Use source A and your knowledge of the period to explain why people supported Roosevelt in the 1932 election

People supported Roosevelt in the 1932 election, mainly because he was making it plain that their policy was to work with the main population of America. He said that he expected everyone to be as involved, and work as hard as if they were defending their country from attack, however in this war the enemy was depression. The republicans had a policy that expected prosperity to be easily attainable - one of the reasons why the people supported Roosevelt was because promising the opposite. He not only had criticisms but also had solutions to the problems as well.

Roosevelt used all the techniques possible to win votes. His speeches were effective and used catchy slogans like 'New Deal.' He said popular things in his speeches, such as: "I am waging war against Destruction, Delay, Deceit and Despair" In this quote he could mean: Delay - the continual delay of economical healing strategy employment. Deceit - referring to the false republican claim that "prosperity is just around the corner." Despair - the way that the republicans had left the people of America 'in the cold' by. And finally, Destruction - the problem about loss of American pride.

Speeches, like in all political campaigns, had a big part to play in winning votes. Roosevelt was a good speaker, and source A is a superb example of his brilliant speeches. He was telling the population what they wanted to hear. He was admitting that beating depression would be a difficult struggle, but he was up to it if they gave him the job. The way that he admitted it would be difficult made him appear humble, a quality that none of the other politicians had, it also made his objectives seem more realistic. When trying to win votes he was appealing to the ordinary person.