A political history of Herbert Hoover, 1932-1944
Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic)
Authors Keller, Michael David, 1938-
Publisher The University of Arizona.
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Download date 04/10/2021 07:19:52
Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/317901 A POIiIE IQAIi HISTORY OF HERB1RT HOOVER $, 1 932-1 944
by Hlehael David Keller
A Thesis Submitted t® the Faculty ©f the DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY Im Partial Fulfillmemt ©f the Requirements For the Degree ©f MASTER OF ARTS In the Graduate Oollege THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA ' SfAflETO BY AUTHOR
This thesis has heea smhrnitteS. im partial ftalflll- aeat ©f refmiresaemts far. &a advaaeed degree at The Wmiversity @f Arlzoaa aad is deposited im The Waiversity library t© he made available t© borrowers mider rules ©f the libraryo Brief tmetatiens from this thesis are allowable without special peralssloa, provided that accurate aekmowledgmemt of source is madeo Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the lean of the Graduate College when in his judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship o Im all other instances9 howevers permission must be obtained from the author®
s i G i n r ^
APPROVAL BY THESIS 1IRE0TOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown belows
r j * ™ j n V - — Ho Eo Bateman Professor of History AOraGEDESSMBIfS
Ike amthor wishes t© express his appreelation to Dro Russell Go Ewings, Head of the Department of History, University of Arizonas and to the faculty of the depart ment for their encouragement during the pursuit of graduate study in historyo Special thanks is given to Dr0 James Ao Beatson for his guidance and friendship® Gratitude is especially extended to Dr® H® E® Batemans, Professor of History9 whose patient guidance and keen interest con tributed immeasurably to the successful completion of this thesis®
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EIST OF RBFEREHGES oo*o...«oo.*.*.o.o11S ABSTRACT
In the period from 1932 through 1944, the Democratic
.party made use of the 11 image" of Herbert Hoover in each presidential election, regardless of who was the official Republican nominee® This thesis examines the methods em ployed by the Democrats throughout the period to keep the memory of the Hoover administration in the minds of the American voters<> Much of the use of his name was prompted by Hoover himselfo He spoke to each Republican national convention and made addresses in opposition to the Hew Deal in each campaign« This allowed the Democrats to answer his charges and rekindle the memory of economic con ditions which prevailed during the Hoover administration* The Republican party attempted to erase the memory of Hoover, but it was unsuccessful in this effort* The Demo cratic use of this "image" cannot be criticized, but the publicity campaigns against Hoover will forever color the memory of our thirty-first President*
v 0HAPTBR. I
0m ©eteiaer 24 8 192$ the steek market he gam its era she It was the begimimg #f the end of Herbert Heever's status as a popular publie figureo Soom after this event breadlines9 massive unemployment9 industrial and bank failures became the prevailing signs of the time@ The American people scon began to lock with distrust at the leader of the government and his political partyo The Democratic party had the cataclysmic event that was required for the party to emerge from the political depression they had been in since the Givil War to be come the majority partyo Although later generations would view him more kindly, Hoover, at the time, was seen by many as a heartless figures Any other man who held the office of President at this time probably would have reacted like Hoover when faced by such a calamity© Any one relying on the same theory of a benefieient capitalism would have responded similarlyo The fact remains, however, that Mr© Hoover was President at the time, and did receive much of the blame for the catastrophe© Indeed, many Republicans . 2 opposed'Hoover and. the ideas for which he stood* Hoover struggled throughout the period to explain, and sell his philosophy to his party and the American public* For the most part he was unsuccessful in this effort* How
Franklin 1 * Eoosevelt and the Bemooratio party used Hoover8s plight for political purposes in the next four Presidential elections forms the focal point of this thesis* At the time of the crash9 Roosevelt reacted more like a wealthy conservative Republican rather than a liberal politician* He was asked for his opinion of the crash of the stock market and answered that he be- ‘ 1 lieved the basic industrial conditions were sound® In the early depression years9 Roosevelt agreed with Heoverg especially with reference to relief policies® loth believed that direct relief spending by the Federal government was wrong® Reliance en state and private agencies of relief and a drastic cut in governmental expenses were at the base of the programs of both® Roosevelt s however$, believed that Hoover, was limited in his ideas and did not provide, the leadership the nation 2 ' - needed at the time®
- ' 1 ® James Mo Burns 9 Ro @ s eve It t . f he I ion and the Fox (lew York g Harcourt s, Brace and Scmpany a 1956) p p® 124® . 2o Ibidoo Po 125a ; . ' ' Hoever thought that eae of the foremost meeds of the eoumtry was a returm of eomfidemee la the eeomomle system0 For this reas©m9 he seemed far more optiaistie tham the faets warranted» She economy of the country was not moving downward at a steady pace® It sank dowm9 rose a little9 only to sink again® During these tern-. porary rises the President often assured the people that things were not too had® Many times he also claimed that the depression was over only to he promptly challenged hy events as the downward trend resumed® She lew Republic charged that this optimism of Hoover was one of the factors that made the depression inevitable® It also said that once depression had come. Hoover could not
81 defend the system with which he is identified without protecting favored classes at the expense of the dis inherited and unfortunate o81 ^ For too long Hoover tried to be optimistic® He constantly was identified with the depression and even vetoed a relief bill® He desperately wanted to be able to relieve the distress that was enveloping the country but honestly believed that income through govern mental assistance should9 and eould9 trickle down from the
3® 18H©©verts Tragedy^88 Hew Republic« 729 ©etc her 19, 19329 246= tep, not up from the bettem* This eemTletlea made He ever appear to he eolt hearted in the faee of widespread suffer A ingo After 1#38 some eritios felt the Bemoerats in
Oongress had done me better in solving the depression than the lepmblieamso lmt9 as one European observer deelaredg "the Qonstitutiom and Ameriean oonstitutional tradition have not placed in the party or. in the Congress the primary responsibility for the political guidance and initiative that are essential in times of crisis*"^
Soon after the depression struck, many books began to appear investigating Hoover8 s years in the Ear last and in high financeg accusing him of ©rimes ranging from British citizenship to cheating the Chinese govern ment e Although the Democrats did not directly use these works in the election campaignsg some of the "facts" were undoubtedly used in the pamphlets issued by the Demo cratic party during the election of 1§32c The name of Hoover became the prefix for words which came to represent various features of the depression Shanty towns where many of the poor lived were called
4o ©eorge Allen, Presidents Who Have Known Me (lew Yorks Simon and Schuster, 195©), pV 55° 5° Mario linaudi. The Hoosevelt Revolution (lew Yorks Hareourt9 Brace and Company, 1959), p° 35° H ©©trervillese11 Zewspapers msei as eevers by mem sleeping ©atside at might— when they had me memey for a roern— eame to "be kmowm as “Heever blanketSeM “Soever wagems1' were broken down ears hamled by mules, amd "Hoover flags" were empty poekets turned inside out* These were oft repeated phrases used in the period®^ All of them tended to keep before the publie the idea that Hoover was the eause of their disaster0 The ®emoeratie party was quite willing and able to use these reminders of the depression for pelitleal purposes when the need arose® When presidential eleetloms eame$, the depression was the most obvious issue in the minds of the voters and the lemeerats did all they eould to show how the Republioam administration had done little to aid the peer® The Demoerats were soon eonvineed that they eould win the eleetion for the presidemey in 1932 on this ©me issue alone® This was their primary reason for establishing a publicity bureau to take advantage of the mistakes the Republican administration was making® Even the personality of Hoover was criticized® The Hew Republic claimed that the country not only blamed
Hoover for the bad times9 but also for taking himself too
6® Arthur H® Sehlesinger* Jr®* The 0risis of the ©Id Order« 1§1@-1933 (Boston; Houghton Mifflin Oompany* 245® seriemslyo He was said t© have n® humor and *aet the least tmality of the light tomeho" The Hew Heamhlio felt 7 that the people were tired of a stolid Hoevero Hoover was mot9 however^ ready to give mp the fighto The President was putting on his armour and would
"resist change to the d e a t h , Moreover9 even in 193©$)
19319 and 19329 if Hoover had attempted to promote a Republican "new deal" to put new guides and vigor into the national economy9 it is improbable that Congress would have supported him or that the outcome of the election of 1932 would have been differento. In spite of the defeat 9 it might not have been the rout that occurred9 followed by twenty years of political disaster if Hoover had been a more effective leader,, Early in 1932 the major indices showed a slight increase and9 once again9 Hoover called it a "turn toward recovery," He praised the Reconstruction Finance ©orpora tion for having saved financial institutions. The
President now called for confidence in the future 9 declaring the government could promote confidence by reducing expenditures9 balancing the budget9 reforming the banking
To "its Sees Maine9" Hew Republic* 7 2, Septem ber 28, 19329 166, , ™ 8, "The Hoover Fairy Tale," Hew Republic, 729 August 249 19329 3©o system9 aad eo-eperatlag with ether gevenaments im eeenemie natters» His i.isillmsi©nmemt was seen t© he apparent ? as qmiekly as the IMle.es had risen they fell againo 2his was merely another temporary levelling off in the fall to the bottom of the depression* These statements of optimism were the major way Hoover honestly felt that he9 as Presidents eomld help to bring the country out of its miseryg but they backfired* Hoover's actions following the descent of the so- called “loams Expeditionary force" on Washington also brought him many denmac iat ions * Im June9 19329 this army of between twelve and fourteen thousand veterans camped at Anacosta Flats9 outside ©f Washimgtemo They were demanding passage of the Patman Bill which would have provided a bonus to them by the issuance of $294009000 in paper money* A riot occurred on July 81, which Hoover believed was getting out ©f hand* The President called on the army to control the situation* The troops, under General Douglas
Ha©Arthur9 dispersed the rioters and burned the shanty town in which they lived* Hoover justified his actions by telling the American public that the bonus army had been infiltrated by Oommumists and people with criminal records who had stirred them to violence* It is difficult to estimate how much popular support these actions cost Hoover, but much political capital wag made ©f them* fke f©rcifele evietlea wag called H®©ver8s ©peaiag move £®r re-elect lea $. "Convince the people that the B,BePe was a threat to the governmentg more decisively$, them pose as a savior after provoking eomflieto" 1®over’s opposition to the teams itselfg rather than his use of the army, probably proved more costly la terms of votes© It was another in a long list of mistakes Hoover made which the Democrats were to exploit for the next twelve years© Many critics charged that Hoover did nothing to check the depression or to solve the problems which arose in its wake© Roosevelt felt that after the crash, the President did nothing to remedy the sitmation and took the position that ©ongress eemld do nothing©^® Hoover replied that "It seems almost incredible that a man© © © weald broadcast sneh a violation of the trmth© Ihe front pages of every newspaper in the Halted States for the whole of those two years proclaimed the mmtrath of smeh statements©" Ihe President also criticized the ©engross.
9© 4s quoted in Harris G© Warrens Herbert Hoover and the Great Depressiom (Hew Yorks Oxford Waiversity Press .... 10© Samuel I© Rosemman, The Public Papers and Addresses of Pranklln 1© Roosevelt© Tol© I (Hew York§ Random House, 193B), S49=SWo wkiek had keen controlled ky the Democrats since 193©9 for 11 kleeking his plans for relieving hank depositors® ©ne writer "believed Hoover viewed himself as "the one man who was utterly and completely free of blame®®oo He.did everything in precisely the right way® His opponents did everything in precisely the wrong 1 2 way®" This was not completely accurate9 but Hoover did feel he should try and solve the problems of the country within his interpretation of the Constitution and his own personal philosophy® He believed the country had achieved it's greatness as a result of "rugged individ ual ism" ?^ and that this was the only way the country would continue to develop® When the depression struck9 he thought it would be only a temporary economic down turn much like the panics that had hit the nation in 1 9©7 and again following the end of World War I® But$, as the "temporary" downturn deepened into a serious depression he retained his reluctance to stretch the limits of
11® Harold Wolfe9 Herbert Hoovers Public Servant and Deader of the Loyal ©no©sition (Hew Yorks Sxnosition Presss 1956)» p® 299o 12® John T® Flynn# "Hoover6s Apologias An Audacious Torturing of History," Southern Review0 I (1936), 721 ® 13® For an example of Hoover's rugged individ ualism see Richard Hofstadter, Great Issues in American History® Vel® XI (Hew Yorks Vintage Books# 1958), 338= 342® federal amtfoerltyv The ©eumtry was flomderlmg and It 14 appeared the man in the White lease was at a less® The lemeerats established a publieity barearn t© exploit the situations From September9 193©g t© the convening of the Democratic national Gonvemtion on June 27
19329 under the direction of Gharles Hiehelsen, this bureau vigorously criticized the policies of the Hoover administration and in a limited degree assumed the educational function of a minority party* Michelson issued over 500 statements during this period* Many of these declarations appeared under the names of Democratic politicians* Fifty-three of their number were Senators S or Representatives* 1 These statements were just a preview of what was to take place in the following four Presidential elections* Hoover received the blame for an economic disaster which was net entirely his fault9 but he provided the issue on which the Democrats could concentrate and unite* nineteen thirty-two was a year of despair and confusion* It was also am election year* The Democratic party rejoiced in the expectation that any candidate
14* Dexter Perkins 9 The Hew Age of Franklin Hoosevelt (Ghieag© t Wmiversity of Ghieag® Press 9 1 957) s> p* 10*
15* lew York Times* February 259 19339 P* 14* ©f their party would he able to defeat HooverG They did not realize at this time, however, that the Hoover image was one they were going to he able to employ in the next four electienso President Hoover also was unaware that the Bemoerats would use his image for sueh an extended period of time0 The Bepubliean party would also spend the years from 1932 through 1944 trying to escape the terrible memory the depression and the Hoover administration had left in the minds of the American voterso throughout the period various elements of the party would attempt to destroy the view that theirs was the "depression party@ V B A S T m II
M l 0P1MHG S©Wllg M l 1932 O&MPAICT
By 1932 the ee®m©mic eellapse had created a situ ation ia which, evem a m#derately eempeteat publicity campaign against the Republicans would have been effective :®mt ©harles Michel sens, thelemoeratie publicity chief s was amiasmally adept at exploiting every mistakes misfortune9 and instance ©f had timing on the part ©f the Hoover a dmimistrat i©ho Seem after the 1928 defeats, Democratic national iemmittee chairman; John Jo Baskwh# created a perma- ;
meat executive eemmiftee with 3©nett Shornse as its head©
#m Jtme 1 g? 19299 Hiehelson was appointed as Director ef Publicity for this committeeo Hiehelsea* s organization almost immediately started releasing statements relating to the alleged errors of the Hoover administrationo ©me commentator declared that "Ho president ever had his every 1 mistake so thoroughly advertised as Mrs Hoover®M The Democratic national ©ommittee raised nearly for this publicity work® It was the largest partisan
1® Roy Vo Reel and Thomas ©o Donnelly9 The 1931 Qampajgno An Analysis (Hew larks Farrar and Rinehart9 Imoo iiSIrr?. t t s t expemiitmre between eampaigms in the history ©£ American political life to that timeb The efforts were mot dire©ted
primarily at the Eepmblieam party9 bmt at Hoover himself0
A leader in. Demoeratie polities9 tfames As Parley, said that these men had "done their work well, and there was no disposition ©m omr part to underrate laskob's efforts or o to find famlt with the mem associated with him0" The agemey to whieh the Republicans referred as "Miehelsom”s Mills" ®eempled nearly am entire fleer of the Rational Press Imildimg and examined every statement and act of the Presidento The basic purpose of the bureau was to eomduet its campaign ©m the issue of the alleged failure of the Hoover administration to put into effect
the program ©m which it obtained election in 1928c. ©mee the depression hit, however, there was little meed to
return to the promises of 1928, except in a rather off■= hand way o '’ Michelson wrote speeches for the party leaders, spread biting amt i-Eepublicam immuemdoes, and virtually taught the country to hate Herbert Hoover— ^as if the
2* dames Ao Parley, Behind the Pallets (Hew York: Harcourt, Brace and Company^ 1938), p» 1 ©3o 3o To So Barclay, "The Bureau of Publicity of the Democratic Rational ©ommittee, 1 930=1 9320" American. Poli tical Science RevleWc, 27 (February, 1933) s 64o 14 veters did met already» Mlehelsea was said t© have "achieved 4 Immortality" im his profession as a "ballyhoo" maa» She attacks ©a Hoover seemed s© vieleas to seme that Frank Ro Keat of the Baltimore Sim wrote la Scribner■s la SeptemberP 1930? that "She political agency la Washing ton more than any other has helped mold the prnblie mind
im regard to Hr® Hoovero" He described the Mlehelsea work as "the most elaborates expensive» efficients and effective political propaganda machine ever operated in
the eeaatry* She goal set for Mr® Mlehelsea9M- he observed, "was to smear Mr® Hoover and his administration® Shat is what he is there for and all he is there for®" Kent9s statement bordered on the extreme as there were many other 5 fm e t ions which Mlehelsea and his agency carried out® Hoover8 s private secretary, Theodore Joslin, claimed that the period from the creation of the Democratic
publicity btaream marked the beginning of an almost cease
less criticism of Mr® Hoover that persisted threnghemt
his term® The President resented nest of this criticism and regarded some @f it as unpatriotice
4® Time® 27, March 2, 19369 Ilf Wayne Parrish, "The He® 1 Democratic 9Ballyhoo8 Man®" literary Digest® 12© (May 26, 1 934)9 28® . 5® ©ited im Bugerne Byoas, Omr Wnknowm Bx-Presidenti 4 Portrait ©f Herbert Hoover (Garden ©itys lonbleday and Company, Tf¥l), p® 252 ® 15 la the first year a&d a. half after its formatlea, the work ©f Hlehelsea,e barearn was eeafiaed ehiefly t© issaiag aaaereas gtatemeats, most ©f whieh were sigmed by leading Bern©©rati© members ©f @eagress« These deelaratieas asually dealt in a highly er It leal, maaaer. with the Eepubll- eaa party program aad with President Eeever* nothing the
Eepmblleans tried eeald qmlte eeaateraet the steady flew from MlehelseB*s pea» The actions ©f the barearn constituted a transition from party eampaigm publicity to a permanent party pmblieity0 The election eampaigm of 1932 became only am internsification of Hloholsea's publicity drive already in progresso Wader the new system there was a© need to
