Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1966 Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Catholicism, 1932-1936. George Quitman Flynn Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Flynn, George Quitman, "Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Catholicism, 1932-1936." (1966). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 1123. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/1123 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 66-6443 FLYNN, George Quitman, 1937- FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT AND AMERICAN CATHOLICISM, 1932-1936. Louisiana State University, Ph.D., 1966 History, modem University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT AND AMERICAN CATHOLICISM, 1932-1936 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of History by George Quitman Flynn B.S., Loyola University of the South, 1960 M.A., Louisiana State University, 1962 January, 1966 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to thank Professor Burl Noggle for his assistance in directing this dissertation. Due to the author's military obligation, much of the revision of this dissertation was done by mail. Because of Professor Noggle's promptness in reviewing and returning the manuscript, a situation which could have lengthened the time required to complete the work proved to be only a minor inconvenience. The author is also indebted to the faculty of the History Department at Louisiana State University, who for the past six years have assisted him in innumerable ways. The following individuals also assisted in sundry ways in the preparation of this paper: Charles Crandell, Joseph C. Otto, Jr., Paul Reising, Jr., and Norman Melun. Finally, the author acknowledges the contribution of his wife whose aid was indispensable. ii TABLE OP CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENT S .......................................... ii ABSTRACT ................................................. iv INTRODUCTION .......................................... 1 CHAPTER I. BACKGROUND...................................... 15 II. THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE......................... 24 III. CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT, 1932 ................ 48 IV. THE NEW DEAL AS CATHOLIC TEACHING ............ 69 V. CATHOLIC REACTION TO ROOSEVELT, 1933 .... 80 VI. FINANCE AND AGRICULTURE ..........................108 VII. N. R. A. AND AMERICAN CATHOLICS .................133 VIII. LABOR AND SOCIAL SECURITY ....................... 173 IX. RECOGNITION OF RUSSIA ............................203 X. THE MEXICAN AFFAIR................................ 249 XI. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1936........................... 318 CONCLUSION ................................................. 382 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................... 388 VITA 401 ABSTRACT It is the major thesis of this paper that American Catholics were given recognition as a major force in society and were raised to "a new level of association" during the first administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. In presenting this argument, the terms Catholic Church and American Catholics are used interchangeably. The expressions of the Church are derived from Catholic newspapers and periodicals, from the statements of leading churchmen and laymen, and from the positions taken by major Catholic organizations. Although the decision of the Democratic party to nominate Roosevelt instead of A1 Smith in 1932 generated some Catholic resentment, this did not have any effect on the election results in November. Roosevelt touched a sympa­ thetic note during the campaign when he quoted from the Papal encyclicals to prove that his program was no more radical than the Pope's. In November, Roosevelt swept to victory in all the large urban areas of the United States. In 1932, American Catholics faced the depression and the new President with a concrete program of social reform. This program was based on the past statements of the Ameri­ can bishops, on the work of various individual priests, and on the Papal encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII and Pope Pius XI. Some of the proposals embodied in this program were: a living wage for labor, minimum-wage laws, the right of government to intervene in the economy for the "common good," old-age insurance, and government recognition of labor's right to organize. In many ways, American Catholics were intellectually prepared for the type of innovation which Roosevelt brought to the American scene. In 1933, it became apparent that much of the enthusi­ astic response generated among Catholics for Roosevelt's program was the result of the special interpretation being given the New Deal by many Catholic sources. To many such observers, the New Deal represented a significant attempt to institutionalize the Papal economic program in the United States. While foreign affairs were undoubtedly secondary to domestic legislation during the first Roosevelt administra­ tion, certain issues developed which had special meaning for American Catholics. The President's decision to extend diplomatic recognition to the Soviet Union was opposed by the Catholic Church as not being in the best interest of the United States. Roosevelt was aware of Catholic opposition to recognition and took steps to ameliorate it. The Presi­ dent incorporated in the terms of recognition a guarantee of religious liberty for Americans in Russia. The second issue of foreign affairs which attracted considerable Catholic attention revolved around the anti­ clerical policies being pursued by the Mexican government in 1934 and 1935. American Catholics were incensed by what seemed unwarranted persecution of their brethren south of the border. Certain Catholic groups began a campaign to pressure Roosevelt into intervening in Mexico to alleviate the persecution. While Roosevelt was not opposed to making statements in favor of religious liberty— statements which could reasonably be assumed to answer the demands of American Catholics— he refused to actively intervene in the internal affairs of a foreign country. During the presidential election of 1936, two of Roosevelt's major critics were prominent Catholic figures— Al Smith and Reverend Charles Coughlin. While some politicians feared lest these voices be heeded by Catholic Democrats, others, including the President, were reassured by the support received from such Catholic notables as George Cardinal Mundelein of Chicago and Reverend John A. Ryan of Washington. While taking no official action against Coughlin, a large segment of the Church exp-essed pro-Roose­ velt opinions before the election. The election results of 19J6 indicated that American Catholics had remained faithiul to the Democratic ^arty. vii INTRODUCTION In 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected President of the United States. Few Roman Catholics realized it at the time, but this event was to initiate a new era in their Church's place in American society. Disturbed and made insecure by the campaign of 1928,^ the Church, represented by the hierarchy and by individual members, was to reach a degree of recognition and intimacy under Roosevelt that would have astounded their forefathers. This state of affairs was the result of two forces: the political acumen of Franklin Roosevelt and the largely fortuitous similarity between much ^Writing in 1955, Richard Hofstadter, The Age of Reform (New York, 1955), p. 300, said that Roman Catholics in the United States never really recovered from the 1928 "trauma" and that this had made impossible their "effort at assimilation" and attempts "at the achievement of full American identity." Lowell Dyson, "The Quest for Power: Father Coughlin and the Election of 1936," (unpublished M.A. thesis, Columbia University, 1937), p. 66, speaks of the Roman Catholic's need "to belong" after the 1928 election and of how Father Coughlin fitted into the picture because he translated the social encyclicals of the Popes into Populist or native American terms. Oscar Handlin, A1 Smith and His America (Boston, 1958), p. 188, recognizes the frustration of American Catholics after 1928, but he feels that this sense of alienation was never removed but only sub­ merged by the economic crisis of the 1930's. 1 2 of the New Deal's reform legislation and the social and economic teachings of the Church. If, as one observer has remarked, "the Depression and Roosevelt years . were a providential opportunity for Catholics . to make their voices heard in changing the 2 nation's social situation," it was no less a time when the President recognized the power and influence which could be exerted by American Catholics. Samuel Lubell has stated that it was A1 Smith who, in 1928, awakened the urban masses, largely Roman Catholic, to a political consciousness and a sympathy for the Democratic party. It should also be pointed out that subsequently it was FDR who maintained the allegiance of American Catholics toward the party by the recognition he extended them and the finesse with which he treated them. It is also clear that the New Deal provoked