Franklin Roosevelt Era

The Ninth in a series of 20 articles on the Democratic National Convention

1932: A New Deal for the American People

Dates: June 27 - July 2, 1932

Venue: Chicago Stadium, 1800 Madison Street, Chicago IL. Chicago Stadium was one of the premium sports venues in America from 1924 until 1994. It was torn down to make way for the United Center. The site today is the parking lot for the United Center. A plaque on the ground marks the former location of the stadium.

Events: A nation struggling through the worst economic crisis in its history placed its hopes in Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Governor of New York. Roosevelt clashed with 1928 nominee Al Smith and House Speaker John Nance Garner of Texas for the nomination, but was the clear favorite with 666 votes on the first ballot, with only 200 for Smith. Garner and the lesser contenders dropped out after the third ballot, and Roosevelt won with 945 votes on the 4th ballot. As a reward, Roosevelt offered Garner the vice presidency.

In his acceptance speech to the convention, Roosevelt offered “a new deal for the American people.” It became the name for his economic recovery program.

November 1932: With the Depression hanging around his neck, Hoover went down to utter defeat. Roosevelt won the electoral college 472 to 59, with Pennsylvania being the only major state won by Hoover. FDR won the popular vote by over 7 million, 22.8 million to 15.7 million, an almost 18 point margin of victory. Even further to the left, Socialist Norman Thomas received 884,000 votes, a little over 2 percent.

1936: A Rendezvous With Destiny

Dates: June 23 - 27, 1936

Venue 1: Convention Hall, 3400 Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia. Torn down in 2005, replaced with the University of Pennsylvania Perelman Medical Center

Venue 2: Franklin Field, 33rd and Spruce Streets. The home field for the University of Pennsylvania.

Events: Franklin Roosevelt and John Nance Garner are renominated by acclamation. Roosevelt once again breaks tradition and comes to the convention to speak. The biggest change from a procedural standpoint is the final elimination of the two-thirds rule, which had hampered the party for a century.

In his acceptance speech on June 27, Roosevelt stated that “This generation has a rendezvous with destiny.” Given the Philadelphia setting, Roosevelt talked a lot about 1776 and freedom.

November: After restoring hope to a nation that desperately needed it, Roosevelt rolled to one of the biggest electoral landslides in history. Roosevelt defeated Kansas Governor Alf Landon by 523 to 8, with Landon winning only Maine and Vermont. His 98.5 percent of the electoral vote remains the record for the biggest blowout. Roosevelt also beat Landon by over 11 million votes in the popular vote, a full 24 point margin.

1940: The Voice From the Sewers

Dates: June 23 - 27, 1940

Venue: Chicago Stadium, 1800 Madison Street, Chicago IL. Chicago Stadium was one of the premium sports venues in America from 1924 until 1994. It was torn down to make way for the United Center. The site today is the parking lot for the United Center. A plaque on the ground marks the former location of the stadium.

Events: Democrats returned to Chicago, where FDR pulled off one of the greatest stunts in US political history. Knowing that he would be breaking a 150 year old tradition, but anxious about leaving in the middle of a potential war, Roosevelt had Senator Alben Barkley read a message stating that delegates were “free to vote for any candidate.”

As delegates were thinking about the message, the loudspeakers in the stadium started saying “We Want Roosevelt.” That was Thomas Garry, head of Chicago’s Sewage Department, over a microphone in the basement. He lined up hundreds of city workers to amplify the message.

The next day, Roosevelt was nominated for a third time with 86 percent of the ballots. Democratic activist James Farley and Vice President Garner received a few votes.

After eight years of a dysfunctional partnership, Roosevelt dumped Garner as Vice President and replaced him with Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace from Iowa.

The most notable statement at the convention was by Eleanor Roosevelt, and her “No Ordinary Time” speech.

November: While not as big a blowout as 1936, the election was a huge victory for Roosevelt. He defeated Indiana businessman Wendell Willkie by a margin of 449 to 82, and almost 5 million in the popular vote. Willkie was able to regain the plains states for Republicans.