“start -from, scratch" when an election [email protected] The Publicity Division only amplified its work at the proper time with enlarged personnel, facilities, and vigor Between 1 93© and the nomination ©f Roosevelt in 1932, the Democrats had ao real party leader and Mlehelsea. was given a relatively free hand to attack the admlaistra- tloa* In this situation, however, there was general agree ment among prominent Democrats as to the kind of a ease 7 which should be built against the Republicans® Daring
So Theodore.I® Black, Democratic Party Publicity in the 194® ©amnalga (lew Yorks Plymouth Publishing Com pany, 1941), p 0 26| and Richard Bain, 0®aveati@a Decisions and Toting Records (Washingtons Brookings Institution, 196©), p o 234® To lew York Times* September 3®, 193©» P® 14® this pearled, while ©kairmaa Stierase t.emred ■ the eeyatry, Hlehelsm tiarmed emt an maiaterrapted stream ef interviews, statements, and speeches in Washingt.emo He released ever 500 in the first two .years, heaping ridicule cm the Heever administratieBo Arthur Mo Schlesimgers Jro claims that this barrage fmadeuhtedly had semething t.e de with fixing the depression image of the Hoover admin1stration8 though met - q nearly s© much as myth would later suggesto" . , Miehelsem disclaimed the honor of having greatly influenced the 1932 electieno -"la the recent campaign,M he wrcte after the: election, "I. am inclined t© doubt if publicity had anything more than a defensive effecto The work ©f the publicity department was, in my ©pinion, insignificant in effecting LsieJ the results*"^
@a the other hand. Hoover claimed in his Memoirs that from the offices of Shomse and Michelson came a ceaseless torrent of ghost-written speeches supplied to
Hlemoeratie Senators, Congressmen, and other party leaders. The attack included also a continuous flood of press releases and radio propaganda0" This was further documented by Raymond Holey who said that 11 Whenever Rational ©ommittee
§. Arthur M 0 Schlesimger, Jr., The ©risis of the ©Id ©rder, 1 91 f-1 §33 (Bostons Houghton Mifflin ©ompany, 1 96©), p, 174® 9° Quoted in Peel and lonnelly, p 0 160o H@a4tgarters teeiled. that a partisan speeeh shemli he made 9 ©harley wemld" write it ant them a Sesater weald he asked t© deliver it ever the air0M Meley als© claimed an extreme degree of professionalism for Mleheleea, saying that he "©©mid d© his jefc withemt very mm@h personal attachment t© the policies9 earnses and ambitions ©f these whom he served*""*® Miehelson was in charge ©f all pnhlieityo He offered advice and checked apem the efforts of the propa gandists in other divisions ©f the Semmitteco Each grempp although issuing its own publicity* was refmired to submit its material to Hiehelsea before release* • He* ©r ©me ' of his close associates in the division* passed ©n each 1 1 item before it became "official*" Each of the President8s alleged mistakes were emphasized* enlarged* and harped mporn* As time passed the statements about "prosperity jmst around the corner" and "the worst has passed" were proven exceedingly silly* fhe
"Han in the White House" became a kind of national scape goat* His stand that relief was a state and local problem was described as an archaic conception of modern governmentj
10* Herbert Hoover* Memoirs s'. 1 929-1941 * V@l* III (Hew Tories She Macmillan Company* 1S62'), "22®j and .Baymemd Holey* "©barley's McOarthys*" Hewsweek* 23 (Hay 8* 1@44)* 1©@* 11* Black* p* 34* his Seeeastrmetion Pinanee 0®rperatlea was depleted
as a seheme t© save. Big Business at the expense ef the
werking man; his tragle and 111-eenslde'red pel.iey toward the Bemus Army was represented as am act ©f ealleus ermeltyo
As Miehelson later said9 "We did not have to emphasize the gap between the promise and the reality of the 10 Hoover administration^" Pew restrictions were placed on Hiehelson with regard to issuing statementso Many leading Democrats gave him complete authority to make any declaration he wanted under their names® After a year many Republicans began to "expose" Hiehelson as the author of these
statements® The discovery did not hurt him® Indeed, it created a demand for his weekly letter to the press entitled "Dispelling the Pog®"1^ ©me Roosevelt biographer stated that ©n the whole
the Democratic **ghost" did an excellent job® The state
ments released by Hiehelson and his staff were so general and hewed so closely to the speeches Roosevelt was giving that "the Republicans could do little with the enormous
12® Henry D® Stoddard, Presidential Sweenstakes® the Story of Political ©omvemtioms and ©ameaigms (lew Yorks G® Bo Putnam's Sons, 19!Wr7^pT7%3; and ©harles Michel son. The Ghost Talks (lew Yorks Go P® Putnam's Sons, 1944), p® 2§e 1 3 ® Alva Johnson, "Hundred-®©ngued ©harley. The Great Silent ©rator," Saturday Rvenina Post, 2©8 (May 3®, 1936), To 1 $
.file— ezeept expose It as a faetery pretueto" He. was farther said to he a “master ef imsinuatien and iamaemd©o ^ Mlehels.em’s leadtag theme In the early part of the campaign was that President Soever was in a conspiracy with M g interests to fix the tariff so that it weald rob the poor and enrich the Industrial giants* "Prom the very firsts 14 the Michelson speeches hurt the Republican causeo” Miehelsom defended his work in his autobiography9 The Ghost Talks<■ claiming that "there was mo occasion for billingsgate» no necessity for misrepresentations, me
excuse for slander» 4- mam sat in the President8 s chair who did mot fit*" He also said that "In looking ever the
files9 I find little of personal attack on President
Hoovero" However9 Michelson did reject the use of books on Hoover5s business as a mine promoter because there was mot 1 § time to investigate the alleged facts in the books® Harold Gosmell, in one of the major works en the campaign strength of Reesevelt, makes no mention ef the role played by Miehelsom In pinning the depression image en Hoover® Miehelsom is mentioned in the most offhand way with mo credit given to the tremendous amount of
14® Prank Preidel, Framklim B® Roosevelts The (Bostons little 9 Brown and @©mpamy9 1952) 9 p® i
1g® Miehelsom9 pp® 32=41® ■m pm'blieity whioii ©rlglmated at his typewritero The author apparently desires t© shew that Eeesevelt was the "whele team" with little @r me help fr©E any ethers in his 1 6 eampaign literature0 Gertaialy the skilled teague ©f Eeesevelt was ahle t© eeaviaee the eleeterate that the picture @£ the Eepmhlieaa party and leover painted hy Miehelsem was eerreeto The aetieas ®£ seme progressive, lepmhlieaas sueh as ..laPellette» Serrls, and Berah tended., a.ise, t® reassure. the American peeple that heth Roosevelt and ghest-writer 17 Hiehelson were righto luring the eampaign itself the headquarters ef the lemeeratie party was leeated at Hew Yorko In 1932 g a “eemfclnatlon. ©f ©lipping bureaus" sent in "every item ef political news in praeti.eally all @f the newspapers. ©f the @®mmtryr"; after whieh headquarters workers made syn®pses and distrihuted them t® eampaign ©ffieeso This system was later revised and in. 1 936 the activity ©f the 18 "clipping bureau" was limited tc editorials* The cam paign strategy for Reesevelt was carefully plannedo The
ISo Harold Gosue110 ©hamnien GampaiamerI Franklin lo Reesevelt (Hew York: The Macmillan ©ompanyg 1 ^ilTT^R^SiEe 1 To Ivan Zinderaker, Far tv .Politics (Hew York: Henry l©lt and ©©mpany9 1§56) 9 p 0 354o ;r 1 1Se llaekg po 26 o pm'blieity lifisiem distriMtei. sixty-tkree milllea pieces
ef campaign literaimreo fke 14©9©©@ lemceratie ecmmlttee- men were 'bem'barded with, persenal. letters, telephene calls, and innumerable pamphlets from headquarterso The Hepmblleans charged that Michelsen was the
sale anther ef hundreds ©f statements and speeches attack ing Heeyer and the Eepmblieanso They claimed that he was ‘‘the me.iathpieee @f a diabolical plot t© assassinate the Republican character/’ and ©me: wit was prone t© remark that
the whispering campaign ©f. 1 §18 has been succeeded by the whimpering campaign @f Ifjlo'1 later a Republican anther reasoned that the. “charges against Michelsen were met greatly exaggerated^* Miekelscm asserted that any time his divisien pointed ©ut the mistakes made by the President
or the extent and acuteness #f the financial depression, they were accused @f “reyellmg in the misfortunes ©f the people and making capital ©f distresso'1 The Democrats were 1 § even charged with “pr©longing and enhancing the panicoH Michelson was handsomely praised by various Democrats for the work he had dome* General Hugh So Johnson said that as long as he was where Michelson could edit his
speechess, he “never made any bad blunders® le LMiehelsonj
tfo Harris Go Warren9 Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression (Hew York: ©xford University Press, 1919), p® 1235 and Michelson9 p@ 33° is the enly man who ever wrote any part of a speeeh for me, ant the part he wrote was the hest parto”^® James Ju
Farley also elaimed advantage im the presense of Miehelsoiig. 11 the wise old fox who had the Repiahlieam spokesmen thrashing about im a fury because of the clever manner in which he exposed the ineffectiveness of the Ol Hoover administration®H Ho matter how effective Hoover8s 1932 campaign speeches were, they came toe late® Miohelson, his staff, and the public distress had done more harm during the previous three and one-half years than he could 22 overcome® Miehelson elaimed that the previous utter ances of the President8s spokesmen 11 played no small part in what the administration supporters termed 8smearing
Hoover®8,1 Other Republican stand-bys, such as George Moses of lew Hampshire and Jim Watson of Indiana, although paying lip-service to the Presidents lent "aid and comfort to the enemy1' in Miehelson8s opinion® Many were letting it be seen that they had first begun to oppose Hoover at
the 1928 convention and had warned at that time that he could not be elected® Miehelson called Vice-President
20® Alva Johnson, pp® 5~7° 21® Farley, Behind the Ballots® p® 16 2 ® 22® David Hinshaw, Herbert Hoovers American Quaker (Hew York: Farrar, Straus and ©ompany, 1950), p® 272® (hart is the most a stmt e of the BepubXiean poXitleXans hut
aeemsed him of also aiding the enemy*^ Other Bemeerats had a great deal to say im reference to Heever* Senator James Hamilton Sewis of Illinois9 at a "victory dinner" of ©hie Bemeerats,, said that the Bemeerats should ask voters for victory im the presidential campaign so it "can rent from power the gyn- dieate of special interests that has taken possession of the government0" Further denunciation came from Senator
Joseph Robinson of Arkansas who noted that "When the respon sibility of the Republican party for the depression has been 25 proved*6*the safe highway must be pointed out*" Jouett Shornse, Chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee» claimed that it was not because of the Washington corres pondents that Hoover was regarded as an incompetent Presi dent g but "because of the inevitable impression left by the acts of the man himselfo"^ A Hew York limes editorial warned the Democrats against slandering Hoover too badly as the Times felt it might bring about a great deal of sympathy for the President* Parley said that he believed that "efforts to drag a man down
23* Eichelson, p* 31» 24* Hew York Times* January 15? 1932s p* 17° 2 5 * Ibid* (, April 14, 1 #32, p* 6 * 26* .Ibid*, March 4, 1932@ p* 3° 24 persomally are apt t® prove more harmful thaa helpful heeause public sympathy is very oftea swung ever to the person under attacko11 ^ Farley also recollected that he was aware that the lemoeratie campaign would necessarily be based on the depression record of Hoovero He saw that Hoover’s optimistic 1928 campaign prediction that poverty was about to be abolished seemed "a trifle ludicrous in view of what commenced to happen scarcely a year after he took over the Presidency©ooCandJ the political pendulum was p 0 swinging to the opposite extremity of the arc©"
E©oseveltffs nomination made him Hoover8 s major adversary and brought him into direct public conflict with the President© The Chief Executive8s earlier humanitarian record in Belgium and during the Mississippi floods was al most completely forgotten in the failures of his presidency© The reputation he had made as an administrator and cabinet 29 officer declined before the fact of breadlines© The platform adopted by the Democratic convention charged that the chief causes of the depression "were the disastrous policies pursued by our government since
27o Ibid©9 March 6, 1932» Sec© III9 p© 1j and Farley9 Behind the Ballots © p© 311© 28© Farley9 Behind the Ballots© p© 61 © 29© Stoddardg p© 184© the World War©” The platform-treat ©a to eomtead ”These who were respeaslhle' for these polioles have ahaadeaed the Ideals ©a whieh the.war was wea©©©rejeetiag the greatest
©pportanity©©©to hriag peaee, prosperity, aad happiness
to oar people©11 She platform ©ailed for a redaction In government expeadltmres 9 halaaeed hrndget, seand oarreaey• aad repeal of the eighteenth amendment © The Bern©©ratio eampaign managerP Earley9 ooasidered the eampaign a ” "breeze©” le .felt that the Eepablieans were making blanders right and left© “Everyone in the organization from Roosevelt to the yoangest Toang Bemserat considered the election a foregone conolasloa© Yet, we were never dragged into inactivity by over©oafIdemce©” Essentially the appeal made by the Bern©©rats was fairly simples namely: conditions were bad; a change mast be made; and if the government were entrusted to the lemocrats people eomld regain confidence© Roosevelt8 s first decision was to take the battle to the country rather than carry on a “front porch” cam paign© He believed he had to do this in order to dispel rmmors concerning his physical condition and to try and
5®© Kirk H© Porter and Ronald B ©
for spending too mmeh money* He believed9 like Hoover, that a larger export market was needed for Americans
32* ienis W* Brogan* The Era of Franklin 1* Roosevelt (Hew Haven: Tale fmiversity Presss 195©)T P* 33* 3 3* Sehlesinger, fhe ©risls of the ©Id ©rder* p* 412; and ©osnell, p* 134* 34* Qmoted in Warren, p® 25©* 27 proihaetive eapaeitjo Hamy wke heped fer a eaherent liberal pregram were disappeimted by both eandidatego $he Wew ReDmblie ealled the eampaigm 61 am ebseeae speetaele” @a b®th sides®-55
She lepmblieams were ©barged with emeemraging,spe©mla«= tioa, premetlag foreign leading9 festering everpredmetiem and topping it all with a strangling defieito Instead ©f attempt ing to eerreet these mistakes9 Hoover bad minimized the market eraeh with reaeearing melees, tried to blame the depression on external eondltlens, and ignored the need for reform®^
Heoseyelt9 in a speeeh at Pittsburgh ea government spending and budgets, declared bis opposition to Hoover°s "foreign eamse" theeiso "We do not look abroad fer'scape goats**®* President Hoover8s radical economic theories of 1928eo»brought the real crash of 1931®" He also.aeoused the Hoover administration of increasing, eests by centering "control of everything in Washington as rapidly as possible— federal control."5? Rooseveltfs campaign speeches were composites of ideas and writing® She Brains .trust,.
3fU "the ©bseemeSpeetaele.,w Hew Renmblica 72 (Hevember 9, 1932), 341 | and Richard• Hefstadter, the Ameri can Political tradition and the Men Who Made I t .(Hew Yorks AV Ao Knopf s, 1948) 9 p® 329® 3S® Warren9 p® 26®. 37® Hew York times® ©ctober 2®, 1932, p. 1 $ and freidelg p® 363® a gr&mp ■ of krilliaat yorag pelltieal.selent1sts ami
eeeneHlsts, headed hy Prefesser Eaymemd M@ley ©f Barnard ©©liege and lexferd 60 Tmgwell and A* A 0 Series Jr0s Beth ©f ©©immhla Wnlverslty, prepared drafts ©f eaeh majer speech* ©ther addresses were the werk ©f scores ©f
mem wh© were9 Seever charged, Mexperts la semantics hut grievously umdermemrlshed ©a trutho**^®
Eeosevelt spoke as little as he could oh foreign policy* When Holey asked him if he would want a foreign policy speech prepared,.Eeosevelt answered that there was no meed t© do so, as he felt. Hoover was all right on the
subject* Republicans themselves avoided the subject except
for ©me. address by Secretary ©f State.- Henry 5* Stinson*
the most obvious reason for this omission was that the pub- 3§ lie had demonstrated little interest in the question* Early in the campaign Roosevelt hoped the Democrats could avoid personal attacks on Hoover* Democratic Vice-
President lal- nominee John lance Gamer had wanted to wpunch the administration in the nose11 in his acceptance speech but Roosevelt advised against it* The Presidential candidate
believed “it is all right to talk about Hills, Mellon,
3S* Warren9 p* 2 5 8*
39o Ereidel, p* 3 5 7* Hyde 9 ete© without tee mm eh referea.ee. te leeyer himself© He is persemally flat aad we earn safely leave him there* Roosevelt himself, however,- attacked the aamialstratlea for
■its laaetlea® She lepuhlleaas had claimed exclusive credit for prosperity aad Roosevelt was net golag'to allow them to repudiate their responsibility for economic dis aster* He rejected the view that prosperity could seep down from the rich to the poor and would make this view clear to the voters© ®a his western trip Roosevelt saved his important statements for a major address at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisee— "the rest of the time he acted 41 pleasant©" During the early stages he tried to appear conservative enough to win the votes of Republicans who were weary of Hoover, and just radical enough to keep the rebellious from turning to radical leaders© For this reason he was very cautious about taking any definite stands©^ In his first major address, to the Democratic state convention at ©olumbus, Ohio, - Roosevelt attacked Repub lican economic policies© His speech was "a general
40© Ibid©, p© 324© 41 © Ibid©, p © 358© 42© Frederick I© Allen, Since Testerday (Hew Yorks Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 1f40), p© 79© ; , . : ■ 3® ia&ietmeirt of the Hoover admlmistrati@m9 hased ©m Hoover1© ©wm speeehesg premises, and aeti©msotf He en.livea.ed it hy plant iag in the ©enter an Alice in Wonderland parody ©f 43 Hepuhliean policies of the 1ft®8So He also ©ritieized Hoover for failing to solve the farm smrplms problem,
hut was vague on what he would do about it@ It was not until late in the campaign that loose-. velt joined in the personal assaults on Hoover0 Prom the
beginning 9 however, he attacked the record of his rival and pointed to the failures to meet the meeds of the people 4 4 in years of depression* Senator Garter Glass of Virginia, a conservative, was induced to. deliver a radio attack upon President Hoover1s financial policies* The highly respected business- mam9 ®wem Jo Young of General Bleetrie, asserted that further economic disaster would mot result from the elec tion of Roosevelto These two men helped counter any Republican charge of radicalism concerning Roosevelto The Jemoeratie nominee also said that he hoped to depict Hoover as the radical, and himself as an advocate of rehabilitationo This, he thought, would serve to turn the
43o Preidel, pe 33fo 44o Jo E<, Robinson, The Roosevelt Leadership« 1§33-1945 (Philadelphiag Lippineott and Gompany, 1955), p*
SS « 45 tables ®m the Bepablleaa eharge ®f radleallsmo Heever was charged with radicalism himself hy S.eaater James Seed ef Missearlo Heed aeeused the President ef establishing a 11 capitalistie seelalism®«ofor the benefit ef the great banks and trmst eempanles which have been overloaded with rotten papero"^ By the end ef September it became, mere and mere apparent that Roosevelt weald be elected* Beeaemle oea- ditloas were beeemlag'worse, with naemploymeat increasing and the stock market dropping even lower* fhe depression was a biardem on the voters $, and the Hoover administration had to bear the brant of blame for a great economic failmr@o Public opinion had turned against Hoover and his somewhat fumbling efforts to tackle the depression®^ Garner was still charging^.however, that Hoover had dome nothing to relieve the recurring cycle of business depression® He called Hoover1s pronouncements.that the depression stemmed from conditions abroad merely an "alibi" whieh was a "belated thought to Justify the present Q economic plights” in a Iieusvllle address$, Roosevelt again charged the Republican administration with direct
45® Hew York Times. August 18 1.952, p® 10 4So Ibido o September 1S9 1932, p® 31o 47o Parley, Behind the Ballots0 p® 1610 4So lew York Times* October 21, 1932, p® 17® 32 responsibility for the depression be earns e it failed to Aa eheek the boomo Roosevelt levied, his strongest attaek on the administration in a speeeh in Baltimore on Set©her 25o
