1932 Democratic National 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, who roughly represented three competing factions of the Democratic Party:

• Smith was supported by the Tammany Hall machine in New York City, and had many supporters in the Democratic National Committee, 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, Alben Barkley, and Huey Long, who held the Deep South for Roosevelt.
• Garner had support from two powerful individuals: California newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst 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 for the American people".

References

References

1. "Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Historic First Inauguration".
2. Candidate ages listed as they were during the convention in 1932
3. (2 July 1932). "Roosevelt Nominated on Fourth Ballot; Garner Expected to be His Running Mate; Governor Will Fly to Convention Today". [[The New York Times]].
4. Gunther, John. (1950). "Roosevelt in Retrospect". Harper & Brothers.
5. (3 July 1932). "Roosevelt Puts Economic Recovery First in His Acceptance Speech at Convention; Garner for Vice President by Acclamation". [[The New York Times]].