I think the upcoming election may become one of the most important elections in American history, and no matter what it will be historical. So with only five days until the election I thought I would do a top five count down of the most important elections we have had so far. So starting today and for the next 5 days I will highlight the top five elections
5. 1932 Election-Herbert Hoover (R) v. Franklin D. Roosevelt (D). In 1932 Hoover was the incumbent president, but more importantly America was in the grips of the Great Depression. This is a time when 25% of American families were without a wage earner and those who were employed were limited in hours and pay. Families struggled more that ever before for basic securities like food and shelter and families had to come together and share one house or apartment with several other families. During this time, some looked to the government for help, but found nothing. For one, unlike today, most never expected the Government to help. Why should it when it never had before. Hoover has taken some undue criticism for his approach to solving the economic issue. Hoover, based on advice from all his economic advisors, did nothing. Hoover’s advisors believed the best way to help the economy was to allow the free market system to fix the problems. This had been sound economic policy since Adam Smith first wrote about the invisible hand’s ability to solve market issues. The idea was that the business cycle was a pattern of peeks and valleys, with sometimes the valleys being very low. However, the business cycle had always rallied and fixed its own problems . What Hoover’s advisors told the president was that if the government inserted itself into the market they might break it or make it worse. In many ways this is similar to the Republican approach to today’s crisis. Some conservative thinkers have disagreed with the bailout, stating that market forces should be allowed to work without government interference. So I do not blame Hoover for the depression, he honestly did what he thought was best, yet at the same time he did not do things to help himself. Hoover made statements like, “nobody is actually starving,” and our hobos have never been better off. The problem was people were actually starving. Hoover just kept asking people to be patient and just around the corner things would get better, yet they never seemed to.
But in 1932 Roosevelt ran for the presidency promising that the government would do everything in its power to fix the problem. Like Obama, Roosevelt ran on a platform of hope, and hope was something the nation desperately needed by 1932. Between 1860 and 1932 the Republicans dominated the White House with only two Democratic presidents over the 72 years. This 1932 election and Roosevelt’s promise of a “New Deal” was the turning point that would allow the Democrats to began their long run of presidential control that would last until 1968 with only one Republican president during the 36 years. With Roosevelt’s popularity, many people that had traditionally voted Republican had switched their votes during FDR’s four terms as president, but later many would switch back. The most important switch in 1931 was a racial one. Beginning with the 15th Amendment when blacks were given the right to vote, blacks voted something like 95% for the Republican party, after all it was the party of Lincoln. But beginning in 1932 black Americans for the first time began voting Democratic and would never again abandon the party. FDR was not a champion of civil rights, but he did believe in helping the poor, and blacks were some of the poorest people in the nation (as a side note Mrs. Roosevelt was a supporter of civil rights and did help in her husbands popularity amongst black voters). The capturing of the minority vote has become a staple in the Democratic party and was one of the reasons for their long run beginning in 1932, and will be a major reason for Obama winning if he does next week.
FDR will go on to change politics forever; our recent bailout can be traced to FDR’s influence. Roosevelt will build up the size and power of the federal government and will create a government that would put thousands of people to work on government programs, as well as create systems like social security that was meant as a government cradle to the grave protection. Our modern ideas of a welfare state can trace back to FDR’s influence. So with the change from Republican to Democratic control, with the switch of black voters to the Democratic party, and change from Laissez Faire government to a welfare state are all the reasons the 1932 is the 5th most important election in American history.
5. 1932 Election-Herbert Hoover (R) v. Franklin D. Roosevelt (D). In 1932 Hoover was the incumbent president, but more importantly America was in the grips of the Great Depression. This is a time when 25% of American families were without a wage earner and those who were employed were limited in hours and pay. Families struggled more that ever before for basic securities like food and shelter and families had to come together and share one house or apartment with several other families. During this time, some looked to the government for help, but found nothing. For one, unlike today, most never expected the Government to help. Why should it when it never had before. Hoover has taken some undue criticism for his approach to solving the economic issue. Hoover, based on advice from all his economic advisors, did nothing. Hoover’s advisors believed the best way to help the economy was to allow the free market system to fix the problems. This had been sound economic policy since Adam Smith first wrote about the invisible hand’s ability to solve market issues. The idea was that the business cycle was a pattern of peeks and valleys, with sometimes the valleys being very low. However, the business cycle had always rallied and fixed its own problems . What Hoover’s advisors told the president was that if the government inserted itself into the market they might break it or make it worse. In many ways this is similar to the Republican approach to today’s crisis. Some conservative thinkers have disagreed with the bailout, stating that market forces should be allowed to work without government interference. So I do not blame Hoover for the depression, he honestly did what he thought was best, yet at the same time he did not do things to help himself. Hoover made statements like, “nobody is actually starving,” and our hobos have never been better off. The problem was people were actually starving. Hoover just kept asking people to be patient and just around the corner things would get better, yet they never seemed to.
But in 1932 Roosevelt ran for the presidency promising that the government would do everything in its power to fix the problem. Like Obama, Roosevelt ran on a platform of hope, and hope was something the nation desperately needed by 1932. Between 1860 and 1932 the Republicans dominated the White House with only two Democratic presidents over the 72 years. This 1932 election and Roosevelt’s promise of a “New Deal” was the turning point that would allow the Democrats to began their long run of presidential control that would last until 1968 with only one Republican president during the 36 years. With Roosevelt’s popularity, many people that had traditionally voted Republican had switched their votes during FDR’s four terms as president, but later many would switch back. The most important switch in 1931 was a racial one. Beginning with the 15th Amendment when blacks were given the right to vote, blacks voted something like 95% for the Republican party, after all it was the party of Lincoln. But beginning in 1932 black Americans for the first time began voting Democratic and would never again abandon the party. FDR was not a champion of civil rights, but he did believe in helping the poor, and blacks were some of the poorest people in the nation (as a side note Mrs. Roosevelt was a supporter of civil rights and did help in her husbands popularity amongst black voters). The capturing of the minority vote has become a staple in the Democratic party and was one of the reasons for their long run beginning in 1932, and will be a major reason for Obama winning if he does next week.
FDR will go on to change politics forever; our recent bailout can be traced to FDR’s influence. Roosevelt will build up the size and power of the federal government and will create a government that would put thousands of people to work on government programs, as well as create systems like social security that was meant as a government cradle to the grave protection. Our modern ideas of a welfare state can trace back to FDR’s influence. So with the change from Republican to Democratic control, with the switch of black voters to the Democratic party, and change from Laissez Faire government to a welfare state are all the reasons the 1932 is the 5th most important election in American history.
1 comment:
I love this blog...I get to read up on history then I go around and repeat it and people are in awe of my knowledge of history. Thanks James!
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