The crash came in ©etcher9 1929* The Presi dent had at his disposal all the instrumentalities of government* From that day until December 31» 1931, he did absolutely nothing to remedy the situation* Sot only did he do nothing9 but he took the position that ©eagress eould do nothing* * * * The Horsemen of Destruction of the Republican administration gleefully gave encourage ment to the speculation** * * The four horsemen of destructions, delay9 deceit's, a-ad despair* * * each has spread ruin and furnished no hope for millions of Americans hurt by the economic depression*5©
Throughout many of his campaign speeches, Roosevelt led his audiences through the Hoover policies and then described his awn* He called for government to take a more important role in the economic life of the nation in *51 his speeeh t© the ©ommonwealth ©lub in San Francisco* Following the final campaign speech of Hoover Roosevelt felt he must answer the Hoover charges* The President had accused Roosevelt of proposing an umAmerlcan way of life to the people* He also went into the differ ences in philosophies between himself and the Democratic candidate* Roosevelt was in a furor over the speech*
49* Ibid* * ©etober 239 19329 p* 1* 5©* Ibid* * ©etober 26 9 1 932$, p* 1* 51 * James M* Burns9 Roosevelt: The Lion and the For (Hew York: Hareomrt9 Brace and ©ompany, 1956), p* 143* 53 He t®lt Heley that “I simply will net let Soever question my
Americanism*M Holey "begged him te make the high-minded
seriems.speech he had intended t© make without descending
t© the level of hitter personalities* Boesevelt took the advice and in his last speech ©f the campaign, made at P©nghkeepsie ©m election eve, he speke ©f Munderstanding and toleranee” which had ©erne to meet him everywhere* He hoped that he wemld he “the hmmhle emblem" of a "general human pmrpeseo11^2 She Pem©©rats were not the only opponent whom
Hoover had t# meet in his 1932 hid for re-election* Sneh
Eepnhliean progressives as Herris and Johnson were still
in the Senate and, jmst as Taft was threatened and destroyed hy a coalition ©f progressive Republicans and Hemeerats,
so, to©,- was Hoover* Many ©f the dissident progressives
were known thronghowt the nation and widely respected* The split in the Repmhliean ranks was a great advantage
to the .Remoeratie oandidate and was, wntuestlonably, an R3 important element in his success*
Some Republicans felt that if they abandoned Hoover it would be an open acknowledgement of party failure* Few openly opposed his r©nomination as they believed there
§2 * Raymond Holey, After Seven Years (Hew Yorks Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 193#), PP° 64-65* 53* Warren, p* 3©1 I Robinson, The Roosevelt leadership * p* 7 2* was mo real-'prospeet of maklmg the opposition stick» Senators George Wo Sorris of Hehraska, Hiram Johnson of California s, and Robert Mo laPellette». Jr@, of Wiseonsin openly opposed his eandidaeyo Senator Bronson Omtting of lew Mexico also lined up for Roosevelt after losing control
of the Republican organization in his state. Senator William Bo Borah of Idaho felt no purpose could be served by supporting Hoover since they differed on all important issues® During the campaign Borah never even mentioned Hoover1s nameo^ Senator Johnson said that Hoover ought to refuse the renomination for the sake of the party® He further praised former President Calvin Goolidge for not
becoming a candidate and asserted that if “Hoover were to make a like decision he would have the undying gratitude of the rank and file of the Republican partyo11-^ In response tc-this, two of Hoover8s biographers take opposite views on his Presidential desires® Harris Warren claims that "After three years of unremitting labor and unsuccessful efforts to halt the depression^ President Hoover had no overpowering desire to run again in 1932o" ©n the other hand; Harold Wolfe takes the
g4o Alfred Dief9 Democracy8s Morris (lew York: Staekpele Sons; 1939)» p® 3991 and Marian 0® McKenna$ Borah (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press9 1§61), p. 2500 55o "Johnson8s Slam at Hoover;" literary Digest0 111$ December 5; 1f31; 8® positiem that "Hoover kad a desperate desire te vindicate
himself amd his p©lielesoM The latter view,! im the light ©f later develepmemts, seems mere realistie* Seme magasiaes. The Eatiem fer example«, als© sailed @a Heever met te seek rememimatiemo It elaimed la
levemher9 1 fll, that leever was s© deeply disliked that he had heea "booed ©m his last two pmhlie appearameeso The magasime called mpem the hepmhlleaa party t© defeat the rememiaht i©m "by hreakimg the Presideat8 s power ever appointees amd hy ©fferlag B©rah as a eamdldatee^T ©ther Hepahlieams als© refased t© sappert leever» l©ag before the Repmblleam national convention met im 1952$, . Senator Gerald P e lye ©f lorth Dakota warned that Im the eampaign he wemld criticise the Hoover agrieultaral polieieso However, despite efforts to make him commit
himself9 lye refused thromghoat the eampaign to tell whether he favored Hoover or Roosevelt in the presidential ra©es®^
1 © matter h©w much of the oritieIsm was gustifled9 no matter how mmeh was nonsense 9 practical polities made
560 Warren,' p 0 1481 and Harold Wolfe9 Herbert Hoover . Puhlio Servant and Leader of the loval ©pp ©s it ion (lew York: Ezpositiom Press, llllT7”po lT3o
ST® “ITo Hoover* s lotioe to ^uit,” The Hat ion." 'V339 lovember t®, 1f319 §31® 580 . Wayne Sc ©ole« Senator Gerald P-0 lye and Ameri can foreign Relations (Hianeapolis i Waiversity of Minnesota Press, 1961), p c 13® Hoever8 s aremomlBAtiea 1b 1932 a f©regene o©neluelen« Repnbllean repmdlatlem ot the President would have been an ©pen eonfesslen ©f defeat* The factions within the party that most disliked Hoover were usually found talking In praise of either Senator Dwight Morrow of Hew Jersey9 or of ex-Presidemt Soolidge* However, Morrow died In
©etober9 and even had he lived it is doubtful that he would have openly opposed the renomination of RQ Hoover o- Prior t® the Republican convention the Hoover camp paid little attention to the primaries in regard to the delegate ©election process* They employed the regular party organizations selecting delegates who could be depended upon to secure Hoover’s renomination* Theodore
Hoover’s publicity secretary9 endeavored to improve the President’s public image@ He attempted to break down the public belief that Mr* Hoover was a barAb©lied and cold-blooded individual totally unmoved by the distress of the working classes* Although many of the stories circulated about Hoover’s early career as a mining pro moter were distorted* they were widely accepted by the 60 public at their face value*
59o Peel and Donnelly* pp* 20-21 * 60* lain* p* 235°} and Peel and Donnelly* p* 52* There was almest me fmestiom ahemt the rememlma- tiea ©f Hoover after April 27, whem Kemtmeky1 s votes were pledged to him* In spite ©f the Kemtmeky resalt, however. Soever11 s ememies refused t© admit defeat 0 Twenty in dustrialists amd fimameiers met in lew York and sent am. ^51 emissary to ask Mro ©oolidge t® he a eamdidateo ©swald Villard suggested in The latiom that Hoover weald ram again only t® vindicate himself© He gave Hoover credit for doing some good things, hat all of them toe late© Villard said that if Hoover was the only one to save the country it was an "insult to America?M He considered this a Mcounsel of despair!” It was a show of “faithless- ness to the Republic?11 The Republican convention opened In Ohieage on June 14, 1932© There was little doubt how the delegates would vote, but there appeared to be a noticeable absence 63 of Hoover banners, buttons or enthusiasm© The pro gressives showed little actual strength at the convention©
Oomservative Republicans contended that the country was moving to the right and the progressives had shown their
61 © Warren, p© 25©© 62© Oswald G-© Villard, “Pity Herbert Hoover,” The Hat ion. © 134 (June 15, 1932), 669-671 © 63© Sehlesinger, Orisis of the Old Order, p© 295© The only picture of Hoover that Walter Mppmamm could find was an oil painting in the back of a shop window on Michigan Boulevard© sterility* Hany of the delegates believed, defeat la
Hevember was inevitable and eeasldered that what they did 64 weald not affeet the outcome= From the beginning of the convention. Hoover”s control was evidento He mapped out the convention program, dispatched it to Shieago in care of Secretary of the Treasury ©gden Hills, and used the great influence of his office to obtain his wishes= ©ne veteran Repub lican, President H 0 M* Butler of ©olumbia Waiversity, declared in disgust that he had attended his last G,@,P« conventiono The ever-present social critic, H» Be Mencken, said he had seen many political conventions but
"this one is the worst0 It is both the stupidest and the most dishonest All efforts to persuade Hoover not to seek renomination were made in vaia* The Republican convention renominated him on the first ballot with 1,126§ votes* His only avowed rival, Jr* Joseph Bo France, former Senator from Maryland, was taken bodily off the plat form by the Hoover supporters when he attempted to with draw his name and ask the delegates to give their support
64® Warren, p 0 251 * 65° As quoted in Sehlesinger, ©risis of the ©Id Order, p 0 296» t© ex-?resia.ent ©©elidge®®® The pr©eeedings ©f the eon- ventiem were severely erltleized hy The Hation0 which ©hserveds When we read ©f siaeh really ©hseene proceed ings as these in 0hieage9 we can think only ©£ the starving millions of Americans and shmdder at the tragedy of indifference^ casmalness, and total in competence which in this hear eomld talk and think only of the drink qmestiem and nothing eise0^T
All of the planks in the 1932 Zepmhliean platform had the approval of the administrationo The platform placed the hlame for all trembles after 1 93© on the weak ness of the credit machinery of the nations of Gemtral
Europe*. It praised Hoover as a leader "wise, ©omrageoms, patient, mnderstanding, ever present at his pos^ of dmty, and tireless in his faith to American principles and idealso" The Democratic program was criticized for "contemplating a. heavy expenditure of public funds, a budget unbalanced on a large scale, with a doubtful attainment of at best a strictly limited objectives"The platform concluded with a declarations "The Republican party faces the future unafraid!
66o Stefan Dorant, The Presidency* A Pietoral History of Presidential Elections Prom Washingtonto Truman (lew Yorks The Macmillan Company, 1 951 ), p= 583o 67® "The Tragedy of fhicago," The Hat ion <, 134, dune 2f, 1932 , 7T2o 6 8» Porter and Johnson, pp® '.33f~331 ® Ike platferm farther gave attention to the Demo cratic: House of Representatives;, ky ieseriking this kody as Irrespomsikle s without adequate leadership and a demonstration of the inability of the Democratie party to lead the mationo Insurgent Hepuklieans were told that the welfare of the nation should he placed above the pride of individual opiniono The platform contained little that aroused much enthusiasm for another four years of
Hoover in the White House9 even though Salvim ©oolidge did praise it highly» Republicans in general-expressed little enthusiasm for the platform® Hoover's supporters9 engulfed in pessimism* often omitted any reference to the party platform* or for the matter to the party leader Soon after his renomination* Hoover indicated he would stress economic issues in the campaign rather than prohibition® Almost the only chance he had to win the election depended upon the return of a measure of pros perity in late summer and early fall of 1932= Although Hoover ardently hoped for this* conditions worsened® Jet the Republican party tried to prove that the Hoover ad ministration was doing as well as— if not better than— 79 the opposition could to meet the problems of the day®
69® Warren* p® 2 5 6 ® 70® Wolfe* p® 274,0 41 Mest @£ the mem wh© left the Repuhllean party to smppert ReeseTelt for. some, time had presented a political program that placed them more.la.harmony with the declared piirpeses of the lemeeratle party tham with those ©f the Repmhlleam admlmistratim© After his remomlmatloms Soever had eemdemmed the progressives 1m definite terms» They had me place to go except imte the lemoeratle party— whieh 71 eagerly welcomed theme Senator Hiram Johmsom said the
Hoover admimistratiem was "Imept amd Imeffieiemtc11 He praised Roosevelt amd ©ailed mpom all progressive Repmh- 72 lieams to hack the Democratic candidate^ Hoover had worked hard for the Presidemey amd he wanted to make the office his erewmimg triumph«=> The image he hoped historians would have of. him was of success im "busimessg aeeomplishmemt im humamltarlam undertakings amd profieieney im presidemtial leadership® To his ultimate chagrin.g ■ howeverthis was certainly met the 7 3 way im which he was to he rememhered® Hoover lacked the ability to go to the people who were waiting for presidemtial leadership» Instead, he allowed the Democratic party to make the symbols of the
71 ® Robinson, The Roosevelt leadershim. p® 74® 72® Hew York Times® ©etober If, Iflt, p® I® 73o Hofstadter, p® 2f3® H©reat HmmamitariaB.” and the "Great BKLgimeer" into 'beem- erangs @f m@@kerye ,,411 tke Mrieas ef the times were laid at Mis feet "beeamse of Mis failure to oomvimoe tM@ people that Me eared alomt tMeir plight e .lurimg Iflt.g lower®s. relatiomship with the press . steadily be earn© worse® .Press eomferemees. were rare-o 4 few [email protected] stayed with the administration tmt it was mm@M more ezeiting to mingle with the buoyant Roosevelt eampo ,It was felt that Hoover"s only hope for re-election ■ ' 74 was dissension within the.lemoerati® party® The Republican press agents ©empired the lemoerati® attaek t© the slander©ms eampaigns carried @m against Washington and Lineoln® fhey attempted t© pietmre Hoover as a martyr whose maim attentions,were to the problems of relief® It was said that he refused to take time ©mt
to defend himself or to play polities® ©me supporter9 ©Maries H® futtles former United States Attorneyp praised .Hoover as the only leader wh© had ®©me forward with a
©©mstrmetive program ia the [email protected] emergency and de- . 71' noumoed Roosevelt as a ”demagogue" and a "trimmer®“ fhe Repmbliean leaders@ amnoyed by what they dubbed
74® Iiindsay Regers$, 11 Will the Democrats Re=-Eleet President H©©verfw © ©mtemperarv Review, 141 (April9 1932)B 46 S® ; ■ - - 7 5e Peel and l®nmelly9 p® g4; and lew Y@rk Times® April 1§ 9 1f329 p® 5® ' ' the ” smear-1©©■rerM eampaign9. hegaa. -Issuing eeiamterstate- meats a Be ©a they ereated a B.epm'bllean publicity bureau ia imitation ©£ the ®esi©eratss bmt it was net as efficient ©r effective, fhe. Miehelsea bureau thereughly advertised every alleged mistake made by l©©ver®^^
la the early part ©f 1 §319 He ever., hat thought that leosevelt probably would be ’’the easiest man t® beat»” He had planned t© give a© mere than three ©r four speeches during the campaign® By August9 howevers he seemed more fearful ef Roosevelt2s strength and more determined te.de TT anything he could to stop Z®@seveltes election® This proved am impossible task as the people seemed ready for anything to avoid a repetition of the Hoover years® At first glance$, certain basic differences be tween the two candidates emerged® President Hoover felt that the depression was world-wide in origin and develop ment® .Roosevelt believed it was primarily a domestic calamity and he blamed it on the Republican party and
Hoover® However9 based on the evidence of this campaign9 later commentators have professed to see few significant differences between Hoover and Roosevelt® But Hoover saw enormous differences® ’’This campaign," he insisted,
76® Reel and Bonnelly, p® 15® 77® Btimson Diaryo July 5® August 5, 1932, as sited in Sehleslmger, ©risis of the © M ©rder, p® 431® 44 “Is mere than. & eestest betweea tw© memo It is more tham a eomtest between tw® partieso It is a eemtest between
tw© philosophies ef geverameate“ leever*s publle ©heerfairness was basei ea his belief that e©mbimati©ms ©f
events generated, the tides ef business optimism and pessi mism whieh were responsible for the business eyele* This
also explained some of his optimistie statements which were net supported by the economic trends that followed. In comparison to Roosevelt®s activity» the campaign
run by Hoover seemed placid ami. uminspired® Hoover defended
his measures in bread terms9 again asserting that the
depression was not the fault ef his administration,' In
many places he faced hostile crowds. Reilly9 the White
House Secret Service man accompanying him during the campaigns, recalled that men actually ran out into the 7§ streets t® thumb their noses at Hoover as he passed® The President later claimed that the reason for the small number of addresses was his great burden not only of normal administration but ©f coping with the depression® More-
ever, he claimed to have written his own speeches®®®
TS® Hooverg Memoirs® III, 31 So
79o Serant 9 p ® 5§©®
SS® Hoover, Memoirs® III, 233© For the. m©st part 1®ever ts tern campaign speeches were defenses ©f kis administratioiio They differed from
©me amether im emphasis rather than content0 He reiterated his view that the policies which he had ptarstaed were proving sMeeessfnl? and pr®claimed that the crisis weald have been infinitely worse had it net been for the fact that he had already had sufficient time t© put them into effecto He and his lieutenants cited the work of the Reconstruction Finance
§©rp©rati@m as evidence of GreSoPo concern for business' .re vival, and they excoriated Garner8 s plan for loans to small businesses as an attempt to make the nthe most gi gantic hanking and pawm-hroking business in all history*"^
Throughout the campaign9 Hoover seemed to have a defeatist attitude» He concluded his own account of the campaign with the confessions “As we expected9 wexwere Qp defeated in the election©" His view of the campaign was summed up as fellows$ I had little hope of re-election in 1S32 but it was incumbent on me to fight it out to the end© © © o. General depression was a major enemy in 1 932© Especially was this true as the major stra tegy of the opposition was to attach to me, person ally 9 the responsibility for the worldwide de pression and its evils© The people were naturally greatly disturbed| many were suffering? and fear was a dominant emotion© In all this settings de mand for change in administration was natural©
SI© Time © "Rational Affairsg" 2©8 July 189 1 9329 i te ‘ ; , ■ v • ■ 82© Hoover© .Memoirs© fol© 11I> 343© Amd. it was easily pramated toy great premises ©a the part ©£ t&e-eppositiene;®3 fhe early Hepatolieaa strategy wag developed a«= rewad three mala themess the first g am attaek ©m the Demeeratie Tie©-Presideatial eaadidate as ‘’amssmmd” amd nradical” ©©mpled with the rmmer that Roosevelt * s health, was so poor that the eleotiea of the Demoeratie ticket would mean the elevation of ©araer withim "a year or two®M She seeoad wag am assault @a•Roosevelt ag adhering to radical theories® The third9 aever voiced toy Eeputolicam leadership9 was a whispering campaign against Roosevelt for the eensumptica of his ©atholic supporters9 telling them that the anti”
Gath©lie propaganda against A1 Smith before the convent ion Q i ■ was the work of Roosevelt and his friends® The tactics used toy Roosevelt were quite upsetting to President Hoover® la the early part of the campaign Hoover tried the teehmiqme of requesting one of his cabinet members to answer each of what he considered to toe Roose velt -@ untruths® The work of Secretaries Mills and Hurley helped little in refuting Roosevelt8s accusations®^ The Rational Gommittee said that a campaign of fear had been interjected in the presidential contest as a result
S3® Ibid® o a® 21 a® S4® horaatg p® gSB®
85® Preidelj p® 3 6 6® ■ ■ ^ 47 ©f the. statemeBts male tey Beaeeratie- leaders' aa.4 Sroveraer. Eoosevelt himself in attaekimg the re eons triae t ien polieies ©f the aSministrati©Bo^ Sag the eh®l@e teem theirs the Eepmfelieans prehahly wemli have preferred t® eampaign. a- gaiast the Demoeratie Congress rather than Roosevelto 4t Sto Patal Hoover snmmed up the "monstrous eampaign lies" ©f the Democrats in a list ©f the twenty- ©me magor measures taken ty the Federal government t@ ©epe with the erisiSo He summarised the "deliberate" sabo tage by the lemoeratie Congress declaring9 "I would again ©all y©mr attention to the faet that with the Demoeratle victory in 1 93© their leaders promised to produce a program whieh would redeem this ©©umtry from the. depression© No such program was produced©"^ @m September 19s Roosevelt toid am audiemee at
