Electing FDR: The New Deal Campaign of 1932 (American Presidential Elections)

Electing FDR is the first book in seventy years to examine in its entirety the 1932 presidential election that ushered in the New Deal. Award-winning historian Donald Ritchie looks at how candidates responded to the nation's economic crisis and how voters evaluated their performance. More important, he explains how the Democratic Party rebuilt itself after three successive Republican landslides: where the major shifts in party affiliation took place, what contingencies contributed to FDR's victory, and why the new coalition persisted as long as it did.

Ritchie challenges prevailing assumptions that the Depression made Roosevelt's election inevitable. He shows that FDR came close to losing the nomination to contenders who might have run to the right of Hoover, and discusses the role of newspapers and radio in presenting the candidates to voters. He also analyzes Roosevelt's campaign strategies, recounting his attempts to appeal to disaffected voters of all ideological stripes, often by altering his positions to broaden his popularity.

With the advent of the New Deal, Americans came to enjoy a wide federal safety net that provided everything from old age pensions to rural electricity--government innovations so embraced by voters that even later conservative presidents recognized their importance. Ritchie traces this legacy through the Reagan and Bush years, but he relates how FDR in 1932 was often vague about the specifics of his program and questions whether voters really knew what they were in for with the New Deal.

As pundits, politicians, and citizens eye the upcoming 2008 campaign, Electing FDR reminds incumbents not to take their party support for granted or to underestimate their opponents--and reminds students of history that understanding the New Deal begins with the 1932's transformative election.

This book is part of the American Presidential Elections series.

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Powerhouse History Booster Shot, 2008-09-24
Across the decades, I've been fortunate to accumulate (and read) shelves full of books on FDR. This one, I'm recommending vigorously to all my friends. Much as people might believe they know about the issues of 1932, this book is a fact-packed booster shot that brings it all back in a thoughtful electrifying package.

Curiously enough, some of the most fascinating material is about Herbert Hoover, putting facts on long-held perceptions ... and confirming the perceptions in the process. This is the rare sort of book that when you've finished with it, you'll not only feel a little smarter; you probably will be. Excellent, accessible writing, fascinating anecdotes, just the right balance of analysis.

However, since perfection is never in the cards, there is one disconcerting feature. The footnotes appear only at the end of a paragraph. Nothing wrong with that, of course, except that virtually EVERY paragraph has a footnote. If it weren't for the fact that the book is so riveting, those footnotes could create a sense of "read by the numbers." Bothersome, yes, but compared to the book's mutliple virtues, a small annoyance. A splendid, triumphant book.


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Great History, 2008-03-24
"Electing FDR: The New Deal Campaign of 1932" is an unassumingly titled volume, but it's one of the best political histories I've read. Ritchie has a very pithy writing style, and the narrative sails along with ease. Though probably political liberal, Ritchie manages to present the political controversies of the time in a well-balanced manner. One of his major points is that FDR's nomination in 1932 was by no means inevitable, and he makes a good case for this view. The last fifth of the book is a tour de force of historical synthesis. He covers the lame duck period before FDR was inaugurated, then moves on to an overview of FDR's twelve years in office. Popping up and down during this whole period was Herbert Hoover, who apparently thought he could make a political comeback. He moves deftly up to the present day with an apt appraisal of FDR's legacy. Even after the election of Reagan, who mimicked FDR's style and political savvy, FDR's political legacy has remained essentially intact. It's a remarkable achievement, and this is a remarkable book.


2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

The Change Election, 2008-03-21
Much has been made of the fact that 2008 is a "change" election year, a rarity in our nation's history. "Electing FDR", a terrific and revealing look at the election of 1932, is a good comparison to today...it ushered in the most profound transformations of the twentieth century, many of which are still in evidence. The passing of the baton from Herbert Hoover to Frankin Delano Roosevelt has almost no equal and author Donald Ritchie captures it wonderfully.

Ritchie begins with the reminder that on the eve of some presidential elections, national polling pronounces the race very close, only to have voters witness a landslide, as was the case in Reagan v. Carter in 1980. He then goes on to offer up a crisp and well-paced narrative, largely contrasting the personalities and views of Hoover and Roosevelt. Clearly, Ritchie sides with history as the feckless President Hoover can do no right, not only during his four years in office but for years afterward. If "pariah" could ever be used so successfully as a description of a former president, Herbert Hoover owned it and he bore that moniker for the three decades he lived after leaving the White House.

Not only is the 1932 campaign covered diligently here, but Ritchie has a flair for describing the times. Hoover's administration was truly the last one before "big government" entered the picture, never to leave again. Indeed, President Hoover long fought any attempts by the government to ease the country's financial burdens, believing that the private sector and the natural ebb and flow of the economy would, in time, correct itself. Hoover's dour personality, his bad relations with the Washington press corps and his rigidity all lead to a catastrophic failure on Hoover's part, paving the way for the New York governor to roll up his sleeves and begin to fix things.

Roosevelt, for his part, had more than a few enemies...many within his own party...who thought he was somewhat of a "dilettante". The simmering feud Roosevelt had with former governor and 1928 presidential nominee Al Smith, is one of the highlights of the book. If Hoover was colorless, Al Smith was just the opposite and Roosevelt had to negotiate a path between each of them, from time to time. One other aspect of this change election, Ritchie points out, is historic...in 1932 three out of four African-Americans cast their vote for Hoover. Four years later the same number voted in the reverse...for Roosevelt. That shift has remained true to this day, of course.

Ritchie finishes with a chapter on the ramifications of the Roosevelt presidency and the legacy that he left. That politicians of today still invoke Roosevelt's name as good and Hoover's as bad, underscores the depth of depression-turned-prosperity, which began over the course of the 1932 election cycle. "Electing FDR" is a superb book and I highly recommend it for its historical depth and its excellent narrative style.


11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

An enjoyable history of a surprising complicated election, 2007-12-11
Donald A. Ritchie's description of the 1932 Presidential race is one of an election more interesting than I had assumed. Political insiders failed to recognize the landslide the Depression would bring. Franklin Roosevelt had to survive a convention battle to receive the nomination. President Roosevelt campaigned on sometimes contradictory pledges, and main points of the New Deal were solidified only after the election.

The first quarter of the book is an excursive background covering the election of 1920 and Herbert Hoover's early career among other things. Dr. Ritchie spends comparatively many pages on President Hoover's press relations and surprisingly few on the economics of the Depression. The middle half focuses on the 1932 election. The final chapter covers Hoover's post-election attempts at collaboration, Roosevelt's presidency and later elections, and the legacy of both men.

Dr. Ritchie's writing is clear and quickly readable. The book contains both interesting antidotes and important points. It draws on a large number of sources, though many are press accounts or secondary histories.

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