The Election of 1936
With the 1936 presidential
election on the horizon, Republicans stood virtually no chance
against Roosevelt and his party. Democrats’ efforts to provide relief,
recovery, and reform were highly visible. Roosevelt had especially
strong support among blacks (voting as Democrats in large numbers
for the first time), unskilled laborers, and residents of the West
and South. The Republican nominee was Kansas governor Alfred
M. Landon, a moderate who campaigned on an anti–New Deal
platform. Not surprisingly, Roosevelt won a landslide victory, with 523 electoral
votes to Landon’s 8. Roosevelt’s resounding
victory proved that Americans widely supported the New Deal.