Sioux ©ityg, I©wa9 that he "deplored the reprehensible delay ©f Washingtons, not for months alone» but for years© ©©o" Hoover answered the "do-nothing" charge at les Moines on
©etober 4 9 in the most glowing but general terms© We have earrled on an unceasing ©ampalgn t© protect the nation from that unhealing class bitter ness which arises from strikes and lockouts and industrial conflict © © © © We have mobilized a vast expansion ©f public construction t# make work f@r
86® lew York fimeso ©etober 21© 1932© p© 16
87© Hoover9 Memoirs© 111., 261© the merapleyetLoo» We have struggled te save hemes amd farms frem fereelesmre @f m e r t g a g e s * There has heea mheh ©f tragedyp femt there has beam hmt little pmhlie evidea.ee ©f the dangers and eaermems risks frem whieh a great natiemal yietery has been aehleved*°® leever als© aeemsed the lemeerats ®f eend®,©ting against him a 8eaapaigm ®f ayeidamees8 and ©f msing "deliberate misrepresemtatien and e©l@ssal falseheedo" He said that
"Hr* Beesevelt eeayeyed the impressisn that as President I shemld have stepped the heem*" He went @m t® say that "If the President sh®mld have attempted t® step the heea, one ©f the persons he wemld have needed to warm is the present lemoeratie eamdidateo" Secretary of the Havy ©harles
Adams claimed that in 1f2 f Hoover had attempted to persmade
Andrew Mellon t® try and enrb speomlatiom* Adams8 state™ ment was am effort to reflate Roosevelt !s aeemsation that §§ Hoover had encouraged the speomlationo ©me of Hoover8 s favorite charges against Roosevelt was that his opponent oversimplified the earnses of the
depression*. Hoover felt strongly that it was wrong to re™ eeive income as a governmental gift* His fend with the progressives, who were convinced advocates of recovery through the restoration of pmrehasimg power, was as old
88* Ihid** p* agio 89o Hew York TimeSo Hovemher 5, 1952, Po T® f©o Ihidoo Amgmst 3©, 1952, p* 4* as the depressiem itself» f© tke pr©gressives9 Eeesevelt1s ©I prememmeemeats ©f their doetrine was a weleomed eeatrasto
©a the eamses ©f the depressi@a9 Heever answered that: fhis thesis ©f the ©ppesltiea as t© the '©rigia o£ oar trembles is a [email protected] explanation for pelitieal pmrpeses® I weald he glad9 indeeds if all the eaeraems prehlems im the world eemld he simplified ia smeh a fashieao If that were all that has beem the matter with ms9 we @©mld have reeevered from this depression two years age instead ef fightiag ever since that time against the most destrmetive forees which we have ever met ia the whole history of the Waited States"- and I am glad t© say fighting vieteriemslyo MrSo Alice Roosevelt Longwerth aeemsed the Democratic party ef am effort “to saddle Rresidemt Soever with complete responsibility fer everythimg that has happened siaee She farther denomneed the Democrats for blocking all the important relief legislation, im © ©mgr ess whieh had beem proposed by Hoover®^ fhr©mgh©mt the eamiaigms, l@©ver felt that Reosevelt amd some members of the Iraims frmst were proposing t© imtredmee parts ef the ©elleetivisE of Bmrope imt© the Waited States wader their ©ft-repeated phrase i!planned eeomemye” Im his Memoirs« H©over ©laimed that he stated his eemeept ef American life im the hope that "the disguised
§1 o Rexferd §© ;fwgwell9 fhe Bern©©rati© Roosevelt {(fardem Sityi lewbleday amd. ©@mpamy9 1 957) 9 p® 2 5 2 e 920 l©©ver9 MemoirSo IIIS 246® 93® lew York limes® levember 49 1931$ p® 1#® eelleetivlsm would fee waderstoedo" He elaimed t© have dlreetly pointed t© these Intentlens on the part ©f •.Roosevelt— “or on the part of his ghost writers lespite the lew morale of many ef the professional Repnfelleansg leever remained in eemmand ef his fereeso He had Secretary ef War Hurley elaim for him successes that simply had net ©eemrredo Hurley went t© Oklahoma
Oity to answer Roosevelt*s•Vfergotten man” speech* *There are no fergotten Americans in the President's program9” Hurley exclaimed* "Basically^ the question feefore the American people today is individualism against some form of collectivism*” Through these and similar speechesg although Hoover could not win the elections he made his position clear*^ At the end of Septemberg Hoover told Stimson that there was a feeling of "hatred” for him all through the West* He believed that this could fee overcome only fey "fear*" He told Stimson that "the only possibility of winning the election would fee exciting a fear of what Roosevelt would d©*"^ The Republicans branded the Democratic candidate
94* Hoover9 Memoirs* III, 355*
95= Warren9 p* 249* 9 6 * Stimson Diary* September 2§s 1 §32g cited in Sehlesinger, Crisis of the Old Order* p* 432* a r&dieal, a s®eialist9 ami a lelskeviste f© these aeemsa-
tlons E.©©serelt .replied: M.My peliey is as radical as AmerieaB liberty? as radical as the ©eastitmtlea ef the Waited States..” Aad he told a Baltimore audieaee• that • Heever's record was like that of the Potar lerseniea*—
ttlestrmeti0a s .Welay, Despair and D e c e i t . ”^7
The ealy time dhriag the eampaiga that Hoover
answered the attack tearled at him was a speech at Port
Wayne9 Indianas ©m ©etoher 5s> 1932s sayings When yom are told that the President of the .Waited .States... .has sat in the White lease .for; the last three years of year misfortune without troubling to knew your hardens9 without using every ounce of his strength.»®without using every possible agency of democracy that would bring aid..othen I say to you that such statements are deliberate9 intolerable falsehoods.98 ' ©n the question of regulation of business Hoover said that he did not consider the American system one of
la is sea «fa ire. He contended that it was the 11 men who do wrong® hot our Institutions. It is men9 not institutions9 who must be punishedo” Hoover tried to describe the progress made under the American system during the previous thirty years. :MWe have secured®” he contended® ”a lift in
the standards of living and a diffusion of comfort and
97a Samuel I. Eosenman (eio)® The Public Papers and Addresses of Pramklin 1. Roosevelt c Vol. I (Hew York: . Random House® 1938) @ 852. ™ . fS. Lyons® p. l§4e hope t© men and wemem, the growth of equal opportunity,
sueh as had never heen seen in the history of the world»11 To those who thought in terms of the depression, however, this picture must have heen amazing!^ Hoover"s later speeches indicated he was troubled by the negation of the American spirit of free enterprise* This, he feared, would inevitably follow the centralization of government0 He said that the "new deal" proposed by Roosevelt would "destroy the very foundations of our. government and ©rack the timbers of the Sonstituti©n<>" Hoover asserted that the present system had prevented dis aster and that the Democrats sought profound changes in the system itselfo True liberty, he argued, meant liberty for the individual which rested upon the advancement of political moralsi that a people corrupted by their govern ment "cannot remain a free peopleo"^ Hoover's speech in Detroit on ©etober 22, was an attempt to prove that his policies had checked the "destruc tive" forces of the depression and brought about the be ginning of recoveryo He felt that the recovery would have been even faster except for the "four months of paralysis during the (six)ooemonths we were defeating
99o Hoover, Memoirs,, III, 3240 1©@® Hew York Times<, Hovember 1, 1932, p® 12® pr©pesals @£ the lem©eratie H©mse ©f lepresemtatives o,n He further reviewed his "pregress" at St0 Leuis 1m November: Simee the adjournment of the Hern©eratic House ©f Hepresemtatlves last duly dewh t© the present mememtg ever 1 9©©©$,®®© mem have game ba@k t© their nermal jebso fhey are going back at the rate ©f 5@©9@®@ a month unless they are intercepted by a change ©f pelieies®^®^ In his Memoirs Hoover eentends that this upturn was halted by the Republican less ©f the Maine elections in ©et©bers HThe fears of the business world at Roosevelt8s announced policies started a downward movement for the next six weekso" 102 Hoover also attempted to parry Roosevelt8 s attack
on his tariff and monetary polioye Before the end of the eampaigm9 Hoover added that he favored continued protection for American industry» Roosevelt was to© clever a politician to commit himself on monetary policye
He knew that if he were to commit himself to inflation,-
it would do him damage in the East. If the Democratic candidates, on the other hand, came out as a sound-mOney advocate9 it would hurt him with almost all farmers. Hoover was certain that the Democratic agricultural proposals meant controlled production and subsidies® He
1©1® Hoover, Memoirs, III, 267=2##® 1©to Ibid® 103® Preidel, p® 3iT® refused t© support subsidies for agriculture while supportlag subsidies for busi&esso He believed that Hoosevelt9 s proposals for relief @f farmers Mim@luded reorganisation of the Department of Agriculture s looking toward the administrative machinery needed to build a program ©f national planning<.11 By the time the campaign ended$ Hoover was suffer™ img from almost complete physical exhaustiono He seemed to lose his place in speeches^ and some of his associates feared that he might collapse while delivering his speech©So His tremendous physical reserve carried him through to 1©5 what must have been for him a bitter end* The general results of the election were not too surprising to.Hoover9 but the extent of the defeat might have been© Hoover carried only the six states of @eaa- eetieut 9 Delawareg Maine9 Hew Hampshire $, lenasylvamla, and Vermont© In part it was a personal victory for Rooseveltg for in most states outside the Souths his vote exceeded that of the Democratic candidates for ©engross© But it was also a party victory as the new Senate would be Democratic by 59 to 37 and the House ©f Representatives by 3.12 to 123o1@6
1©4© Hoovers Memoirs© 1XI9 3©2©
1©5© Wolfes p© 311 o 1®i© Burnss p© 144© fhe Mew York Times praised. Hoover for pmttimg up a good, fight im the faee of evenrhelmiag ©dds» It also gave him ered.it for making d.© with little support from the members of his own party*1 Per some time after their 1932 defeat 9 the Eepuhlieans were too demoralized, to say anythingo Per a year and a half it seemed that me
Hepuhlieam party even existed* “He one, at least9 paid 1 0 any attention to them*" Hoover was never able to completely recover from the image that had been created in the minds of the
American public during the campaign of 1932* To be sure, he would play a role in succeeding elections9 but never as the leader he had hoped to be*
1 ©To lew York Times* Hovember 7, 1932, p* 16*. 10S* Roland 1* Stromberg, Republicanism Reappraised (Washington: Public Affairs Press, 1952), p* "43* CHAPTER III
1 936 i A10THER ROOT!)
In the campaign of 1 936 the memory of the economic conditions which prevailed during the Hoover administra tion still was warm in the minds of the American public and the Democratic party was ready to refresh its memory in ease the voters should forget* Another factor which operated in favor of the Democrats in 1936 was the belief of millions of those who were in the worst economic plight that they owed most of what little they did have to the efforts of the Roosevelt administration* The Republicans never had recovered from the way in which Charlie Miehelson had been able to exploit the name of Hoover in 1932* It is true, however, that Miehel son was assisted by the greatest economic collapse in
American history, which saw 1 1,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 unemployed in November of 1932*1 In spite of this, Hoover had, in his defeat, retained the ardent loyalty of a hard core of personal and partisan followers* He remained an active party spokesman in denouncing the policies of the Roose velt administration* 57 Hoover8 s first treatise against Boesevelt and his pelieies was emhodied in The Ohallemee to Li b e r t y pub lished in 1 954e In this workg Hoover delineated, his dis agreements with the President and outlined the staple points of the conservative opposition to the Hew lealo Again he denied that he had been to blame for the depression and asserted anew that foreign actions had accelerated the eatastropheo He claimed thats Stupendous problems have been thrust upon us9 for which our social system is blamed rather than the shocks of war and its peacee The over coming of these immediate emergencies has much delayed the solutions of the world8s constant problems of progresso2 He criticized the policies of the Roosevelt administration for what he called 11 the attempt at extending the mastery of government over the daily life of the peopleoR He felt that the expansion of governmental bureaucracy would ”somewhere make it [government] master of people's souls and thoughtSo That is going on today0 It is part of all regimentation* Hoover claimed that the abandonment of
the gold standard was a breach of faith 9 and he feared that Roosevelt8s measures ultimately would lead to dictator- ■ A shipo Some thought that through his book Hoover had tried
2 0 Herbert Hoover9 The Challenge to Liberty (lew York: Charles Scribner5s Sons9 1935)» Po 13>
3® Ibldo o po 203o
4o John Ao Woods 9 Roosevelt and Modern America (lew York: The Macmillan Company9 i 96077 p®' 76® t© direct the eeaservatlve Eepmhliean lines of attack ©n the Hew Heals It was th©mght that Hoever wanted to dominate the party and, if he eemld not win nomination for himselfj, select the candidate for 1 9 3 6 ,5
Eoosevelt's statement in the fall of 1935 that "the mechanics of civilization came to a dead stop on
March 3» 1933911 ^ infuriated Hoover9 and in a speech in Sto Louis on Lecemher the former President replied,, He declared that all parts of the mechanism of civilization continued to functions, as did the schools, churches and courtSo "What happened on March 3» 1933he stated, “was an induced hysteria of hanking depositorss" He contended that the country was on the way to economic recovery during his administration, hut a retreat hegan “after the election of the Hew Sealo”^ In 1935 Hoover still was the dominant figure in the Republican party® He felt his policies had been correct and that events outside of his control had betrayed him® He retained his passionate desire for vindication of his
5* So Ko Sindley, “Rivals in the &«©,Po Oamp," Current History. ILIII (March 19, 1936), 563o
6 o Samuel I® Rosenman (edo), The Public Papers and Addressee of franklin B® Roosevelt, Yolo IY (Hew York: Random House, 1938), 471 o 7° Herbert Hoover, Addresses Upon the American Road, 1933-1938 (Hew York: Charles Scribner8s Sons, 1938), Po 89o a&mimistratiem ami. his pellciese Mamy members of his ora party9 however9 felt that his embrace meant political ieatho Most of these were the liberal elements of the
G 0O0P 0 who regarded the lew Peal as a mixture of good and bad rather than as pure evil which Hoover contended» Among these men were Senators Tandenberg of Michigan and Borah of Idaho 9 Governor Pamdom of Kansas and Colonel 8 Prank Knox of Chicago0 Hoover believed that the unemployed were adequately eared for during his administration by Federal9 state and local public funds9 but9 under local administra tion and responsibility* He charged that Roosevelt had violated that ideal of American government and fashioned a bogy to create fear in those on relief®^ He also accused Roosevelt of altering the economic facts of the nation when the President had said he found money•= ehamgers11 throughout the government * Hoover felt this argument "had merit as a call to class war, a red herring across the trail of failure, an implication that all opponents are defenders of evil*" Hoover also declared thats * * *three years ago the President gave the com forting assurance that 8The money-changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our
8* Arthur M* Behlesinger, Jr* 9 The Polities of Upheaval (Boston? Houghton Mifflin Company, 1960),p* 5 2 7o
9» Hew York Times0 January 6 , 1936g p® 1* eivilisatieiLo0 It would appear that after three years of the New Beal they have all eome hack a- gaim with helpers* Also I had the impression that the lew Beal had taken over the business of ©hanging the money*10 Burimg a Bareh, 1936» speech in Colorado Springs, Hoover contrasted the administration■s actions and party platform promises of 193 2^ and said that when he was President all hut two of the thirty~seven Republican platform promises were carried out, despite depression difficulties® He declared that he was the one who believed that the only system which will preserve liberty and hold open the doors of opportunity is government-regulated business® 11 And this is as far from government -die tat e d 1 1 business as the two poles®” Because of these and other speeches Hoover delivered, it was widely felt that he was now a candidate for re- election and, of course, vindication® He was “picking up the parts of the shattered Hoover of 1928 and reassembling them® ® o o fhe former President had to somehow dodge the 1 2 deep damnation of the earlier vast banking crisis®“ Hoover also was criticized for what some viewed as an arrogant disclaimer of all responsibility for
10® Hoover, Addresses® p® 116®
11® lew York Times* March 8, 1936, p® 36® 12® John T® Flynn, “Who But Hoover?” lew Republic® 85 (Beeember 4, 1935)» 92° • the depression and his ungracious flinging of blame upon the wide world9 far-away lurope, his political fees, and even former assoeiateso^ John I. Plynn, in the lew Republico wrote that a new image of Hoover was being created--”a gay Hoover9 full of bright 9 cheery
tmirks and merry quipse'* He said that in other words9 “Mro Hoover has resorted to the art of make-upo The new package is labeled— Ze He ever. Happy Saglmeero” fhe primary opposition to Roosevelt, of course, was the Rational Republican party organization and its 1 '^5 leader9 Herbert Hoovero This leadership was depicted in a speech Hoover made at Fort Wayne, Indiana, on
April 4, 1 9 3 6, in which he reiterated his contention that America was recovering from the depression in June and July of i 932o He declared that President Roosevelt, after basing his campaign for election upon the implication that the depression had been caused by Hr<> Hoover per sonally, took a different course entirely in the battle to end it© He further declared that “no proof was needed that the Roosevelt administration had introduced the
13° Ibid© o pp© 93-95° 14© John To Flynn, “Other Peopleffs Money,” lew $» 86 (March 11, 1936), 137° 15° 1° So Robinson, The Roosevelt Leadershino _ (Philadelphiag Lippineott and Company, 1955), p° 176© ^ . foreign, creels ef reglmeatatien, social ism P ami fascism imt® America o!l^ ^ flie lew York f imes hat explained earlier that Hoover was ready to abamiom hope ef becoming the standard™ bearer himselfe She Times reported him t© be ndevoting himself to bmiliimg up strength to influence the plat™ formeM He also was trying to further the nomination of "that Presidential prospect who has shown the most consistent and intelligent opposition to the lew Beal0M 17 This might well have been Hoover himselfi ' There were some in the Hepublican party who believed Hoover was a victim ©f circumstances and that he could best lead the country out of the depressione They were opposed by those who vigorously opposed Hoover*s renomimation for a great variety of reasomso They be lieved that although Hoover had not declared himself a candidates, he was ready to accept r©nomination if it were 1 S offered to him* ©ther possible Republican Presidential candidates9 such as Senator Arthur Ho Tamdenberg of Michigani William 16 lorahg isolationist and progressive Senator ©f Idaho s and
16o Hoover9 Addresses0 ppo 144-148=
1 To lew York Times0 March 2 9 9 1 936$, p 0 To 1 Sd, Richard - ©o lain9 .fomvention decisions and fotlmg Records (Washington: Irookimgs Institution$, 1960) 9 p o 24§0 ©elonel Framk Kmexs, publisher ®£ the Ohiea&e Daily Newsa eomntered with the prep ©sal that the @[email protected] . sheiali met adept the elimimatiem ©f the aee©mp1ishmemt s ©f the Reosevelt admimlstratiem as their ©hjeetivea fhey asserted that it would he a better peliey to he eemserva- tive im eomtimuimg the good polieies, admimisterimg them 1 Q well9 amd meviag on to ether mew problems«, It was felt $ however, prior to. the eemvemtiem, that .Borah». who was mew 71 years eld, probably eeuld met win the memiaatiea but would put forth a serious threat to Eastern domina tion of the Republieam party whieh represented the Hoover interesta®2® Many RepUblieams thought Heever laeked glamour amd that the popular mimd still associated him with the depths of the depression* this segment of the party led im developing a kind of ''loover =■ eontainment11 policyo These mem were mot, however, really out of lime with the ex-Dresidemt8s own eomservative position<, The groups of busimessmem who were working to take over the direction of the Republieam party im 1 936 thought they had found their dream candidate far out in .Amorlea*s heartland on
