The US is one of the oldest countries in the world political-wise. Having been under a colonial rule like many other nations in the world, the country boasts of some of the most historically re-defining events to ever take place in the world. Notably, the US is one of the countries in the world that has had many presidents over the years. From the colonial period to the slave trade, liberation, and freedom, the wholesomeness of the US as a country has heavily relied on its political stature. The presidential elections are inarguably the most important elections in the US. Over the years, most Americans have always been more concerned about who is elected as president as compared to even their local mayor. Indeed, the presidency is the highest position of power in the country and arguably in the world. In fact, the ideals that each president upholds apply equivocally to each American. For this reason, the president’s seat will always remain to be a major concern and subject of interest to Americans.
The I932 Election
Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt were the main candidates in the 1932 presidential elections with Herbert being the incumbent president. This election was the thirty-seventh quadrennial election of the president to take place in the US (Shafer, 2016, p. 32). During the time of this election, the US was recovering from the Great Depression that had ravished the economy and social structure of the country. As some have noted, the economy was barely ‘getting on its feet.’ The political scene was comparatively calm even though the two candidates faced stiff competition from each other. Since Herbert Hoover had won the previous presidential election (1928 election), to him this election was about serving for a second term. For Franklin D. Roosevelt, on the other hand, this was the first presidential election he was partaking. Franklin was running under the Democrats’ umbrella while Herbert was a Republican.
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Candidates’ Backgrounds
Franklin D. Roosevelt was born in 1882 and his family resided in Hyde Park, New York. He went to Groton School when he was a child and later attended Harvard College after which he proceeded to pursue law studies at Columbia Law School. In 1910, Franklin won the New York State Senate. During the First World War, he served under Woodrow Wilson as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Franklin contracted a paralytic illness in 1921 which resulted in his legs becoming permanently paralyzed. Despite this setback, he returned to public office in 1928 after winning the New York Governor position. It was from this position that he went ahead and contested for the presidency in 1932 (Savage, 1991, p. 17).
Clark Herbert Hoover was born in 1874; West Branch, Iowa. Herbert attended Friends Pacific Academy. However, he dropped out when he was 13 years old and went to work as an office assistant in his uncle’s office at Salem, Oregon. In 1891, Herbert joined Stanford University and after graduating, he worked in Nevada and California in mining-related firms as a mining engineer and businessman before indulging in politics. He was involved in several humanitarian activities during the World War I, and when he contested for a Republican ticket to run for the presidency in 1928, it was easily accorded to him. Clark Herbert Hoover became the 31 st President of the US in 1928 and served the American people until 1932. His resume boasts about him being the only US president who could speak Mandarin Chinese.
Major Social and Political Issues Surrounding the Elections
The main social and political issue that surrounded the 1932 election was the Great Depression phenomenon that had torn through urban and rural America. Unfortunate for Herbert Hoover, most of the impact of the Great Depression had been felt during his administration. This gave him fewer cards to play in his bid for re-election. Another political issue was the Republican dominance on the presidential seat. Indeed, from the entire period between 1860 and the 1932 elections, the Republicans had dominated the presidency. In fact, it was only about three Democrats who had been presidents between 1860 and the 1932 elections. The Great Depression had also impacted the socio-economic structure of the country, and for this reason, most people were distressed while the economy ‘suffocated’. National cohesion was not at its peak.
Campaign Strategies
Campaigning has always been one of the most instrumental platforms for candidates to reach out and spread their ideologies to the public. As stated above, by default, the cards were not in favor of Herbert Hoover since the Great Depression had severely hit America during his tenure as president. However, the Great Depression and the depreciating economy formed the basis for each candidate’s campaign (Stone, 2017, p. 49). Herbert Hoover had less bargaining power since the infusion of the depression had happened during his administration. However, he contended that he was the better man and had the best policies to bring America to the path of recovery. Franklin D. Roosevelt, on the other hand, had more bargaining power and he reached out to farmers and corporate workers to tell them about the strategies he had in his bid to restore the economic stature.
Use of Propaganda
The use of propaganda to gain a competitive advantage or discredit one’s competitor is usually common when there is civil war or other disturbing cases/issues surrounding one candidate. In this election, such cases were not present. Indeed, Franklin D. Roosevelt had a great political career and reputation. As governor of New York, he had been instrumental in the design of great policies for his state. His involvement in the community ‘spoke for itself.’ During his first term as president, Clark Herbert Hoover limited trading activities in the US (Johnstone & Priest, 2017, 63). He also increased the tax rates on the wealthy. These are some of the things people believed caused the Great Depression. While some of these issues could have been used by Franklin D. Roosevelt to tailor and propagate propaganda, they were undeniable facts that every concerned American could see. Franklin D. Roosevelt won the election by a landslide and the main reason he triumphed was grounded on the discrediting of Herbert based on his prior leadership and not propaganda. In addition, the history of his political career contributed to his victory.
Comparison between the 1932 and 2016 Presidential Elections
Inarguably, the 2016 presidential election was historic. First, there was a female candidate who had tremendous support, something that has not been common in the American political scene. Secondly, Donald Trump, a famous businessman with no political career history made his way through the nominations and elections to become the most powerful person in the US. To this extent, the campaigns were unique and each candidate had their strategies and plans to make sure that they paved their way to the White House. Due to the advancement in technology and civilization, there are obvious differences in the electoral processes between these two elections. This section will delve deeper and bring to the fore the major similarities and differences while ignoring the rather obvious ones (Denton Jr., 2017, 14).
Similarities
One similarity between the elections is the campaign strategies that were used. First, the 1932 candidates used strategies based on their strongholds. Indeed, each candidate spent more time campaigning in their strongholds as compared to the places they had less support. This is an element that was there during the 1932 elections as well as the 2016 elections. Another similarity is the used of discrediting strategies to gain an advantage over the other candidate during the campaigns. In 1932, Franklin discredited Herbert based on his prior leadership while in 2016, Hillary Clinton discredited Trump through his arrogance and ethnic insensitivity. Trump, on the other hand, criticized Hillary based on her performance when she was the state secretary. Another similarity is that the candidates in the two elections did not face a lot of competition from their respective party affiliations.
Differences
An overall difference between the two elections was the competitiveness of the presidential race. In the 1932 election, the race was not stiff mainly because Herbert Hoover was being merited on his previous performance as president while Franklin D. Roosevelt had a rather clean sheet. For this reason, it was almost evident that Franklin would assume office. The 2016 election, on the other hand, had two candidates who had massive support and great strategies, making it a very competitive election. The other difference is based on the ideologies, agenda, and strategies that the candidates in the elections had. While the main ideology and agenda in the 1932 election was economic recovery for the Great Depression, the 2016 agenda and ideologies were based on a number of factors. Donald Trump, for instance, focused on ‘making America great again.’ This involved creating more jobs, security, sending back illegal immigrants to their home countries among other radical measures. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, focused on national unity, economic expansion, equality, and national safety/security.
References
Denton Jr., R. E. (2017). The 2016 US Presidential Campaign: Political Communication and Practice.
Johnstone, A. & Priest, A. (2017). US Presidential Elections and Foreign Policy : Candidates, Campaigns, and Global Politics from FDR to Bill Clinton. University Press of Kentucky.
Savage, S. J. (1991). Roosevelt, the Party Leader, 1932-1945 . University Press of Kentucky.
Shafer, B. E. (2016). The American Political Pattern: Stability and Change, 1932-2016. University Press of Kansas.
Stone, W. J. (2017). Candidates and Voters : Ideology, Valence, and Representation in U.S Elections. Cambridge University Press.
