The 1932 Democratic National Convention was held in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

June 27 – July 2, 1932. The convention resulted in the nomination of

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

of New York for president and Speaker of the House John N. Garner from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

for vice president.

Beulah Rebecca Hooks Hannah Tingley Beulah Rebecca Hooks Hannah Tingley (August 24, 1893 – April 7, 1986)Fin ...

was a member of the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

and Chair of the

Democratic Party of Florida The Florida Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Florida, headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida, Tallahassee. Former Florida Commissioner of Agriculture, commissioner of ...

. She seconded the nomination of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, becoming the second woman to address a Democratic National Convention. According to the White House Historical Association, '' Happy Days Are Here Again'' was the campaign song of the convention.

The candidates

The three major candidates:

Convention

The three major contenders for the presidential nomination were Roosevelt, Garner and former Governor of New York and 1928 presidential candidate,

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was the 42nd governor of New York, serving from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1923 to 1928. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party's presidential nominee in the 1 ...

, who roughly represented three competing factions of the Democratic Party: * Smith was supported by the

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...

machine in New York City, and had many supporters in the

, as well as in Chicago, where Chicago mayor Anton Cermak packed the hall with Smith supporters. * Roosevelt was supported by a solid majority of the delegates, and also had the support of Senators Burton Wheeler,

Cordell Hull Cordell Hull (October 2, 1871July 23, 1955) was an American politician from Tennessee and the longest-serving U.S. Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years (1933–1944) in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevel ...

Alben Barkley Alben William Barkley (; November 24, 1877 – April 30, 1956) was the 35th vice president of the United States serving from 1949 to 1953 under President Harry S. Truman. In 1905, he was elected to local offices and in 1912 as a U.S. rep ...

, and Huey Long, who held the

Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion of the Southern United States. The term is used to describe the states which were most economically dependent on Plantation complexes in the Southern United States, plant ...

for Roosevelt. * Garner had support from two powerful individuals: California newspaper magnate

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

and Senator William Gibbs McAdoo. While he was never a serious threat, and never bothered to campaign for the position, the faction that supported Garner was important because it could break a potential deadlock between Smith and Roosevelt. The new Democratic coalition would begin at this convention: Roosevelt brought into the Democratic fold western progressives, ethnic minorities, rural farmers, and intellectuals. Supporters of Roosevelt pushed for the abolition of the two-thirds rule (which required the presidential nominee to win at least two-thirds of the delegate votes), but backlash from Southern delegates forced them to drop the proposal. After three ballots, Roosevelt was 86.75 votes short of the 769.5 votes required to win the nomination, and his campaign feared that his support had peaked: as none of New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts or Connecticut supported Roosevelt, he needed McAdoo, who led the California delegation, and Garner, who led the Texas delegation. Roosevelt's campaign was able to persuade Garner to have his delegates vote for Roosevelt, possibly with the help of Hearst: while Hearst disliked Roosevelt, he hated Smith and Newton D. Baker, a possible compromise candidate. After McAdoo (who had been denied the nomination by the two-thirds rule at the 1924 convention) announced that California would back Roosevelt, the convention realized Roosevelt had reached the required 769.5 delegates to win the nomination, which was greeted by wild celebrations. Roosevelt received 945 votes on the fourth ballot to Smith's 190.5. Garner was nominated for vice-president by acclamation, likely as part of a deal for his delegates. McAdoo had hoped to be on the ticket, but he withdrew after his inclusion was opposed by Hearst. Presidential Balloting / 5th Day of Convention (July 1, 1932) File:1932DemocraticPresidentialNomination1stBallot.png, 1st Presidential Ballot File:1932DemocraticPresidentialNomination2ndBallot.png, 2nd Presidential Ballot File:1932DemocraticPresidentialNomination3rdBallot.png, 3rd Presidential Ballot File:1932DemocraticPresidentialNomination4thBallot.png, 4th Presidential Ballot

Roosevelt's acceptance speech

For his acceptance speech, Roosevelt broke tradition and established the precedent of formally accepting the nomination in person at the convention. In his speech, he pledged "a

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

for the American people".

References

Pietrusza, David 1932: The Rise of Hitler & FDR: Two Tales of Politics, Betrayal, and Unlikely Destiny Guilford CT: Lyons Press, 2015.

External links

1932 Democratic Convention

Roosevelt Nomination Acceptance Speech for President at DNC
(transcript) at ''The American Presidency Project''
Democratic Party Platform of 1932
at ''The American Presidency Project'' {{Authority control 1932 United States presidential election 1932 in Illinois 20th century in Chicago Political conventions in Chicago Democratic Party of Illinois Political events in Illinois Democratic National Conventions 1932 conferences June 1932 in the United States July 1932 in the United States Al Smith 1930s political conferences Tammany Hall

The candidates

Convention

Roosevelt's acceptance speech

See also

References

External links