Hoover

[zachman]

Why did Herbert Hoover earn the repubican nomination in 1932? Was he opposed by another Republican?

[© Tweed the Younger]

Well, he got the GOP nomination, but he didn't 'earn' it.

I'm not sure if he was unopposed or not.

[zachman]

When did popular primaries come for the Democrats and the Republican nominations? I know Roosevelt did well with them in 1912, but the system wasn't entirely primaries.

[dazzleman]

I don't think primaries played the dominant role in the nomination process until after 1968.

Before that, there were "real" conventions, which were much more suspenseful because the outcome was in doubt until the end.  There were often numerous ballots before a particular candidate received enough delegate votes to clinch the nomination.

The hunt for additional delegates often involved back-room deals made in "smoke-filled" rooms.  It is this type of deal that led to Franklin Roosevelt's nomination by the Democrats after a number of unsuccessful ballots.  He picked up key support by abandoning his support for the League of Nations.

A back-room deal also led to Harry Truman being nominated as Vice President in 1944, and Henry Wallace being dumped.  This was a pivotal event since Truman rather than Wallace went on to become president, and Wallace probably would have been a dupe of the Soviet Union.

I don't know much about the 1932 election other than that Roosevelt won.  I imagine in those days, a sitting president controlled the party machinery, and had pretty tight control over his own renomination.

The process is now more democratic, but the major flaw in it is that voters on the fringe of each party effectively pick the candidate, which can have the effect of making that candidate less appealing in a general election.

[MarkDel]

Zachman,

Hoover got the nomination because the primary system was not yet a major factor. The nominee was determined almost exclusively at the National Convention, and in this case, Hoover was the sitting President from a party which had DOMINATED the political fortunes in the 1920's, so they were a bit over-confident. Polling data was almost non-existent at that point, and Republicans had little idea how much trouble they were in..though in hindsight, they clearly could have seen the handwriting on the wall.

[muon2]

Well, he got the GOP nomination, but he didn't 'earn' it.

I'm not sure if he was unopposed or not.

Hoover was unopposed in 1932, there were only 4 votes cast against him at the convention. However, it was more the case that no one wanted to run as a Republican that year. Most everyone could clearly see the writing on the wall.

Roosevelt did have a majority of Democratic delegates in part due to success in those states that had primaries. The Democrats required a 2/3 majority rule back then, so FDR could not get a first-ballot nomination. Some suggest that the move to name Garner of Texas as VP secured his nomination (4th ballot).

[JohnFKennedy]

http://politicalgraveyard.com/parties/R/1932/index.html good site for listing info on the conventions, doesn't list any other candidates for that year so i would assume he was unopposed.

[PBrunsel]

In 1932, the Republicans had a small "Draft Coolidge" movement. Calvin Collidge would not have anything of it. In January 1932 a man said to Coolidge, "Mr. Coolidge, if you were president it would be the end of this Depression." "And the begining of mine," Coolidge told him.

[© Tweed the Younger]

When did popular primaries come for the Democrats and the Republican nominations? I know Roosevelt did well with them in 1912, but the system wasn't entirely primaries.

Robert LaFollette invented them.

The Wisconsin Idea!

[dunn]

When did popular primaries come for the Democrats and the Republican nominations? I know Roosevelt did well with them in 1912, but the system wasn't entirely primaries.

Robert LaFollette invented them.

The Wisconsin Idea!

yup
in 1912 republican primeries

[angus]

Hoover is a brand name for something that sucks very hard.

I believe this may be coincidental.

[PBrunsel]

Hoover is a brand name for something that sucks very hard.

I believe this may be coincidental.

Hoover was a great man.

[zachman]

I don't have the Atlas so I don't have county maps for the 1932 election. I would like to see what the Virginia 1932 state map looks like. Does anybody have this?

[dunn]

I don't have the Atlas so I don't have county maps for the 1932 election. I would like to see what the Virginia 1932 state map looks like. Does anybody have this?

there is no county map for 1932 VA

[The Duke]

Hoover was a great man.

Not really.  He was a lame President who did almost nothing to alleviate the depression (although I certainly do not blame him for causing it).  He was a terrible ex-President, constantly criticising his succesors.  Why is it that in the 20th Century, it seems only crummy Presidents attacked their succesors (Hoover, Carter, etc.) while good leaders whose advice we could have used like Eisenower, Reagan and Truman stayed quiet?

[© Tweed the Younger]

Hoover was a good guy..just a bad president.  He was a self made millionaire and did good work in the FA (or whatever it was.)  But he was a BAD president.

[PBrunsel]

Herbert Hoover was a big hearted man who was always open to help the poor and weak. He is known as "The Great Humanitarian" and "The Defender of Innocent Children." He fed millions of Bulgarian Children in the CRB Relief Program. He said "Damn the fortune," and went off to help children. Does this sound like a bad man?

Durring the depression Hoover started the Farm Board to help farmers. He started the Federal Reconstruction and Finance Comitee to make sure that men like Henry Ford did not lower workers wages. He encouraged the Red Cross to feed the starving and even donated his own money to their cause.

In 1932 two children from Detroit had hitchiked to Washington to get their father out of prison. Their father had been arrested because he couldn't pay his mortgage. Hoover was so touched by the boy's treck that he freed their father, payed their mortgage, and gave them some money to help them get food and clothing. This man was a caring, big hearted, warm, and great person.

We in America today overlook the great man Herbert Hoover was because we are too blind to see that this man, born in a three room house in West Branch, Iowa, is one of the greatest men whoever lived in the United States.

Herbert Hoover was a great ex-President. He helped feed millions of Finnish people, out of his own pocket, when the Soviet-Finnish War broke out. After World War II Hoover's humanitarian work was not over. Prtesident Truman sent him on a mission to feed Europe. He was able to save millions, if not hundreds of milllions, of Eurpeans from starving to death. After JFK was shot, Hoover sent a telegraph to LBJ saying, "I am open from any job from Presidential advisor to Senate page boy." Hoover wanted to help Johnson in this moment of crisis.

In 1953 Hoover was appointed by President Eisenhower to reorganize the executive branch. The "Hoover Commison" saved taxpayers millions by trimming the Federal Government.

Herbert Hoover sadly died in 1964. The entire nation greived the death of a man who had been such a philanthropist that he was hated. The nation cried and wept for a man who had lived the American Dream. It is Hoover who should be honored, and not insulted.

[The Duke]

I'm sold.  You convinced me that Hoover was a good guy.  I had never heard any of that philanthropy stuff.  He always gets portrayed as someone who snidely ran around giving lectures about how he was right all along, and these New Dealers were wrong.  Must be the bias of historians (which tends to be liberal).

I still think he should have been less vocal in criticism of his succeesors, tough, and he was not very effective as President.