the Republican Party.

The New Deal dominated the campaign. Democrats praised it, and Republicans condemned it.

Landon himself supported much of the New Deal, and focused his criticism on waste, inefficiency, and an anti-business philosophy, which he claimed were impeding recovery. In his last campaign tour, however, he blasted Roosevelt for violating the Constitution and declared the election a struggle to save the American form of government. This sudden attack on New Deal programs themselves likely blurred his image among voters, and weakened his credibility.

Roosevelt asserted that it was his programs that saved the American institutions of private property and free enterprise, rescuing them from the disastrous Hoover administration. He won the endorsement of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, signifying a decisive shift of the black vote from the Republican column to that of the Democrats.

The Republican platform proposed that federal recovery programs be turned over to the states, and called for a balanced budget. The Democratic platform mostly just praised the New Deal.

[A18]

So how do you explain that the number of jobs in America increased over 60% under the FDR adminstration?

Obviously, the government was hiring more people. When, for example, the United States had to establish a large army to fight World War II, a lot of people got new jobs in the military.

But living standards remained low until the post-war return to free market activity.

The relevant point is that the country was much better off in 1945 than 1933.

Correct. FDR died in 1945, whereas he took office in 1933.

[A18]

I could have sworn I posted that, like, five times before.

[A18]

I recall doing a mock election for 1964 on this forum.  Would anyone be interested in repeating the same idea for 1936? Or any other year, for that matter?

We had an official mock election for 2004, on the site. It worked a lot better, and got way more votes.

Maybe we could get Dave to do a retro mock election?

[A18]

Alright, anyone who wants a retro mock election, see here:
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=32905