1 9o Ivan Ho linderaker. Party Polities (lew York: Henry Holt and Company, t , p 0 396®
2 0 o limdley, pe 5 6 5 * 64 tke s m M k e d prairies ©f Kansas im the persen ©f Govermer Alfred H©ssmart lam.dome ©there believed that the m@st important element of the Republican interests mrnst be the oft-slighted Ameriean. farmero Senator Gerald 2* Hye warned that "Wnless the Republican party ignores the ©Id Gmard crowd and writes a safe and sound agricultural plank, it will take a worse
trimming than it did in 1f3 20" ^ As the Republicans began to arrive for the national convention in ©levelamd early in June, 1§36, it seemed that Borah and Knox were out of the running and there was no hope for Hoover or -Tandenberg® Discussed, but never taken too seriously, was the prospect that MHoover® ® ®might still sweep the convention and be drafted at the last minute® Hoover kept a discreet silence on this subject, maintaining always that he was not a candidate Some of the lamdom forces stoutly opposed inviting Hoover to address the convention® Among these advisors to the Kansas Governor were ©harles I® faft who had served
21® Malcolm Moos, fhe Republicans: A History of sTheir Party (Hew York: Random House, 1956), p® 395® 22® Wayne S® ©ole, ienator Gerald P® lye and American Borei&m Relations (Minneapolisg Wniversity of Minnesota Press, 19^2), p® 135® 23® Moos, p® 79® ■briefly in the Reesevelt administration as a lahor eon©il- iatori Bertrand Ho Snell, Representative of Eew York; Ray Roberts of the Kansas 0ity Stars and newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearsto •They felt that Hooveres presenee in Cleveland and the views he might express Goneeralag candidates and platforms might weaken the position of the Kansanc The Landon group worried that his presence might also deadlock the convention» Howeverg Hoover insisted that he would participate in me movement against Governor landon and that his sole interest In the convention centered upon the platformo He wished to discuss some "essential" gA planks, at the convent iono When Hoover arrived in Gleveland most delegates felt that he was a different man from the one who had come to the convention in 1932o When he had come to de fend his record in the White House he was a "tired man, worn hy the manifold problems created by the depressions" The Hoover who appeared to them this day "had the attitude of a buoyant leaders, taking this opportunity to re-enter the national arenao" The Hew York Times likened him to a "warrior on the attack" and said he seemed to enjoy this role
24o Hew York Times, Hay 3© s 1 936$, p 0 1 o
25o Ibido s, June 6 S 1 9369 p» 1 5° fk© delegates were said t© k© fall ef zeal ©r anger, depemdimg ©a their persemal views, when, preeedlag the repert ©f the platform committee9 -leover took the r©©tram t© speak t® the conventlone He was greeted hy a mammoth demonstration which delayed the speech for nearly half an hoar* In this address9 he attacked the Hew. leal p®.lieiesg etmparlng them t© the methods msed in the rising iietaterships ©f larepeo He felt that ti$he. 1 932 campaign was a pretty good imitation ®f this state of European tactics« Tern may recall the premises ©f the ahnndant life and the propaganda ©f hate0"
He offered a fighting challenge f© those who ^offered the mirage of Itopia t® these in distresse*1 When his speech was finished another demonstration erupted— longer and lender than the firstThe demonstration eomtinmed even after Hoover left the platform© Representative
Bertrand Smell9 chairman of the•convention, tried to halt it hy announeing that Hoover had left the Building to oatoh a train for Hew York© He had n©t9 in fast, lefts hnt was waiting in a near "by room, perhaps hoping that the ovation w©mid lead to his renomimati®mo This display ©f emotion showed that Hoover was still one ef the most
26o Hoover, Addresses* p0 174% lain, p» 247% and Heals Brogan s The Ira of. Franklin Bo lees eve It (Hew Haven* Yale Wmiversity Bregs,”Tf5#) 9" p© 2©3o powerful personalities im the Repuhliean party* 27 the platform adopted t>y the eonvemtiom was some** what innocuous9 merely pledging to t!preserve the American system of free enterprises private e©mpetiti@m9 and equality of opportunity$ and to seek its constant betterment in the interests of all*”^® The platform criticized much that the Democrats had done which the Republicans viewed as evil to the Republic* They had M destroyed morale 9 bred fear and hesitation in commerce,and industry and coerced and intimidated the voterso"^ Critics said the platform was nperfectly satisfactory to Wall Street9 Pittsburgh and Detroit9 to If* Hearst and the utility magnates, and to the economic rulers of A m e r i c a Others said that the real platform was not published*--it was the hatred of Roosevelt as shown in the "hysterical oratory of Mr* Hoover
2?o Sehlesinger, p* 547* 28* Kirk H* Porter and Donald 1* Johnson, national Party Platforms * 184®-1960 (Wrbanas Wniversity of Illinois Press, 1 ) p p 0 361*
29o Ibid. «> p. 365= 3©. "Hf. Pacing“All Ways 9" lew Republic * @7, June 24, 1936, 19©o 31 o "All Dressed ¥p," The Ration* 142, June 24, 19369 791-793o It was said that the Republicans would carry the country much further toward "the kind of social disaster which Mr* Hoover so successfully inaugurated*" In general, the statements ©f the platform were nroeh the same as Hoover hat teem making in the paste When asked his ©pinien ©f.the platform when he arrived in lew York, Hoover said that almost all ©f his reeomaenda- tloms of the past nine months were contained in the d,@eument adopted hy the convent Ion* He was % noted as boasting that he had "been eemdmettng a ernsade vital t© the American people to regenerate real, individual freedom in the Halted States*", fhe next step toward the attain ment •of that purpose, in Hoover*s opinion, was the election 32 of Governor landem* Three of the most influential Republicans desert ing their party again in 1936 were Senators 1 orris, laFollette and Borah* Senator HerrIs withdrew from the party and received his reaomlnation as an Independent*
Senator laFollette eat all ties with the party and endorsed Roosevelt, while Borah merely said nothing about supporting landono . The Republican.party,.Borah cried,."Is shot to. pieees, demoralized and without influence in national affairs* I am good enough a Republican to fight as long as I have power against the men who brought the party to its present e©mditionoM This was an obvious reference 33 t© the supporters of Herbert Hoovero M r i n g the campaign, the Republicans charged that the costs of recovery, as supervised by the Democratic administration, were too great for the country to bears and, second, that the administration measures for reform, especially because of the way in which they were being developed, meant destruction of the American system of 34 private enterprise<> Because many of them were charges Hoover originally had leveled at the Democrats, he was un doubtedly pleased to hear the party express them* Arthur Kroek, columnist for the Hew York Timeso in September, felt that the party was in a position where it would have to defend Hoover and his policies* He fully expected Hoover to emphasize this when he entered the campaign* Kroek wrote that "A good enough reason for many citizens to vote against Mr* Dandon would be a belief that he represents the same factor in the economic situa tion Hr* Hoover did*"35 sven liehelson, writing after the election, felt that the prominence of Hoover in Republican affairs pointed to him as the most likely
33o William A* White as quoted in Sehlesinger, p* 54©* 34* Robinson, p* 176° 35° Hew York Times* September 24, 1936, p° 24* 70 ©k©I@e ©f Mis party im the raee far the Presidency in 1#40e HieMelsem seems to have keen laying the groundwork for another campaign against the Hoover "image” im 194© Governor lamdom tried to ©Mliterate the memory of Hoover as far as possiMleo Im Mis Me©ks Amerioa at the ©ressroalsg lamtom salt that he felt the issue was mot ”whether we are Matter off mow tham we were im 19339" but rather if the eowmtry hat "mate as nraeh progress im eomimg out of this depression as we have a reasonable right to expeet?"^^ He also salt that9 im his opinion, the SepmM- . lieam party should develop its ideas along more progressive limeso “Where humanitarian, legislation is meeted, we must provide ito“^® Throughout the work, Laadoa almost entirely omitted the programs promulgated My Hoover and never mentioned the former President My name* neither did he mention Roosevelt My name Mut referred to the
“present aimiaistrat Ion*." In many Republican eireles it was hoped that iandon would invite the support of men and women in the middle of the political road* Host of the conservative diehards were his anyway: “they would vote for the Devil himself
3 6o IMido o HovemMer 1.4, 1937> See* • II, p* 3® s 37o Alfred Mo landen, Amerioa at the Crossroads (Hew York: lodge Publishing Company, 1936), p» 20=
3 8o IMido c, p 0 9 2 * . 71 t© "beat Reesevelto. 3§ liamd@m9,s plea throughout the campaign was that he eeuld manage the Hew Heal better and cheaper and still provide all its benefits and balance the budget as well® Handen did net see the Hew Real as Zeever did9 that is9 as a conspiracy t© subvert American institutions® liand0n 98 policy tended be cause a split between these wh@ favered accepting some of the mere pregressive ideas and those9 like Hooverp who felt every Hew Heal program was a menace to the Republic® It had been Zeever at Cleve land who had expressed the meed of the Republican ©Id ©mard and represented their conservative ideas® Randon8 s campaign manager9 John Hamliton9 Jr® 8 was the person most responsible for Hoover8s prominence in speaking during the campaign® Hoover had explained to Hamilton that he did not wish to speak until Roosevelt started to campaign9 at which point he proposed to give three speeches in answer to specific charges levied by the President® Randon would have preferred that Hoover met speak at all® He was afraid the campaign would become a running debate between Hoover and Roeseveltp rather than himself and the Democratic President® Hamilton could net induce Random to send a letter to Hoover inviting him to
39® Frederick R® Allen® Since Yesterday (Hew Yorks Harper and Irothersp Publishersp 1940)s p® 235® 4©® Sehlesingerc, pp® 6©2«=604O speakg imt did eeBvlaoe him t® ©all the farmer Presidemto Heever them wemt t© Shieag© where he drew a very ©@©1 re= eeptiom at Lamden1® headqmarterso 1© ©me there seemed the least hit interested la arranging speeches f@r him* When Hester finally spoke., he hardly mentioned the 66®»P.« 41 candidate* In Aiagmst at Sam Francis©# He ever eharged that liberty had been violated by the E@@setelt admimistra- tloBo "We hate seen 0®ngress redmeed from premd lade- pendemee to a fleek ©f sheep* We hate seen the ©eastItntlorn violated a dozen times* He recantations by the Hew Beal,”. he declared, "can erase its record*" Hamilton and Frank Kaex, the Tice"Presidential candidate, traveled far and wide, relentlessly assailing everything connected with the Hew Beal, and completely undermining the strategy that Bamdon hoped to pursue® She tenor of their remarks proved extremely embarrassing to Lamdon and his liberal supporters* Seeing how often Hamilton spoke, critics were prone to ask who was actually 45 running for President on the Republican ticket* Political journalist William A* White blamed the deterioration of the campaign on Hamilton: "John has a
41 * Ibid* o p* 605* 42* Hew York Times* August 14, 1936, p* 11* 43* I* 0* Evjem, "She Willkle ©ampalgaj An H a - , fortunate ©hapter in Republican leadership,M J©urmal of PoliticSo Ilf (I95t), 243* 73 8evea«-6evH lust t© live amt sklme uatex the hlessing of the rleh, aad he has turned ©ver what ought to have been a good middle-of-the-road eampalgm to the hard-boiled poll- hh tieal reaetiomariescooand their fimaneial supporters*" In a speech to the Women0 s ©omferenee em Current Problems in lew Terk,'leever defended his administration and its policies towards relief asserting that: This was the basis of organisation for three years— 193®» 1 f3 1, and At that time when it was my duty to see that relief to unemployment was assured$, we spread over the country a network of local volunteer committees free from political domination** * * They gave encouragement and hope* They were doing neither polities nor social re form* * * * They were taking care of distress*45 In October9 at Philadelphia s Hoover contended that “me man or government brought about the depression*M He said that every economistg scholarg and informed states man knew that the beginnings of recovery were world-wide in the„spring of 1932* He charged that in many of the countries without the “interference" of so-called lew Beals# "recovery* * *marehed further and faster than in the Waited States*"^ Hoover carried on this series of assaults until October 309 when he asked if the administration
44* Quoted in Sehlesinger, p* 61 g* 45* Hoover, Addresses* p* 1©9* 46* Ibid** p* 2©3* 74 imteBdei. te n stuff the Smpreme ami referred t© the Statue ©f hlberty as "the f©rg@ttem wemamo"^ , fhe Amerieam hiherty leagme als© graved t© he [email protected]. t©. Aamdem thr©iagh©.mt the ©ampaigio Like Hooverg this ©rgailgati©i seemed te he a veiee ©it ©f the past-* a past whisk the Eepuhliean party was trylag t© fergeto fhe League set up quite a ©latter aid ©arried ©m a ©ampaigi hased ©a the idea ©f "fern mere weeks t© save the Ameri©am wayG" la Heaver9s judgmentg the "person alities" that ram it were s© ©at ©f favor im the ©ea&try that it Mh@©meramged1* aid aetmally aided Eeasevelto Years later Heaver was disturbed about the League«> "Wmhelievahle as it may he s," he lamemtedg Hlaskeh wrote asking me to jeimo"48 Although many ©f the members of the League were met riehg. the leaders and spokesmen were© fhe administra tion was able to make these men synonymous with the
League© "Hew leal spokesmen did net have to refute the
■ 49 views of the League t they had only to ©all the role©" ' There were calls from all sections for Lamdem t© repudiate
47© lexford @© fugwell9 fhe Hem©©rati© Hoosevelt (Garden ©itys leubleday and ©©mpanyg 1957)9 p© 418©
48© George Wolfskill9 fhe levolt of the Conserva tives (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1962) 9~ p0 33©
49 © Ibid©9 p© ix© the eharges made hy the League against Eeesevelt. fhe party ergamigatien asked the Liberty League 9 by them am ebvieas pelitleal liability, t@ M stay aleef frem tee elese alliaaee with the lamdea eampaigm,9 fhe 'League ee-eperated by ammemieimg that it would remain mempartisam during the eampaign, and it never endorsed Landon0 After the election in ©me ©f his mere kindly moments, even Michels©m said that the League had "brought to the firing lime a lot of mem who it was unnecessary to expose to attache.He concluded that the country was in no mood in 1 to "accept the mandate of big businesso" He felt that about all the League get for its efforts was Mthe conversion of America ®s favorite family•=—the CO dm fonts””into political enemy number oneG" Democratic strategists conducted their campaign as though they were opposed merely by the millionaire
Liberty League9 not the Republican partyo fhis identifi cation, together with the continuing image of Hoover in the background, were two of the major reasons for the overwhelming defeat of Landon0
§@o Frederic Rudolph, "American Liberty League," American Historical Review, L¥I (©etober, 1§5®), 31o 51 e ©harles Eichelson, "My Advice t© the Q-e©vF<. American Magazineo 123 (dune, 1937)s 31 = 52 ® Wolfskill, p® 263o Framklia Be Roosevelt set the stage for the Deaeeratle eampalga 1b 1936 whem he said that there was “©me Issme la this eampalga#ee [aad] lt8s myself." Wse ©f this Issue did met repair© voters t© approve any epeeIfle lew Beal measares* It invited only am expression ef faith in a man© ©f eearse, Roosevelt and the ether Berneerate were not yet ready to let the pepalaee forget the depression ©r lander who8s administration it had ©oeiarred©^^ fe he smre 9 as a vast dispenser ©f aid to individuals in the form ©f relief the lew Beal was met overlooked as a poli tical weapon© The argument for the Roosevelt program, al though usually not elaborated, was implicit in every payment “We are looking after you© Maybe these other people womH© letter vote for us ©" ^ The momentum of governmental subsidies was tremendous and anyone who suggested reducing them did so at his own political peril© In the campaign Roosevelt hoped to herald the gains of the lew Beal and to assert that even better days lay ahead© He contrasted the America he had found in March, 1933, with the America ©f 1936© When in early 1936 the Rational Emergency Council submitted t© Roosevelt some statistical tables and statements implying that
53© Raymond Holey, After Seven Tears (lew Yorks Harper and Brothers$, Publishers, 1 939), p© 35©© 54© Allen, p© 246© re ©every had begem 1m 1932$, he indieated that this weald met d© at all* " The Fresidemt Is ins 1st eat s,'* Steve
Early wrete te the lEG, "that the low point in the de- presslem he fixed as Mareh9 19339 er early in the year 1 f33— this for ehvioms reasons*"^ James A» Parley claimed that many ©f the Democrats hoped Hoover weald he nominated in 1 936 so they eemld argme the tw© opposing political philosophies ©f Hoover and Reosevelto This seems somewhat hard te believe bat
Parley asserted that, "We helped all we eeald hy making fr@fmemt mention of the former Ghief 35xeeatIveo«. • bat, as convention time drew closer, it became evident that the party leaders had no intention of nominating hlm,"^ Parley^s Janaary speech to the Democratic. Rational iommittee was mot, however, the type that would he assumed to he promoting the interests of Herbert Hoovers In the ranks of oar foes you will find not only the financial gangsters whose extortions were so largely responsible for bringing on the Hoover panic, hut others, who for one reason or another, hate Franklin Do Roosevelt, or who are accessories of the exploiterself
55o As cited in James M® Burns, Roosevelt: The M o n and the Pox (Hew York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1956), p 0 269o 560 James A® Parley, Behind the Ballots (Hew York Harcourt, Brace and Gompamy, 1938), p® 304® 57o Hew York Timesa January 10, 1936, p® 10® He went ©m te warm that the Hepm'blieaas 11 dared mot" n©mlnat@ .Mr, Heo-refo PmrtheTg 1b a speeeh given hj Secretary ©f the
Interior Harold le lekes In Pittsburgh9 Hoover*8 administra tion was eharged with being completely d©-nothing and indifferent t© the poor wh© were starving. Even the. Presi dent entered the mud-slinging at an early date, charging$,
at the Pemeoratie state convention in Syracuse9 Hew York* that a person e@uld net be "am ©Id Guard Republican in the
East and a Hew leal Republican in the West," He also asked9 "Hh© is there in America wh© believes that we cam rum the risk ©f.turning back ©ur Government.to the old leadership which brought it t© the brink of
'/larly in-1:f3i seme - lemeerats were net satisfied with the work:- Sharlos Michelsen was doing,- -Most n©table among these critics was Steve Early, Early hoped t© have flamde Bowers9 ambassader t® Spain9 replace Michels@n but feared that Michelscm would probably work gust as hard for the ©ppositicn. Even Roosevelt, on June 1 1 §3Ss told Ickes that the faulty statements of Parley were often Miehelson,s error© "It seems that Mlehelson dashes off a snappy statement, hands it to Jim, who, relying on llehelsom8s judgment, gives it to the press©" The Presi dent said that he had both Parley and Michelson in and
