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1936 Election
In 1936 the Democratic party nominated President Franklin D.
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1940 Election
In 1940 President Franklin D. Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term by a margin of nearly 5 million.
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1836 Election
The election of 1836 was largely a referendum on Andrew Jackson, but it also helped shape what is known as the second party system.
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1884 Election
This race, marred by negative campaigning and corruption, ended in the election of the first Democratic president since 1856.
In 1932, the third year of the Great Depression, the Republican party nominated President Herbert Hoover and Vice President Charles Curtis. Although Hoover had tried to respond to the crisis, his belief in voluntarism limited his options.
The Democratic party nominated Franklin D. Roosevelt, the governor of New York, for president and Senator John Nance Garner of Texas for vice president. The platform called for the repeal of Prohibition and a reduction in federal spending.
During the campaign Hoover defended his record, his commitment to a balanced budget, and the gold standard--a backward-looking stance, given that the number of unemployed stood at 13 million. Roosevelt made few specific proposals, but his tone and demeanor were positive and forward-looking.
The Democrats won the election in a landslide. Roosevelt received 22,809,638 popular votes to the president's 15,758,901 and took the electoral college by 472 votes to 59. The voters' rejection of Hoover and his party extended to both houses of Congress, which the Democrats now controlled.
The Reader's Companion to American History. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, Editors. Copyright © 1991 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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This Day in History
Feb 9
Lead Story
Satchel Paige nominated to Baseball Hall of Fame, 1971
On this day in 1971, pitcher Leroy "Satchel" Paige becomes the first Negro League veteran to be nominated for the Baseball Hall of Fame. In August of that…
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