Worse election defeat

[jaichind]

I say the GOP 1932 election.  The reason is the CON defeat in 1997 did not stop the CON from doing well in various local elections as well as the EU elections right after 1997. Whereas the GOP after 1932 kept on losing ground in Congressional, Governor and state legislative elections up until 1938 when things started to turn around.

[jaichind]

Tories were out for 13 years and you can argue that the GOP would have won in 1940 if not for WW2 .

The US wasn't in the war in 1940

Most polling showed that before the Fall of France in June 1940 FDR would have lost an attempt at a third term.  The polling turned after June 1940 when foreign policy became paramount due to events in Europe and it was thought that FDR was a steady hand at US foreign policy.