@S© Resemman, Public Papers© V, 389© gave them, striet erlers -tkat b .® mere statements attacking LanSeB. were t© be issued unless they bat first, been sub mitted to blm® He failed t© say anything abemt the S<8 assaults en Heaver whieh were still being madec, ly eenventiem time the Bern©eratie fight against Heaver was starting t© g© int® full swing® Senater Albem We larkley of Kentucky set the pace 1m his keynote address when he criticized the Republicans far their opposition t© the slaughter of little pigs* saying? They shed tears aver these little pigs as if they had_ been barng educated and destined far the ministry-— ©r far Republican palities® so® Their real grief comes from the fact of the slaughter of the fat hags of Republican plunder which they had fed on the substance ©f the American people®®® A sang was written far the eanventian far the delegates t© sing t© the tune of “Marching Through Geargias"
Herbie Hoover promised us two chickens in each poti Breadlines and depression were the only things we gat® I lest my job, my bank blew up 9 and I was an the spot9 That's why I'm voting for .ReaseveIt® He©rayg hoorays Herb Heaver's gene awayg Ha©ray$ hooray,\X hope he's gone to stay. For now I'm back to work and get my three squares every day9 il That's why I'm voting for Roosevelt®
B9o' Harold I® lakes. The Secret M a r y of Harold 1® lakes (Hew larks Simon and Schuster$ 1§§3) 9 I, IIS® If® Sehlesinger9 p® 5 §i®
II® 1©rant9 p® I©7 As ©©mid "be imaginedg this song was repeated a mmmher of times thr©ugh@iit the ©©mntry t© keep the memory ©f the times wmder l@®Ter im the mind @f the pwhli©* In his acceptance speech t© the convention, again Roosevelt attacked the leaders of the Republican party saying that: It was natural and perhaps human that the privi leged princes of these new economic dynasties, thirsting for power, reached out for control over Government itself= oo 0 They created a new despotism ooofhe royalists of the economic order have con ceded that political freedom was the business of the Government, but they have maintained that economic slavery was nobody8 s businesso®^ The phrase weconomic royalistM was suggested by Stanley High, earlier and later a Republican speeehwritero It expressed the President8s feeling about the concentration of economic power in the hands of those who sought to control the lives of less fortunate persons, and to direct the actions of government itself She platform adopted by the democratic convention reiterated the charge that a Republican victory would lead to an administration that ’’has and would again regiment them in the service of privileged groups o'' It further
62.0 The Campaign look of the Demo era tie Party Candidates and Issueso 1 fll’^ Hew Yorkg Democratic National .Committee,' 1936)pQ 9o; (Hereaftor cited as Democratic ©ampalgn looka 1936)0 63o Samuel lo Rosenman., Working with Roosevelt (Hew York:. Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 1 952), po 1 ®7 asserted, that the Demoeratie party held as evident that M twelve years of Bepmhlieam leadership left eur Sation sorely stricken in hodyg mind and spirito” It was also claimed that Mthree years of Bemoeratie leadership have put it feaok ©n the road t© restored health and prosperity To many9 the central theme of the eampalgn was simple and elear0 Shis administration had reserned the oemmtry when it was down-and-out and a return of the Republicans would only mean that the relief and recovery programs would he seuttle&o She worst rigors of the depression still were a lively recollection in millions of mindso fhey felt that the Republicans would return big business interests to leadership ®f the govern ment » These business interests were linked to Hoover and were the strongest reminders of the depression in the ©©untryo^ Roosevelt $s keynote in the campaign was against business and conservative ideologieso Even many of the conservative Democrats were aligned against him*
In his speeches9 Roosevelt devoted most of his time to a point-by“point answer to Republican charges® He made
64® Porter and Johnson9 p» 36®»
65o Twgwellg p® 428® the lew leal reeerd, met the lew leal premises, the Issms la this defease Charles Miehelsom, la deserlhlag the eampalga strategy, dees met meatlea aay themght ©f again mslag He ever as a feeal pelat t© attack the Bepmtilieaa. party© la fast, he never mentioned the .ineptness of the Eepmhlieaa leadership dmriag the depression which seemed te appear s© ©ftea la the speeches made hy leading lemeerats dmriag the campaign* However, he did mention at this time that the publicity committee was able, with considerable smeeess, t© attack Hoover in the period preceding the
1932 ©lestion*^ As msmal, it was once more policy t© emphasize the extent t© which the speeches ©f lew Sealers were the prodmets ©f Hiehelseno One Seme ■» eratie writer fmlpped,t,If he were t® write all that has been attributed to him, Miehelsem would have had to eq.ual, in a single day, the lifetime output of a Smmas ©r a SickensoM^®
Seeking at the actions ©f the leading democrats it is evident that even in 193$ the disastrous Republican years. 1929-1932 were not considered "ancient history*M
660 Burns, pe 2SIo 67o lew York fimes<, lovember 1®, 1 f3 6. See®, IV, P o 1 © O ' 680 Paul Ward, “Campaign Press Agents," The Hationo 143 (July 1 8, 1f3S), 63.■ ' Bepressien seea.es were rehashed, although with a somewhat diminished fervor*' la his Syraemse speech, Roosevelt re minded the voters of these years and asked if they were willing to return to their former leaders» As was his usual policy, Roosevelt again had attacked "Republican leaders" or "Republican spokesmen," never the Republican party or Republicans generally0 Seldom, if ever, did he mention his opponent by name after 1932.® He believed that an attack by him could only result in giving his adversary more publicity than he otherwise would get» In 1§31 he had frequently attacked Hoover but at that time the roles had been reversed | he was then only a 'contender running against .the President then in office* Roosevelt8 s trip through the drought-stricken areas in was a political master stroke* He. never mentioned the campaign directly and never referred to the Republican opposition* However, he saw fit to remark on the differences he saw in 1936, even in these drought areas, with the conditions that prevailed when he toured the area in 1fjSU this also served to reinforce the memory of the conditions during the Hoover presidency* Roosevelt also appeared to be staying above the battle
69* Hew York limeso Hentember 3©* 1936, p* 17@ 70* Resenman, p® 11f® ■ ' ' wheia. ke refmset te amswer amy @£ the eharges mate agatmst James Farley ahetat mslmg relief fer lelitieal pmrpeseso fhe lepmhlieaBs were never able t© make their blows glance ©££ Farley ami ©mb© B©©sevelto^^ The campaign was eallet ©me ®f the tirtiest ever by Democratic writer Paul Wart9 bmt he memtiemei ©mly the slanders supposedly made against BeeseveltP He- aeeiased the §o©oFo and the American liberty League ©f making most ©f the slanders »■ He never memt ieme d any ©f the diatribe s made against lantern ©r Hoevero Apparently he never came across the fellewimg in his researehs Harry Hepklns, in ©etcher, said that Mro Hoover8s alleged inaction was due to the desire t© lead the entire eest ®f relief ©m local taxes, s@ that the income tax payers ©f the country would met have te pay higher levies— @r the statement ©f Ties™ President Garner: © ® otke Heever administration ©©mfused help lessness with statesmanship, and-the people of the Wmited States paid the pries© © © © She memory is still fresh within ms ©f the bungling and inept Hoover administration which mishandled every major prob lem presented by the depression until finally its constant retreat before economic forces became an utter rout©73 In the final weeks the presidential battle had demonstrated to what depths ©f inanity, bad taste, and
71 o Hums, p© Sjlo 7®© Paul Ward, "Gampaign Dirt," She Hationn 143 (Hevember 7 9 1 ) , 94©1 and Hew York Times© ©etober 18, 1 §3S, p© 39o jttwmright tisMemesty Amerieam p®litles earn teseemdo iPelitieiams wM® sh®ta.ld have kmemhetter eharged Eeesevelt aad Landom with faseism9 eemmmmlsm, aazlsm— evea with belief la bigamy? wleaders like Alfred B» Smith, liagh Jehasea, lar©ld lekes. Father [©harles] @®mghlimg Herbert H®©ver and ©gdem Hills reserted t© aeeusatioas that evem pelltieiams try t© avoid® Eaymoad Holey eharged that the speeehes through ©etober beeame Mimereasimgly emotiomal® So did;" said Holey; "the speaker® For he [Eoosevelt] had sueeumbed completely to the heady spell he was ©reatimg® fhat be eame mmistakable ®m the might of ©etober 319 1S3io"74
©a that might Roosevelt gave his speech im Hadis@a Sfaare ©ardem aad dealt eriashiag criticism ©a the backs of the Eepmblieaa party® For twelve years emr Matioa was affected with hear-aothiag s see=mothing9 do-mothing Government® ® Hlme moeking years with the golden ealf and three long years with the scourge i Hime crazy years at the ticker and three long years im the bread lines? lime made years of mirage aad three long years of despair!o®® They had begun to consider . the Government of the Waited States as a mere appendage to their own affairs® Aad we know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized m©b®75 „
7 3® loraat; p® 611® 74® Holey, p® 35'1 ® 75® H u m s 9 p® 283® With this9 Roosevelt could rest his ease eoaZldeat that the Americas voting public would go to the polls with the memory of the worst depression years fixed in their minds« He had also successfully reminded them of the man who had played sueh a large role in bringing on these years-"Herbert Hoover* Even in 1932, Roosevelt had failed to carry a dozen cities with 1©@,©@© or mere population--Philadelphia, Scran- tern and Reading in Pennsylvania; ©anton, Youngstown and
©elumbus in ©hi©; Gary, Buluth, Bes.Heines, Grand Rapids, and Springfield, Massachusetts® All of these turned to him in 1936 and, except for Grand Rapids, remained Demo cratic throughout the Roosevelt years The Hoover image was employed in the election of 1936 only slightly less than in 1932® The results proved that the Hoover image was still a valuable and useful politi cal weapon for the Democrats® It was also beginning to be come evident that much of the use of his name was brought on by the actions of Hoover himself® By remaining in the limelight, he occasioned the Republican party much difficulty®
1f36 was mot the last time, however, that the MDepression President" played a significant role in the strategy of both parties in a Presidential election®
760 Samuel Dubell, The Future of American Polities (Garden ©ity; Doubleday and ©ompany, 1951)g P° 52® CHAlfSE IT
A MOTE FARTHER AWAY
Attaeks am the laever "Image" were met megleeted by Bemeerats im the eaapalga @f 194©6 Withlm the Repmblieam party bickering among LamSeB ami Heever supporters was eTitemt againo As early a s .1f37 lareld lakes wrote in his diarys "There is evidently a ©omtest on between lamdom and Hoover for- leadership of the Republican party®ooo Custo marily even a defeated Presidential candidate is regarded as the leader of his party until a new nomination has been *1 made® But Hoover is trying to horn in on lamdom®" The idea of the nominee necessarily retaining leadership over his party has been outmoded since this time® Prior to the 194© convention, prominent Republicans developed a distaste for the counsels of both Hoover and
Lamdom• Senator Arthur 1® Vamdemberg of Michigan advised the party regulars to sit still and wait hopefully for the lew Beal to fall of .its own weight® ©n the other hand, progressive Republicans like Borah and LaPollette hoped to bury Hoover8s recommendations once and for all and move
1® Harold 1® Iekes. The Secret Diary of Harold L® I ekes (Hew Yorks Simon and Schuster, 1953), I, 23© ® **" eleser t© wMat they felt the lew leal shemM aeeoafllshe
Soever*.s earlier Ideas amd preaemaeememts were mow heeomiag less realist 1©$, ■ even to their advoeateso. Altheiagh the party as a whole eeuld met hrlag Itself t© approve govera™ meat speadlag as am eeomomle toolg It was admitting that a it did seem t® w@rkp At the l94©eonventlom the eoaservatlve elements
1m the Eepm’blieam party - eomo.estratei t® support the earn- didaey ®f Senator Robert Taft of ©hlOe This, im addition t© the strength of the movement on behalf of Wendell 1® .Wlllkle, kept Soever from being seriously oomsidere.d by the delegates for the presidential nomination®■ The galleries' were .filled'with supporters-of'Wlllkle,- the relative 'neweomer from Indiana0 There was little ohanee for'a reeenelliatlon between, the eenservative and liberal wings of the party®
As - the 'eonvehtion. opened, in Jwme at Philadelphia, crowds were massed on the enrbs to greet Herbert Hoover with shouts of “We want Hoover!M Be spite this demomstra- tion,'Hoover^s supporters at the eonventlorn were re- fmesfed net t® work openly in his .behalf® le desired ■ -
i® Roland 1® Strombergg Renmtlieanlsm Reappraised (Washington? Pnblie Affairs Press9 1952)$, p® 55o
3® Ho 0® Hvgen, “The Wlllkie ©ampaign? An Un fortunate ©hapter im Republican leadership," Jonrmal of Polities® XXV (1@gS)8 241 ® met t# appear as the disrmpter @£ aepmtilieam mmityo She fermer Iresidemt told .reporters he was met i!lse@kimgM am ©ffiee but was mem-eemmittal whem asked if he was a eamdi- date fer the memimatiemo 4 Im a rev©It ef the rank amd file ®f the party agaimst the ©Id ©ward leaders9 Willkie was memimatedo S© appease seme ef the earlier ©ppememts ©f Willkie9 Semater ©barles MeWary ef ©regem$, ©me ef the leaders ef the iselatiemist wimg ef the party was mamed as the Tlee-Iresidemtial eamdidate0 It was heped that Willkie wemli appeal t© the liberal Hepmblieams amd amti- E©©serelt lem©erats while Melary weald rally the iselat iemist s 9 amd held the elememts im the party who were worried about Willkiefs earlier idemtifieatiem with the "imterestso11® Willkie0s momimatiom was the ©mlmimatiem ef a .eomp by a eembimatiem ef pelitieal tagatewrs* whe were able t© werk their way into the party ergamissation. She establishmemt ef "Willkie fer PresidemtH elubs9 alemg with the eemvemtiem leadership ef Jehm lamilt©mg were the mest impertamt ©f the aetiems on Willkie5 s behalf 0 She abim=- damee ef letters to the delegates at the ooaveation from
4 0 lew York Timeso Jane 17» 19:4©, pc 1® go Stefan leramt, She Presidency: A Pieteral listery of Presidential Eleetlems From Washington to Truman (lew Yerk: She Maemillam ©empamy, 19g1), Po 6260 f ® all ever the eomtry helped to break down the strength that Thomas Dewey amd Robert Taft had aeemnralatedo The eonservatIves had little resistance against this apparently
- ' "grass r@#ts" mevememt«, The platform adopted by the convention was rela tively mildo It stated that the lew leal administration had failed America and that relief eomld he more effi ciently administered by the states. For the most part the platform supported the soeial reforms of the lew lealo It gave almost no weight to the ideas espoused 7 by Hoover and other conservative elements in the party. The election itself also showed that the voters had given little heed to Hoover8s predietion that the de feat of the Republican candidate would mean soeialism g and totalitarianism in the Inited States. Although the lemoerats were also divided@ especially about the third-term issue$ their differences were mild compared to the seismic disturbances beneath the sur face of the Republican campaign. The ©Id Guard was
6. Mary E. Billong, Wendell Wlllkie. 1 892-1 §44 (Philadelphia2 Mppineott and ©0mpany9 1952) a pp. 155-1750 7. Kirk Porter and lonald 1. Johnson. latienal Party Platformsa 184©-If6© (Wrbana: Wniversity of Illinois Press8 1$61), p. 394. S. I. S. Robinson9 The Roosevelt leadership. 1§33- 1943 (Philadelphia $ lippineott and ©ompanys 19B5T 9 P« 2620
I herrifled t© dlseever ^that, their eahtidate was mere ef a liberal than they had thought• Shis, with Wlllkie1s laek ef experiemee in national polities and the blunders
ef his advisersg made him countless enemies®^ ©n the ether hand, lexferd G® fugwell felt that the new conserva tive Repmblieams had found their here in Wlllkie® The ©Id Guard had n© candidate who eeuld be imagined to be a match for Roosevelt, Wlllkie9 who had agreed with many hew leal pregrams but often criticized the administration of them9 hoped to gather support from both liberal and
conservative elements' in "the country*1 ® The role of Hoover in the If4® campaign was that of am elder statesman of the party® As expected, he had been a critic of the Hew leal throughout this period® Hoover still held a large following and exercised great influence ®. In a Mmeolm lay address at lime ©In, Hebraska9 on February 12, 194®, the former President sought to direct the attention of Americans on the domestic scene® *’The outstanding problem in the Waited
States911 he said, "Is unemployment®" He charged that the cause ef the unemployment was Hew leal domestic policies®
9® Allen Hatch, Franklin 1® Roosevelt® An Informal Biography (Hew York % Henry Holt and Company9 1 94779 p® 269® 10® Rexford G® Tugwell, The lemoeratie Roosevelt (Garden City5 loubleday and Company, 1957)9 p® 537® He suggested tkat the Hew Beal demestie policies he 11 akaudomed audg, further9 that America stay ©mt ©f war®
Earlier9 H©ever had urged a mid-term party e©Bfenti©a. in 1 938 aad eoase^ueatly was accused ©f kidding f@r power though he later denied that he wanted any public ©ffieeo He said the mid-term convention would ke merely an "intellectual session of the party*" He also made statements from time to time which kept him in both the party and public eyea and reports were widespread that Hamilton had defected from Bandon to the protection of Hoover and the Old Suardo^ In September of 1 Hoover renewed the defense of his administration apparently in an effort to anticipate the contest of 1#4© by stating in Kansas Oity, Missouri* In 193© as President I announced that as a nation we must prevent hunger and eold to those of our people who are in honest difficulties* And. I undertook the organization of their relief* I had had years [of] experience elsewhere with the moral and political-dangers in relief* I deter mined that America should not be subjected to those calamities* To prevent this we saw to it that non-partisan committees of leading citizens were established in some J©§© communities@ where relief was needed*13
11 * Hew York Times * February 13» 194®, p* 8* 12* lonald B* Johnson$> The Heoubliean Party and Wendell Willkle (Wrbana1 University of Illinois Pressj 1960), p* 25* 13* Herbert Hoover, America°s Way Forward (Hew York: ©harles Scribner ?s Sons', 1939), p* 4* Brea Heerer remembered the earlier years ia his Hartf©rd9
©emmeetieut speech of ©etoher, 193@»- Speaking of the congressional elections of 1 938 he said that the conflict was between "two ideas of life for America0 It is a con
flict started in 1933<>o«o [it] is between age old personal government and a government of free men under the rule of lawo" .He went on to assert that he had been able to get through measures of recovery despite "the demons and their obstructions*"^ In these speeches and others Hoover not only kept his name and memory of his administration before the public» but also opened the way for the Democrats to use his record as an issue in the campaign© The Republican party could not escape the Hoover record as long as the former President continued to remind the voters of what conditions were like during his a dmini strat ion © Hoover spoke to the national conventions and analyzed the problems the Republican party and the nation
faced© Each of these tasks he discussed at length, showing how the Democratic administration had proved unable or unfit to cope with them© He declared: This condition is not an inheritance from the inevitable world depression which followed the last World War© It is the result of incom petence in government © We were on the way to ree©Tery im 1f3 lo STery ©tlaer demeeraey had [email protected]©Ter@t fr@m that degression long feefer® the ©mthreak of this war o'* 5 He @©ntended im the sp.eeeh that the Eepmhiiearns were respemsihle f@r starting relief measures when he said i It was a Bepmhlieam Admimistrati@m in If3© that first anmeuneed we eamnet allew Amerieams to' g© hungry and @@ld from m@ fault ©f their ©wma We organised and prevented ito It was a Eepmhli- eam Admimistrati©m whieh first started relief for farmer So'* ^
Im W@vemher9 Soever deneuneed the Demeerats f©r returning t® the theme ©f the depression in their earn- paiga literature and political oratorya He hoped that the lew healers would imtrodmee mew foeal petats» "Their "speeehesg“ he sald9 "all g# hack t® the same ghosto11 ImdeEhtedly this was.another referemee to the earlier werk of ©harles Mieh@ls®mQ Soever charged that the Democrats always started with copious tears over the state of the country in If33 and ”earefully omit that the country was em the way to recovery before the election of 1 f3So" ^ The attack @m the Democratic use of the depression theme had heem sounded by Hoover since his
