How far was Roosevelt himself responsible for his election victory in 1932?

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How far was Roosevelt himself responsible for his election victory in 1932?

Roosevelt gained an election victory over the previous president, Hoover, in 1932; he won the election by 23 million votes to 16 million.

Roosevelt himself played an important part in his victory. Even before he put his name down for the presidency of the Democratic Party he had already made his name as a positive leader, and was a popular leader as governor of New York from 1928 to 1932. He had already begun to deal with the consequences of the depression. Roosevelt had increased state spending on roads, bridges and slum clearance, this provided jobs to a large number of citizens in New York, and therefore also helped the economy to revive. He had also increased the dole; these things were exactly what people living in the U.S. wanted, hence making Roosevelt an appealing leader.
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Roosevelt increased this already existing popularity by campaigning strongly against Hoover, by making speeches and public appearances in a rail tour of America. This appealed to voters because he was an excellent public speaker, and also because Roosevelt was not afraid to ask advice on important issues such as the state of businesses, and therefore the economy from union leaders, factory owners and economists. This action won peoples confidence in him, because they began to believe that he really did want to help them and was interested in their conditions. Roosevelt inspired ordinary people because he appealed to ...

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