U.S. presidential election, 1936

Introduction

The Great Depression was still widespread in 1936, and incumbent president Roosevelt was still working to push the provisions of his New Deal interventionist economic policy through Congress and the courts.

Democratic nomination

The Democratic Party Convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and overwhelmingly nominated incumbent President Franklin Roosevelt.

Republican nomination

The Republican Party Convention in Cleveland, Ohio nominated Alf Landon from Kansas. Landon ran on a moderate platform, accepting the need for some government involvement in the economy and opposed to the power of big business, but felt that the New Deal was corrupt and wasteful.

Other candidates

Many people expected Louisiana Governor Huey Long to run as an Independent, but he was assassinated by Carl Weiss on September 9 1935. A coalition of his supporters formed the Union Party and nominated William Lemke on a radical populist platform.

General election

The election was held on November 3, 1936.

This election is notable for the Literary Digest poll, which was based on 10 million questionnaires mailed to readers and potential readers; over two million were returned. The Literary Digest, which had correctly predicted the winner of the last 5 elections, announced in its October 31 issue that Landon would be the winner with 370 electorial votes. The cause of this mistake is believed to be due to improper sampling: more Republicans subscribed to the Literary Digest than Democrats.

That same year, an unknown pollster named George Gallup predicted that Roosevelt would win the election, based on a random sample of 50,000 people. This correct prediction led to Gallup's later fame and respect in predicting the outcome of elections.

Roosevelt won reelection by a wide margin; while the country was still suffering from the Great Depression, most voters thought Roosevelt's progressive programs were more likely to improve the situation than a return to a Republican administration. Roosevelt's 60.8% of the popular vote remains the second-largest percentage in U.S. history (Lyndon Johnson in 1964 received more) as does his 523 electoral votes (Ronald Reagan received 525 in 1984), though, in 1936, there were only 531 available to begin, compared to 538 available for Reagan in 1984.

See also: President of the United States, U.S. presidential election, 1936, History of the United States (1918-1945), Alf Landon, As Maine goes, so goes Vermont

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