1 So Herbert Hoovers Addresses fpom the American Hoads 1 #40=1 #41 (Hew York: ©harles Scribner's [email protected], 1941) s P e 2®6 o
16o Ibida o po 212o 1 To Ibido j, p 0 24©0 speech 1b. Spekame, Washjbagtea, as early as 193So He eea- tended that In. 1 932 11 It was reeegnized hy every authority that depression was overcome and recovery hegun the world everoee.” Hoover went on to aver that this country alone 1 R “Hesitated, when jBTo Roosevelt was elected** The. Democrats took their now almost traditional view of directing their campaign against Herbert Hoovero
Charles Mlehelsea, as far hack as 1918, had said that the American people would elect a “sen-existent person— and defeat likewise a mythical Identity*w Their vote will go for and against “a picture that has been painted for them by protagonists and antagonists in a myriad ©f publicationsThis was exactly what Miehelson and the Democrats intended to do once again with the Hoover M imageo" Miehelsons, the Democratic Publicity Director, had "grown up" with the office* After the tumult and shouting of 194© had died away, M@harlieM was still there unbowed by his 7©“©dd years, wearing the smile of victory for the third consecutive time* During his eleven year tenure as propaganda chief of the Democratic party, he
1 So Hoover, America8s Way Forward« p 0 38o 19o Theodore Black, Democratic Party Publicity in the 194© Oam'paian (lew Yorks Plymouth Publishing Oompany, 1959), p* 1©To hat acfmiret se wites$reat a reputatIqbl as a palitieal taetielan that la 194® am adversary gave credit t® Itiehelsem for: ooofirst place in the ranks ©f the Berne- eratie ant Wew Seal ©©mhimatiea, secemd ©mly t© the President himselfo He is having mere t® d® and say in shaping the campaign than any other individuale 20
The chairman of the Bern©eratie campaigng Edward Jo Flynns felt that no one was more helpful t© him in his early days of the Wational ©hairmanship than Miehels©me He also remarked that Michel son had never "been particu larly popular with the Hew Sealers and that they were still unfriendly toward him* fhe "intellectuals" behind the Roesevelt program did mot trust Miehelsen because ©f his earlier dealings with Raskeb and Sheuse*
In 194®9 the major parties differed in the com position of their publicity personnel* As usual Miehelsen relied upon former newspapermen to undertake Bern®eratie publicity while the Republicans once more banked heavily upon advertising men* •Miehelsen was not well known to the general public9 and he succeeded in preserving a useful anonymity* Opposition journalists^ through their
I©* Ibido 9 p* -53* 2.1 • Edward J* Flynn$ You're the Boss (lew Yorks Viking Press* 194?)9 p 0 18®* eemaaiad ©f the lepiaialieam press9 hat^ mevertheless, givem him frefmemt pem-lashiags— thereby easting a ©leak ©f meterlety abent the shemlters ©f the "wily fez ©f the lem©eratie partyo,|2S The. Mleheleea plan m£ attaek was varied ant far- reaehingo A central itea9 as in past campaigns was that @f pinning the "Wall Street" ant "Sig Business" labels ®n the Republican eantitate® Miehelsen's particular pride was his regular weekly ©®lmmm9 "dispelling the lego" These eelumns contained generally the line of attaek which was in vogue at the memento Author The©t|>re Slaek eententet that the impertanee ©f Mlehels@m8s service as a "ghost-writer" may be exaggerated., yet it was undoubtedly true that much of the oratory filling the air waves during the campaign originated with the Publicity division of the democratic partyo While the delivery of speeches and the arrangements actually were in other hands, the Publicity division aided in their preparation and dis- 23 . seminati©n0 . ' Hlehelson and his staff gathered and edited the largest and most imposing single item of literature published by the democrative National ©ommittee. She
22® Black, p® 39® 23® Ibid®, p® 68® Bem@eratie §4©o Skis k@®k was part ef the regular eampaiga pmklieity output' ef the latlemal Sommittee*. It imelui.ei .essays em phases of the Hew leal and the Presi- dernt8 s 1f4© aeeeptanee speech along with other speeches 24 of party notables• She hook ezplaimed how Roosevelt
saved the country in 1933 through his public works pro grams, and how farm income had doubled since he came to office<> It accused the ©e@,P» of promoting overcapitali sation in the stock market and revealed how this problem was solved by the Democrats through the Sruth in Seeuritie Aeto The Democrats further claimed that the improvements in the economy had nearly offset the increase in national
debto The authors of the work ef whom Hichelson probably was the most important, also reminded the public that? Seven years ago the looseveIt Administration took office at one of the darkest moments in American history= national morale was destroyed, . America was restlesso There was despair0 A national Republican administration was fumbling, floundering, in helpless confusion*25 In keeping with this line of. attack,, I ekes claimed that Willkie believed that the greatest good for the country resulted from building up and fos tering of am ever richer class, through which benefits
24o Ibidoa p» 9©l Time, "national Affairs," 36 (September 16, 194©), 17=> 25* The Democratic look— -194© (Eew York? Demo cratic national ©enimittee, 1 940) , ppo 46-47* wttld pereolate to those lower dowBo This was, in lekes* opinion, essentially the Hoover theeryo lakes eontinmeds
"Probably Willkie is as sincere, although there is a craftiness about him, in view of which Hoover is a very simple mano"^ The past record of the Republicans was reviewed by the Democratic oratorSo The upturn in business that had begun in 1939 and was being nourished by defense spending, made it safer to recall 1932 than it would have been had the stagnation of 1 93® continued to mock the hopes of the Hew Beale The poor still were for the Presi dent despite the fact that the administration.had not prevented cuts in relief and the expected war boom had had comparatively little effect on the great pools of unemploymentIn August of 194© there was still seven and one-half million men unemployedo 28 In a speech to the Young Democrats on April 20, 1940, Roosevelt attempted to bring his argument against the Republicans up to date by asserting that they were now "promising the country a return to 8the old days of
26o lekes, III, 2270 27o Denis Brogan, The Era of Franklin Do Roosevelt (Hew Havens Yale Wniversity Press, 1950), P° 3©1L
28o She Economic Almanac for 1941-42 (Hew York: national Industrial Gonference Board, 1941), p D 123© 1 ©§ 1929$)6 wkemg,11 he said, ..“the eountry had gone speeulatioa mad amd when half the families ©f the land were sucked Int© an ergy @f everpreduetlcna" He went ©n t© say that it should hare been ehvlems that "we were riding for the worst social and economic fall the country had ever knowno11 Representative William 1= Bankhead of Alabama had • earlier described the woeful situation that the Democrats had inherited in 1933o He. felt that the American people had "not forgotten that period of total collapse and desperation in all branches of human endeavero"^® Senator Alben Wo Barkley of Kentucky? at the Democratic national Conventiong said that Hoover need not worry about the auctions, he had mentioned in referring to the Democratic program for "All the auctions had already taken place during his aiministration„" Barkley asserted that Hoover constituted the physical remains of political wisdom ©f the Republican party* Hoover had said that the Republican party had been the first t© bring relief t© the American farmer® Barkley answered that what Hoover no doubt should have said was that "Republican leadership was the first to bring' the need for relief to the American farmero"^
29® Hew York Times* April 21, 194©9 p® 2® 30® The Democratic Book— 1940* p® 113® 31o ibid®? p© 119® James JL Farley also eempared the domestic situa tion with what it had heen when Roosevelt entered office» He stated that the Democrats had to “repair the damages inflicted hy inept and incompetent Republican administra tions., o„and that task is by no means completed.,”-^ The 1^40 Democratic platform recounted the advances made in domestic affairs since 1932° It contended that the Democrats had “found a broken and prostrate banking and financial system*" The platform directly opposed the proposal put forward by Hoover to “vest in the states and local authorities the control of Federally-financed work reliefe“ The Republican proposal was, in the words of the Democrats, "a thinly disguised plan to put the unemployed back on the dole*"^^ Generally speaking, almost every technique of party publicity used in the 1 94# campaign by Miehelson and the Democratic forces was the product of evolution through experience * In the estimation of party leaders, the lessons learned in the running fight that the Demo crats had waged since June of 1929, were the most reliable stand-bys* Roosevelt, though he was attacking Republican leaders, wanted to make sure— as always-— that he would
32* Ibid* * p* 112* 102 mot alternate any Republican votes whieh might come his way* ©m ©eteber 28, 194®, in a Madisom Square Garden address9 he said;
Remember$, I am making those charges against the responsible political leadership of the Repub lican party* But there are millions— millions and millions— of patriotic Republicans who have at all times been in sympathy with the efforts of this admimistrat iom* 34
Michelsen attacked Willkie and the Republican party along several lines* ©me of the most emphasised accusa tions was the ever-popular "Wall Street" charge® Willkie8s record as President of ©ommomwealth and Southern was widely publicized by Democratic propagandists* The attempts of Willkie to shake off the "Big Business" tag by conducting his campaign from Slwood and Rmshville9 the scenes of his Indiana childhoods, were ridiculed mercilessly by Hiehelsom and his men as a "front *"^ The Michelson strategy of attack was particularly vulnerable to "smear" charges* His semi-humorous9 sa tirical style was intended to caricature Willkie 9 and thereby to prevent Republican propagandists from idealizing their candidate* Since the &*©*?« leaders were attempting
34* Samuel I® Roseaman (ed®)9 The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin 1* Roosevelt %Eew Yorks The Mac millan 6ompamy9 1 941), lit9”"5©©I Harold Gesnell, Champion gampaigners franklin D® Roosevelt (Hew Yorks The Macmillan gompany, 1952)* passim* 35° Blaekg p* 133® te Mild up Willkie and t© destroy the pieture of Roosevelt
that Miehelsea and his staff had painted in this and
previous campaigns, they to©, were" often accused of scurrilous assaults* Black stated that he eeuld mot, of eeurse, "say with any degree of exactitude just how much of how many speeches Hiehelsom did write while the campaign, was in progresso" He did admit, however, that "many of the remarks made'by Democratic leaders, especially the M s y Hr* Flynn, originated at the keyboard of the Hiehelsom typewriter* Roosevelt never mentioned Willkie by name but referred freely to "Republican orators" and belabored them heartily* In doing this he necessarily shifted ground and talked of domestic issues as well as foreign policy* the war issue had certain risks, especially in strongly isolationist territory of the M i d w e s t , b u t the people had not forgotten the depression, and it was good for -z O yet another round* In his November 1, 1 94® speech in Brooklyn, Roosevelt accused the Republicans of burning the candle at both ends when he said: "There is something very
36* Ibid*, p* 37° 37o For public opinion polls on the desire to stay out of the European conflict see Hadley Santril (ed*), Public Opinion, 1933=1946 (Princetons Princeton University Press, 1951), pp* 966-973° 38* lugwell, p* 540* omine'a.s im the eemhiaatiea that has teem forming within the Repuhlieam party between the extreme reactionary ant the extreme radical elements of this countryoM"^ He was referring to the support the Republicans had given some of the conservative Democrats and the opposition to Roose velt from the Gommunist party of the United States« Another comparison of the accomplishments of Roosevelt as opposed to Hoover was a pamphlet entitled WS© He’s Ruined Business1” It included a survey of com parative profits of thirty selected firms in the years 1 9299 1932s, 1938, and 1 939» It was illustrated by an Enright cartoon of a bedraggled businessman in 1932 and the same entrepreneur in 194 ©— clutching two money bags and wearing a large Willkle button* Roosevelt also brought to mind the plight of the laboring man in his October 23 address in Philadel phia , sayings The tears9 the crocodile tearss for the laboring man and laboring woman now being shed in this campaign come from those same Republican leaders who had their chance to prove their love for labor in 1932— and missed It* lack in 19329 those leaders were willing to let the workers starve if they could not get a job Back in 1932, they were not willing to guarantee.collective bargainingo
39o James M 0 Burns9 Roosevelt s The Lion and the Fox (Hew York: Harcourt, Brace and Oompany, 1956) 9 p® '449? Hoseaman9 Public Papers« IX9 5310 4©0 Black9 p 0 93o Back in. 19329 they met the demands ©f unem ployed veterans with troops and tankso1^ Willkie was imahle to answer these charges effectively*. The memories of the Hoover days were impossible to hide® In his final speech of the campaign» Roosevelt even tied Hoover to the issues in foreign policy and de fense by making a slashing attack on the Republican leaders— Hoover, Taft, Hclary, Tandenberg— for opposing defense measures in the past and new condemning the ad- 42 ministration for starving the armed forces*. In 1 94© the actions of Hoover and the Hoover 11 image" again played a large role in the defeat of the ©oioPo candidate by Pranklim D*. Roosevelto This, however, was not the last time that this "image" was to hurt the 43 Republican chances for achieving the presidency<,
41 *> Rosenman, Public Papers* IX, 485o 42o Burns, p0 448*> 43o For a more extensive treatment of the back ground of the campaign of 194© and of the disagreements between the conservative and. progressive wings of the Republican party, see Gonrad Joyner, The Republican Dilemma (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1 962), passim*. GHAPTBR V
I)ES9? THEY FORGET
Although the major issues in the campaign of 1944 revolyod around the war effort and plans for the post war w©rld9 the Democrats, still managed to revive pictures of Herbert Hoover and the depression whenever domestic issues were debated.
As early .as January, If44, the President approved a plan to have an economic report prepared and issued by the Democratic national 0emmit$ee» This report was to compare the situation in agriculture, labor, banking, and housing in 1933 with'that of 1 944,^ Roosevelt defended the war record of his administration but he also recalled the past— 1932 and the early domestic programs of the Hew Deal* He outlined the programs and relief measures which had been passed by the Democrats* further he recalled that the Republicans had been in office when the economic dis aster had struck* He asked who were the men to trust for the future* M1 believe that we Americans will want the
1 * E, E0 Robinson, The Roosevelt leadership, 1 §33-1 945 (Philadelphia; Mppineott and Company, 1 955), p, 328o peaee to Se 'built 'by men wM© haxre skeum feresight rather tkam hindsighto"^ fhe lew York Simes reported that ©harles Miehelsom woiald be brought back to active serviee for the esmimg Presidential campaign* The Times eommented thats “Apparently it is still felt the temeh ©f the ©Id master Is meeded@ whieh may be emeomragimg mews t© the lepmblieamso"^ At the Bern©eratie latiomal Convention ©f 1 f44 most of the speakers ©nee again tormented the Repmblieans with remembranees ©f the depression and of Hoover® Hebert Kerr% Governor of Oklahoma, led the parade in his keynote address by sayings In this hall last month the Repmblieams nominated as their candidate for President the man selected for them f©mr years ago by Herbert Hoover®®o® I take it that none here is to© yonng to remember the tragic years of 1929 through 1932® The awful depression and Republican unem ployment ©f those four years® ® ®created more suffering in this nation, destroyed more wealth, caused mere poverty and left our nation in the most weakened and hopeless condition ever [email protected] Senator Samuel 1® Jackson of Indiana told the convention that, “President Hoover had no slide rule with which to
2® Samuel I® Rosenman (ed®), The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin 1® R©oseve11“Tlew Yorks Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 195©), XIII, 4©5® 3® lew York Times® June 3©, 1944, p® 10® 4® Rational Political Campaign of 1§44 (Washing ton; Waited States lews, 1944), Part II, p® If® fimt M s way eut of the disastrous tmagmireo The eeuatry turned from the Great Engineer to a Bemeerato The country will mot turn hack from that Demoerat to the pupil of the Great EmgimeeroM^ Sepresemtative William Bo lawson of Illinois continued the attack sayings When we compare the condition of the nation at the time we inherited the reins of government from the lepuhllearns with the condition of our country today we can go hefore the people and point to the splendid record of advancement the party had made and is making toward the better ment of alio® Roosevelt was not to he outdone0 He reopened the old sore of the depression in his aeeeptanee speech to the convention when he said: They will also decides, these people of ours, whether they will entrust the task of postwar reconversion to those who offered the veterans of the last war bread lines and apple selling, and who finally led the American people down to the abyss of 1 or whether they will leave it to these who rescued American business and agricul ture and industry and finance and labor in 1933o7 ither lemoeratie supporters managed to belabor Hoover before the campaign ran its coursee Sidney Hillman, chairman of the ©emgres's of Industrial ©gganizatiemsB Political Action (Committee, charged that the Republican
5o Official Report of the Proceedings of the lemoeratie Convention,Chicago, Illinois, July if-21, 1944, po 58=
So Ibido o po 1 5 e 7= Rational Political Gampajgn of 1 §44<, Part II, p® 4So party hat 81 gome haek t® I®©verismoM He als© gait that Mr® Dewey hat teen relegatet t® the role of “mouthpiece of Herbert Hoover and the SOI Did Smart®"^ Dmrlmg the ©ampaigm the most explicit attack mate om the Hoover memory was by Roosevelt himself 1m a speech to the Teamsters Wmlom om September S4o He begam by sayimg: Well9 here we are together agaim~-after fomr years —amt what years they have beem! I am aetmally fomr years ©Iter— which seems to amaoy some people® la fact9 millioms of ms are more tham elevem years ©Iter than when we started la to elear@mp the mess that was damped la ear laps la la these three seateases Roosevelt dealt with the aeemsa- tioa that he was am old mam aad bromght the atteatioa of the people back to the "Hoover Depression" aad the basic • -| @ ■ achievements of the lew Beal® He went ©a to reject the charges of his ©ppomeat that this was a Democratic de pression® Words come easily9 bat they do not ehaage the record® Tom are, most of you old enough to re member what things were like in 1932® Tom remember the closed banks and the bread lines and the starvation wages? the foreclosures
S® lew Tork Times® July 12, 1-944, p® 13* 9® ibid® 0 September 2 5 9 1 944, p® 36® 1S® Robert Sherwood, Roosevelt and Hopkins $ An Intimate History (lew Torki Harper and Brothers, Publishersg 1 950), p® 122? Samuel I® Roseaman, Working: With Roosevelt (lew Torki Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 19527, pe 475® 11© of homes and farms9 and the ’haakrmpteles. of bus iness, the “Hoovervilles,n and the young men and women of the nation faeing a hopeless9 jobless futureeoeamd the utter impotence of the Federal Government «,11 The role of Hoover on the Republican side of this campaign was far less important than it had been in any of the ^previous three. He was becoming tired of his own un heeded warnings and, at the Republican Rational ©onvention
