While Roosevelt's mother thought his illness was a sign
he should retire from politics, he thought the opposite. FDR, with
Howe's help, presented himself as the bridge between the two wings
of the Democratic Party. One wing, which was largely Catholic,
eastern, urban, and ethnic, was represented by Al Smith, whose
nomination for President in 1924 FDR strongly supported. The other
half, primarily Protestant, southern, western, and rural, was represented
by William Jennings Bryan and William McAdoo. FDR used the talent he
had developed charming his parents and their friends in Hyde Park
to charm both sides of the Democratic Party and bring them together.
After months of resisting pressure to run for Governor
of New York, FDR decided that it was time to move beyond mere political mediation.
Al Smith personally asked him to run in order to offset the negative
effects that Smith's Catholicism would have on the presidential
race in New York. Roosevelt campaigned for Governor even more energetically
than he had in the past, to prove to himself and to all the voters
and fellow politicians that his illness had not taken anything
away from him. Smith lost his home state to Herbert Hoover in the
presidential election, but Roosevelt won his gubernatorial race
by a narrow margin.
FDR, realizing that the next step from the Governor's
seat was the Presidency, chose his political aides wisely, with
an eye to mollifying all his possible opponents. He kept many appointees
on his staff that Al Smith had made while he was Governor, and
continued his positive relationship with Tammany Hall. It was during
FDR's first term as Governor that the Great Depression hit the
country. Roosevelt proved to be an excellent Depression governor.
His support of issues such as tax relief for farmers, public development
of hydroelectric power, stricter regulation of phone and utility
rates, and a neutral stance on Prohibition considerably broadened
his support. Voters saw that he would provide direct aid in return
for their loyalty in the next election. FDR won the 1930 reelection
by more than 725,000 votes, a much larger margin than his last win.
In 1931, he established a Temporary Emergency Relief Administration headed
by one of his most able advisors, Harry Hopkins, which would address
problems faced by the state in the Depression era conditions. Hopkins
and the Administration were hugely popular, and prevented some
of the desperation that afflicted the rest of the nation.
In Washington, President Hoover's attitude to the Depression was
very different. A staunch conservative, Hoover was reluctant to spend
federal funds for direct aid, and did not push for any major legislative
changes. To the ailing country, it appeared as if the President
was doing nothing to aid them. The Democrats were poised for a
presidential victory. In 1932, FDR, believing that his political moment
had come, assembled the Brain Trust, a group of campaign advisors
and speechwriters to aid him in getting the Presidential nomination.
Louis Howe was busy working with the chairman of the state Democratic
Party to line up local and state party organizations behind FDR.
The bulk of Roosevelt's party support in the primaries came from
southern Democrats, who realized that FDR was the candidate most
likely to avoid the battles over religion and Prohibition that
had divided the Democratic Party in recent elections in the 1920s.
The Democratic National Convention, held in Chicago in
1932, was charged with suspense. In the first three roll calls,
FDR was short a hundred votes of the two-thirds majority needed
for the presidential nomination. John Nance Garner, a Congressman
from Texas, finally threw his support behind FDR, and was given
the nomination for Vice President in return. FDR, in an unprecedented
move, flew to Chicago to personally accept the nomination, in an effort
to assure his party and the people that his paralysis would not prevent
him from being an able President. Roosevelt ended this speech outlining
his plan for the Presidency with a promise to the people, saying
"I pledge you, I pledge myself to a new deal for the American people."
American voters were in a foul mood during the election
of 1932. The number of unemployed workers had risen to eleven million
and poverty was rampant. Hoover was re-nominated in Chicago without
much enthusiasm. His platform heaped inordinate praise on the Republican
anti-Depression policies and harped on the Prohibition issue, saying
control would be given back to the States. In sharp contrast, FDR's
political appeal was staggering, as he was an excellent orator.
His record of heavy state spending for Depression aid in New York
gave him wide appeal, and his wife had a great deal of political
cachet among women. His high spirits and jaunty angled cigarette
holder were in sharp contrast to Hoover's gloomy predictions of
grass growing on the streets of cities if the Smoot-Hawley Tariff
was repealed. The theme song of the Democrats, "Happy Days are Here
Again," well suited the mood of FDR's campaign.
