QUESTION 2
In 1932 Roosevelt won the Presidential election by a landslide; winning in all but six states and although his campaign and composure did have a profound impact on his victory, there were also outside influences that made him win more votes than any President had before.
Roosevelt himself, did receive numerous votes by taking an active interest in the American people. He went on a grand Tour of the US during his election campaign to speak and see the ‘ordinary Americans’ and hear their stories and hardships; something never done before by a candidate, most notably not by Hoover. He also made public his plans for America: to improve the lives of ordinary people and to get government funding to help people get back to work, plans and ideas that America had not heard from Hoover, but most importantly, plans and ideas that they so desperately wanted and needed during this time. Therefore because of Roosevelt’s active campaigning, and uplifting plans he brought forward, to some extent, he did himself generate his victory.
However, a large reason why Roosevelt did win was by what his opponent wasn’t doing, saying and believing in, additionally what he had failed to do in the past. President Hoover was regarded as a ‘do nothing’ president by the public after the Wall Street Crash and the depression set in. He also appeared heartless and indifferent to the suffering American people. Although this not entirely true, Hoover did try to start America’s economy back up by cutting taxes in 1930, setting up a Reconstruction Finance Company propping up banks to stop them going bankrupt and even trying to encourage the US export trade, however all did not see much success. But one of the biggest opinions that differed between Hoover and Roosevelt was that, Hoover still believed in ‘rugged individualism’ and felt that social security and other such hand outs were not the responsibility of the government, whereas Roosevelt claimed to believe in an ‘active government’ trying to improve the lives of the ordinary people. During election time, nearly ¾ of Americans were unemployed and desperately trying to find ends meet, therefore this topic would be an extremely defiant line between who they will vote for, as now more than ever they needed the support and funding from the government. Hence why because Roosevelts opponent was against what the majority of the public believed in, Roosevelt automatically would receive additional votes.