of 1§44, he dropped a hint of his weariness. Recalling his speeches at the two previous conventions, he said: Bach time I knew even before I spoke that our people would not believe that the impairment of. freedom could happen here. Yet each subsequent four years has shown those warnings to have been to© reserved, too cautious.1^ This admonition wag made before a convention whose plat form substantially capitulated to the Roosevelt domestic programo Further, Hoover said that he would participate vigorously in the election campaign. "I am going to stay in this fight until I die. The fight is for every thing that is precious to the American people.How ever, he soon realized the uselessness of his intended fight and it was reported in August that "Herbert Hoover said today he had relinquished his hold on party political
11. lew York Times. September 25, 1944, p» 36. 12. Ibid.o June 28, 1944, p. 16. 13. Ibid.,, June 28, 1944, p. 14. 111 reins ant was ready now to step foaek Into the role of an observer®This was the first time simee his defeat In 1932 that Hoover was ready to admit openly that he eould no longer shape events within the Repiabliean party* His wishes earried little weight in the top eouneils of the G-oQoPo Again9 in 1944, the Republicans did not follow the adviee of their former leader® Their platform proposals were much nearer the Roosevelt program than the suggestions of Hoover* Raymond Holey remarked in Twenty-Seven Masters of Polities that? Candidates Wendell Willkie and Thomas 1* Bewey skirted the Hoover issue with conspicuous but wasted caution* Both of these more recent candidates9 by studied omission9 implied that their Republican party began some time after 1933® • oo- Undefended by Republicans9 the Hoover history as it was learned by millions of new voters was exactly what Democratic bias and vindictiveness wanted it to be®19 The Republican convention of 1944 did give some credence to Hoover8s arguments by sharply attacking centralisation of government identified with the Hew Beal* An effort was made to divide the pro-Hew Beal "minority-' from the rank and file of the Democratic party and to
14* Ibid* * August 13S 1944, p* 34* 1 §>» Quoted in David Hinshaw9 Herbert Hoovers American Quaker (Hew forks Farrar9 Straus and Company9 195®)7 Po 31 To .112 invite the latter te geim with Eepnhlleans in fighting lew
Dealers as esmmen enemies* For iastanee9 in his keynote address, &@vern©r Earl Warren ©f California charged that the lew Deal was 11 leading ms away from representative government*" He said that the Eepmhlieans believed that
11 its eentralization of power in the nmmerems hmrearns at Washingten will eventmally destroy freedom as Amerieans have always mmderstoed it*" This was essentially the theme that Hoover had been volelag all the years of the 1 e: lew Beal® ® Another example of the convention accepting a .Hoover doctrine came in the speech of Permanent Chair man of the convent ion 9 Eepre sentat ive Joseph Martin of Massaohmsetts9 who said? "[@mr] policy is to protect9 te defend and to perpetuate our free, Constitutional form of government9 our free enterprise system of economy, our system of free society*" He urged the help of everyone in "putting our nation back Citalics mine3 on a firm founda tion* 11 ^ 7 She platform adopted by the convention continued to stress the theme of centralization of government in statings Four more years of lew Deal policy would centralize power in the President, and would
16* lational Political Campaign of 1 #44* Part I, P° 8* . ■ "...' 17o Ibid* * p* 11* daily subieet every aet ®f 'every citizen t® regmlatiem by his henehmemi and this e@mhtry eemld remain a B.epmbli® ®mly in name0 He prob lem exists whleh cannot be solved by American methodso We have n® need ef either the commu nistic or the fascist technitmeolS With even the most superficial inspection ®f Hoover’s earlier statements one might almost suspect that this was written by former President Herbert Hoover himself! But during the campaign Hepmblieam presidential ' nominee Thomas, le Dewey of Hew York declined to attack the social legislation of the Hew Deals The administrations he admitted, had done some good things in its youths 37 Republican newspapers assailed the President because of the alleged support he was receiving from Communists and radi cals ; campaign orators proclaimed him the tool of Sidney Hillman and the PA06 Frequent mention was made of bickering and quarreling in the administrations ©nee the campaign had started virtually nothing was heard from Republican sources about the Hoover re cord or even a remembrance that Hoover had ever been the ©hief Executives In spite of this, however, the GoOoP* candidate was again to go down to defeat at the hands of Franklin Do Roosevelts
1 So Hew York Times. June IS, 1944, p* 14s 19o Ibids o Hovember §, 1#44, Seeo 17, pe 4s 114 With the eonelueiea ©f the 1944 campaign the Hoover "image" became less of a political weapon of the Democratic strategy plannerSo fhromghomt the fonr campaigns of Frank lin D» Roosevelt the memory of Hoover and of the economic conditions daring his administration had been brought up eontinuouslyo The criticism used by Roosevelt was directed throughout towards the actions of the leaders of the Re publican party and their association with Hoovero The rank and file membership of the Republican party was never criticized as many of these voters had supported
Roosevelt in each of the four electlens» Often, inde pendent Republicans who opposed his domestic policies supported his stands on foreign policy especially in the elections of 1940 and 1 9440 It would have been foolish for him to repudiate this support and he made every effort to keep from alienating these voters® Of the four men Roosevelt ran against for the Presidency, he seemed to have personally disliked only Dewey and Hoover= After March 4, 1933p Hoover was never invited to visit the White House so long as Roosevelt was President® During the war there were suggestions that Hoover8 s experience might be useful in the war effort, 20 but Roosevelt refused to consider the idea® The Chief
20o Sherwood, p® 6351 Grace Tally, FoDoRo 0 My loss (lew York: Charles Scribner8 s Sons, 1949), P* 57° Executive ©cmli never forgive the "inaction" of Hoover and was still irritated over Hoover8 s maneuvers during the "interregnumow One cannot argue with the success of the Democrats in their use of the Hoover "imageo" Roosevelt was able to win four elections in the period of 1932 through 1944 with- a minimum of difficulty The use of this "image" was not the only factor in these victories9 "but it certainly added to the ease with which they were wono The "image" was an idea already in existence in the minds of the American public before the Democratic party and Charles Michelson began using it® With the beginning of the depression9 the overriding view of Hoover by the voters was of the man who had ”caused” the economic dis tress they were experiencing® The Democrats criticized Hoover not so much as a "cause" but rather for the inaction of his administration in the area of relief® Constant re minders were given of the Hoover administration and its alleged "do-nothing" policies® For the Democrats not to use this "ready-made" issue would have been political folly® Throughout the Roosevelt .era, for various reasons9 the memories of the depression remained in the minds of the people® It was obvious the connection between these remembrances and the memory of the Hoover administration was successfully employed by the Democratic party® 116
• The BepuKLieams, espeeially after 1936$, did what they eemld t© ever©©me the memory of the Beeyer years™— hmt they were m© mateh f©r the ©utstamdimg ability of. Sharles Miehelsom aad the Demo©ratio ©raterso The repeated appearahees of Eoover at Repiahliean national eomvemtioms and his speeehes in eaeh eampaign aided the Demo©ratio party in eentering their campaign on the Hoover "images" Iven when the Bepmhlieans began to aeeept mme.h of the Hew Beal, Hoover was brought up by the Bern©©rats to remind the voters of what the eonditions had been during the last Bepublieam administrationo Hoover8s notions throughout these years consisted primarily of a ©ontinual defense of the policies of his admimistratione. He truly thought that the policies of Roosevelt. were dangerous for the countrye He attempted t© convince the American voters of this and also tried to unde, the wrong he felt had been done to him. Hoover spoke to each Republican convention and gave addresses throughout each campaigno These speeches allowed the Democrats to answer Hoover8s charges rather than the. charges of the Republican presidential candidateso And in answering the Hoover charges the Democrats could bring back the memories of the widespread distress which occurred during the Hoover administrationo Hoover was * £®r the mest part g mmstieeessfml in his attempt to repair the damage inflieted npom his " image,," Presently the memory of Herbert Hoover is being revised by historians and he is looked on more as a "tragic" figure than a heartless man* In additions, the Republican party of today has overcome the stigma of the Hoover 11 imageo" The Miehelson campaign of 1 9329 however» will forever color the picture of Hoover that is remembered* LISE. OF REFERENCES
I IIEIOORA.FH IQ&Ii OR IRES leers9 lemry Putmeyo llbli@gra#hles im Amerlean Historyo 2nd edo Pageant Books 9 Inc0$ Paters on $, New Jersey 9 1959= lomgan9 A* H 0 (edo)c Readers8 Guide to Periodieal Litera ture = ¥©lse 8"14o The Ho Wo Wilson Company^ Minneapolisg 1931-1945o Handling ©sear9 et ale Harvard Guide to Amerlean Historyo Harvard University Press9 Cambridges 1955® Howeg George F«t et alo The Amerlean Historleal Associa tion' s Guide to Historleal Literatureo The Mac millan Company9 New York, 1 961 = The New York Times Index* The New York Times Press9 New York 9 1#5©-1 944*
PRIMARY S©WR0ES
Slum9 John Morton* Fr©m the Morgenthau liarless Years !£ Crisis * 1 92i-°1 938* Houghton Mifflin Company» lostonV 1959= The Campaign look of the lemoeratie Party Candidates and Issues * 1956o lemoeratie National Committee $ New York, 1 93#='' ©antrilg Hadley (ed=)= Puhlie ©pinion* 1935-1946= Princeton Wmiversity Presss Princetons 1951° The lemoeratie Book* 1 94#* lemoeratie National Committee9 New York9 194©* Farley, James A= Behind the Ballots* Harcourt, Brace and Company9 New York, 193#= _____ * Jim Farley* s Storys The Roosevelt Years* Whittlesey House, New York, 1948®
118 Flym.? Edward. Jo Yaw’re the Bosso Tiking Press9 lew lerkc, 1 ' Heover, Herbert @0 Addresses When the American Heads ©harles Scribner's Sens9 lew Yerks 1 ■ —
Farther Addresses Hnon the American Road, 1 938=1940o Sharles Scribner"s Sens 9 lew Yerks 1
e Addresses Hnen the American Road, 194®= 1941o Oharles Scribner's Sens, lew York, 19410 o America8s Way forwardo The Scribner Press, lew York, 1939o o The Ohallenice to Libertyo Charles Scribner8 s Sons, lew York, 1935» a The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover, 1920-1953o The Macmillan Company, lew York, 1952o lekes, Harold I»o The Secret Diary of Harold Do Ickeso 3 Yolso, Simon and Schuster, lew York, 1953c. Joslin, Theodore Go Hoover ©ff the Record <> Double day, Doran and Company, ...Garden City, 1 934o Dandon, Alfred M» America at the Crossroadso Dodge Publishing Company, lew York, 1936o
Michelson, Charleso The Ghost Talkso G 0 P» Putnam's Sons, lew York, 1944» Holey, Raymondo After Seven Years* Harper and Brothers, Publishers, lew York, 1939° lorris, George W* Fighting Liberals The Macmillan Company, lew York, 1945@ ©ffielal Report of the Proceedings of the Democratic lational Convention* Chicago, Illinois, July 19th to July 21st inclusive, 1944* Perkins, Frances* The Roosevelt I Knew* The Yiking . Press, lew York, 1946* *” Porter, Kirk H* and Johnson, Donald 1* Rational Party Platforms * 1840-196©* University of Illinois Press Wrbana, 19 " ■ x m He®sevelt $ lleam©r0 This I Remember* Harper and Brothers$, Imblishersj Hew T®rkg 1 f49® leeseveltElliot® F*R«Ro« .His Personal letters; 1 928- 1 94io Ruellj Sloan.and Pearce, Hew Y©rk$, 1 95©° Reesevelt g, Franklin B=> 1®eking Forwardo The John lay Company9 Hew I©rk§ 1 933o Reseamam, Sammel I® Werking With Roosevelts Harper and ; Iretherss PmhlisherSs, Hew’Terks 1 952® o (edo)® The Pmhlle Parers and Addresses of Franklin 1® R®®seve11 ® 13 Vels® @ Random House 9 . The Macmillan Companyc, Harper and Brothers s Pmtolishersj Hew York, 193@-1 Tugwell, lexford Go The lemocratie Roosevelte louhleday Publishing Company* GardenGityV 1957° Tally,- Grace Go F.loR.. My Bess® Charles Scribner8s Sons,.Hew York, 1949® Tandenberg, Arthur Jro The Private Papers of Senator Vandenbergo .Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1952®
SEQGWliRY SGUROES
Allen9 Frederick lewis* Since Yesterday* Harper and Brothers, Publishers, Hew York, 1940* Allen, George Edward® Presidents Who Have Known Me® . Simon and Schuster, Hew York, 1950® lain, Richardo Convention Decisions and Voting Records® The Ir©©kings Institution, Washington, 19#©o Black, Theodore M® Democratic Party Publicity in the 194© Campaign® Plymouth Publishing Company, Hew' York, 194!®' Brogan, Denis William® The Era of Franklin B® Roosevelt® - Yale Wniversity Press, Hew Haven, 195©« Burns, James M® Roosevelt? The Dion and the Fox® Harcourt. Brace and Company, Hew York, 1956® Soles, Wayme So . Serna tor Gerald .P. Mye amd Amerieam. Foreign. Relatloiaso University of Minnesota Press9 Einmeagolis g 1 962 c,
Davidj, Paul T0 The Polities of National Party ©omventioiiSo The Brookings Institmti©ii9 Washimgt0B 9 1 96©d Billons, Mary Bar hart o Wen tell Ifillkleo 1 892«1 944 Q Mffineott and Jompany? Philadelphia j,1f5te linamdis Marioe The Roosevelt Revolutions Hareourt9 lraee9 and Oompany» New York, 1959° Flynn9 John To The Roosevelt Mytho The levin-Adair Company9 New Yorks, 1 948o Freidels, Frank 1® Franklin Do Roosevelt: The Trinmnho littles, Brown and ©ompanys, Boston9 1 952o Gunthers Johno Roosevelt in Retrosneeto Harper and Brotherss Pmhllshersj New Yerkg 19500 Gosnellj Harold Fo Ghamnion Campaigner: Franklin Do Roosevelto The Maemillan ©ompanyg New York9 1952® Hamill9 John® The Strange Gareer of Mr® Hoover Under Two FlagSo William Far© 9 Ine® 9 New Yorkp 1931® Hateh$ Allen® Franklin D® Roosevelt. An Informal Bio- granhv® Henry Holt and ©ompany. New Yorks 1947® Hinderaker9 Ivan I® Party Politieso Henry Holt and ©ompanys New'York, 1 956® Hinshaws David® Herhert Hoover: Amerioan Quaker® Farrar9 Straus and Gompany9 New York, 1950® Hofstadter9 Riehard® The Amerioan Politieal Tradition And The Men Nh© Made It® Ao Ao Knopf® New York® \ . T f ¥ l ~ ~ ^ ® (edo)® Great Issues in Amerioan History® Tel® H 9 Vintage Bookss New York9 195i® Israel^ Fred 1® Nevada8 s Key Pittman® University of Nehraska Press9 lineolns 1963® Johnsong Donald B® The Repmhlieam Party and Wendell Willkie® University of Illinois Press/ Urhanag 196®® ''''' 1 22 .J’eyaer, ©©arad« • The Republican Dilemma e WaiversIty- ®£ Arizema Presss Tmesen,, 1 963o
'I/iefAlfredo Bemoeraey8s Herrlso Staekpele S©b s 9. lew York9 1 939o loramtg Stefano The Presidency; A Pietoral History of Presidential.Eleetiens Prom Washington to Trumano The Haemillam Gompanys lew York, 1951® l)iahell9 Sammelo The Future of American Politieso lomhleday and OonpanyV Ineos Garden 0ity9 1951 * Lyonss Emgene«, Qnr Wmkaown Ex-President: A Portrait of ler hert Hoover & Bom'ble day and Gompany<, Ine0, Garden Oity, 1 948o MeKenna9 Mariam ©o, loraho Wniversity of Miehigam Press, Ann Arhor, 1 9610 Moos, Malcolm Go The Rennhlioams; A History of Their Party* Random House 9 lew Yo’rkg 1 956 o Mote9 Garl Ha The lew leal Goose Stema .lamiel Ryerson $ In©*9 lew York, 1 939o Myerss William Starr and lewton, Walter Ha The Hoover Admimistration0 Gharles Scribner8 s Sons 9 lew York, I B S * lational Politieal Qampaigm of 1944« Parts I and IIo The United States lews, Washington, 1944° lemberger, Riohard La and Kahn, Stephen 1* Integrity; The Life of George Wa.. 1orris a Vanguard Press, lew York, 1937o Palmer, Prederieko This Mhn Landono lodd. Mead and Gompany, lew York, 1936= Peel, Roy V* and lonnelly, Thomas Go The 1932 Oamnaign« An Analysisa Farrar and Rinehart, Ineo, lew York, 1935a Perkins, Baxtero, The lew Age of Franklin Roosevelt* 1932- 194So Wniyersity of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1957°
Robinson, Eo Fa The Roosevelt Leadershipa 1 933-1945* Lippineott and Gompany, Philadelphia, 1 955o 123 They Veted for Roeeevelts The Presidential Voteo 1952”1944o Stanford University Press9 Stanford $, 1 947» Sehleslnger $ Arthur M@, Jr<> The 6rlsls of the Old Ordero 1 919-1933o Houghton Mifflin Oompanyg BostonV 1957< o The Polities of Hnheayalo . Houghton Mifflin Oompanyg Boston/ 1 Shannon9 Jasper 1® Money and Polities® Random House, lew York, 1959® Sherwood, Robert B® Roosevelt and Hopkins« An Intimate Historyo Harper and Brothers, Publishers, lew York, 1 Stoddard, Henry L® Presidential Sweenstakesi The of Political Oonventlons and Oamnaisns® G® P, Putnam^s Sons, lew York, 1 Stromberg, Roland 1® Republicanism Reappraised® Public Affairs Press, Washingtons 1952® "Timmons, laseom 1® Garner of Texas® A Personal History® Harper and Brothers, Publishers, lew York, 19’” Tourtellot, Arthur 1® An Anatomy of American Polities: Innovation versus Gonservatism® Bobbs-Merrill, 1 Tan levander, Charles W® The.Big losses® Howell, Soskin, and Company, lew York, 1944® Warren, Harris G® Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression® Oxford Wniversity Press, lew York, 1959® Weeks, Oliver B® The Democratic Victory of 1932® Southern Methodist Hnlverslty Press, Balias, 1933° White, William S® Majesty and Mischief: A Mixed Tribute to ffoloR® McGraw-Hill Publishing"*’Oompany, lew York, 1 Wilbur, Ray B® and Hyde, Arthur M® The Hoover Policies® Charles Scribner6s Sons, lew York, 1937=o Wolfe, Harold® Herbert Hoover: Public Servant and leader of the Loyal Opposition® Ixposition Press, lew York, 124 WolfskillGeorgeo The Revolt of the Gonservativeso
Honghtom Mifflin 0ompanys Boston9 19620 Woodss, John Ao Roosevelt and Modern Amerioa0 The Mae- millan Oompaay, Wew York9 1 Yotmgs James 0O Roosevelt Revealedo Farrar and Rinehart9
Ineo 9 Hew Y©rk9 1936 =
PBRI0BI0ABS
Barclayg To So 11 The Bureau of Publicity of the Democratic national.Committee9 193©-1932," American Political Science Reviewo XXVII (February* 1933) 9 "63-650 Bvjen, Ho 0o "The Willkie Campaigns An Unfortunate Chapter in Republican leadership9” Journal of PolitieSo XIV (1952) * 241 o Flynn9 John To "Hoover8s Apologias Am Audacious Torturing of History*" Southern Review* I (1936) 9 721= o "©ther People8s Money*" The Hew Republic<, 86 (March 11 * 1936)* 137-138° o "Who But Hoover?" The Hew Republic* 85 (December 4* 1935), 92° Johnson* Alva* "Hundred-Tongued Charley* The Great Silent Orator*" Saturday Evening Post* 208 (lay 30, 1936)* 5-7° Bindley* So K« "Rivals in the &«CoPo Camp *" Current History* 43 (March 19* 1936)* 561-567* literary Digest* "Johnson8s Slam at Hoover*" 111 (Decem ber 5* 1931), 80 o "Political Effects of the Hoover Adventure *" 110 (August 1 * 1931), 5-6 = Michelson* Charles= "My Advice to the G.O=P=" American . Magazine * 123 (June* 1937)* 30-31 ° Holey* Raymond = "Charley8s McCarthy's*" Hewsweek* 23 (May 8* 1944)* 100= The latiQno "All Iressed Fps" 142 (Jime 24, 1 f36), 791-793°
______6 "KTo leaver9 s let lee te Q u i t 133 (levember 1 8, ■ 1931), 532a ______° 11 The End ©f Herbert leaver,* 135 (levember 16, 1932), 470-471° o "The Tragedy of Ohleage," 134 (June 29, 1932), 712o
The lew Renmhli©° "As Gees Maine,11 72 (September 28, 1932), 166° -
0 "Hoover *'s Tragedy," 72 (©eteber 19, 1932), 246-247°
° MMr° Facing-All Ways," 87 (Jnne 24, 1936), 1 89-1 91 ° o "©n Blaming Hoover," 72 (October 26, 1932), 176-179° o "Republican Smear Gampaigm," 111 (October 2, 1944), 414-415° o "The Hoover Fairy Tale," 72 (August 24, 1932), 30-31° o "Trying to Smear Roosevelt," 88 (September 30, 1936), 21.-1- 212°
Ogburn, W, F° and Goombs, Jj0 G» "Economic Factor in Roosevelt Elections<," American Political Science Review, XHIY (1940), 719° Parrish, Wayne W° "The lo° 1 Democratic 'Ballyhoo* Man," Literary Digest, 117 (May 26, 1934), 28® Rogers, Lindsay® "Will the Democrats Re-elect President Hoover?" Contemporary Review, 141 (April, 1932), 468-475° Rudolph, Frederico "American Liberty League," American Historical Review, L7I (October, 195©)» 19-33° Sliehter, Gertrude A® "Franklin D° Roosevelt and the Farm Problem, 1 929-1 932," American Historical Review® fXLIII (September, 1956), 238-258° Timeo ’’Hational Affairsg" 2© (July 18, 1932), 8* o "lational Affairs," 27 (Mareh 2, 1936), 110 o "latienal Affairs," 36 (September 16, 1940), 17® Ward, Paul W® "©ampaigu Dirt," The Wat ion® 143 (Wovemher 7» 1936), 940-541 = ______,o " Campaign Press Agents," The Wat ion® 143 (July 18, 1936), 63-64® Tillard, Oswald 0® "Pity Herbert Hoover," The Wation® 134 (June 15, 1932), 669-671°
1EWSPAPBR lew York Times® 193©-1944®