If Hoover could have handpicked the candidate of the Democrats, he would have selected FDR, since he didn’t think Franklin Roosevelt had the necessary levels of imagination and leadership. To Hoover, FDR didn’t pass muster as a Presidential candidate, and then there was the matter of major health concerns as well for the NY governor. During the
Democratic National Convention, FDR won the nomination on the 4th ballot, and Hoover believed his chances at re-election had vastly improved. Hoover’s low estimation of FDR mirrored conventional wisdom, in that FDR was viewed as a rich spoiled dandy, unsuited for the highest office in the land. Up to 1932, FDR’s public speeches had been awkward and vague, not inspiring much confidence.
However, FDR had a firm grip on the two central issues in 1932: the failures of the Republicans in Congress and the weak spots of President Hoover. FDR kept throwing various charges against Hoover, letting voters decide what would stick. FDR attacked Hoover from both conservative and liberal flanks, ridiculing the President’s judgment and leadership. FDR laid the blame of the Stock Market Crash and the deep economic depression on Hoover, ignoring the reality of the situation. FDR went even further, portraying Hoover as the main villain in the nation.
FDR shared Harding’s trait of projecting confidence and radiating comfort and cheer, and he was able to assume whatever role voters desired. But FDR was far more ruthless than Harding, unafraid to tear down others to advance his ambition. Hoover was slow to respond to FDR’s attacks, in large part because he believed that it was not dignified to actively campaign, especially for re-election. Hoover refused to hit the hustings, while FDR, despite his inability to independently mobile, was active and out-and-about.
And there was the Bonus Army, which numbered over 10k in the DC area, which proved to be the most significant way the Great War haunted Hoover’s Presidency. Hoover canceled at least one public appearance with the Bonus Army in DC, but he secretly distributed food, clothing, blankets, etc. to the 10k+. The 6th Marine Barracks took charge of the medical side of things concerning the Bonus Army, seeing hundreds of veterans a day. On 7 July 1932, the Senate soundly defeated a bill that would have distributed $2.5B to the veterans. A majority in the Senate agreed with Hoover, in that paying the veterans now (until waiting until 1945) meant less federal money spent elsewhere, and that it would have been too large a federal expenditure on such a small percentage of the population. At that point, most of the Bonus Army left DC, and Hoover authorized $100k in travel subsidies to assist in their return home.
However, a militant minority refused to leave, and the weeks that followed turned very tense. Rumors circulated that the remnants of the Bonus Army would storm the White House, and that they were arming themselves with weapons (e.g. machine guns). On 28 July 1932, a riot occurred when DC police tried to force the Bonus Army to leave. The DC police asked Hoover for assistance from the Army, and Hoover agreed, ordering the militant minority to be escorted back to their camp across the Anacostia River.
Who turned the tense situation into a nightmare was Army Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur, who didn’t see fellow veterans in a desperate situation, but rather enemies of the state. MacArthur believed that a major revolt was in the offing, and he ordered an Army detachment of six tanks, a column of infantry, and mounted cavalry to engage the Bonus Army at the base of the Capitol Building. The detachment, under MacArthur’s orders, used tear gas and bayonets to force the Bonus Army across the Anacostia. Ignoring Hoover’s orders that once across the river the veterans were to be left alone, MacArthur torched their encampment. Then MacArthur held a press conference to congratulate Hoover on his firm hand concerning the Bonus Army. When FDR heard of the Bonus Army Incident, he believed that Hoover had doomed whatever chance he had at re-election.
But FDR had many other avenues in which to attack Hoover in terms of the economic misery that gripped the nation, since no one really understood what happened to the economy, experts included. Conservatives assailed Hoover on using the government to intrude on the private sector, and socialist-leaning Democrats attacked Hoover for not admitting that capitalism was played-out. The verdict by the Fall of 1932 was that Hoover and the federal government had failed the nation. The problem for Hoover was how could he prove that he had done his best to at least partially blunt the misery of the worst economic depression in US History. It reached the point where few believed that the economic nightmare would have occurred if anyone other than Hoover had been President.
FDR recognized the dilemma that Hoover was in, and he gave no quarter on his campaign. An increasing number of voters found FDR’s attacks on Hoover compelling, and Hoover’s optimism and resilience were viewed as ineptness and incompetence. By September 1932, it was clear that Hoover’s chances at re-election were virtually nonexistent, and whatever campaigning he did was without any support from the Republican Party. Yet Hoover still believed he could win, in part because yet another “False Dawn” was peeking over the horizon, in that major economic indicators seemed to be moving in a positive direction. Hoover claimed that he had stopped the sinking of the economy, but that recovery would take time. In the back of Hoover’s mind was that there would probably be a new freefall in the economy which could occur at any time, given what happened with the previous “False Dawns”. Hoover hoped that the economic indicators would be enough to convince the GOP to back him through re-election.
Hoover campaigned on economic recovery, but he also kept stating that FDR did not have a monopoly on caring about the nation’s welfare. Hoover hit the campaign trail like never before, spending much time writing speeches trying to prove that FDR’s assertions about him were wrong. By mid-October 1932, Hoover found out that the Republican Party had run out of campaign funds, even though the GOP had routinely outspent the Democrats in previous Presidential campaigns.
The Great Depression damaged Hoover’s chances at re-election, but less than has been popularly thought. 58% had Hoover “somewhat responsible” for the Great Depression, while 68% believed that the government had made the depression less severe, with the RFC receiving much of the credit. A large majority polled blamed financiers and businesses for causing the Great Depression, with Wall Street blamed far more than Hoover. A surprising result of Hoover’s polling was that the vast majority believed that the Great Depression was easing its grip on the nation, and that the economy would soon start its recovery, which exactly matched what he’d been arguing since the Summer of 1932.
Ironically, the temporary economic upturn held through Election Day. Hoover’s polling data indicated that he had hurt himself with his stance on the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, and that Isolationism was preferred over Internationalism. It was a
Pyrrhic Victory for Hoover when his polling data indicated that the government could offset economic depressions by becoming more involved in the financial and business sectors. And in one more irony, it was FDR that made government involvement an issue during the campaign. However, scientific polling data couldn’t measure such aspects as the personality differences between Hoover and FDR, nor FDR’s superior political acumen and skills. The results of the Election of 1932: Electoral College - FDR 472, Hoover 59 / Popular Vote - FDR .574, Hoover .396 / States Won - FDR 42, Hoover 6 (Northeast states).
Hoover still had four months to go until Inauguration Day, and there was plenty for him to do for the nation while still in office. President Hoover tried to get President-Elect FDR involved before 4 March 1933, but FDR wanted no part in assisting any Republican efforts to improve the economy before he was sworn in as the 32nd President (nor did he want any blame before that day). Hoover and FDR met on 22 November 1932 in the Red Room of the White House; the two former friendly acquaintances were now political antagonists. That antagonism was almost entirely on Hoover’s end, since he was always incredibly touchy and thin-skinned on any attacks against him. Hoover was unwilling to forgive FDR, while FDR was unable to comprehend why Hoover just couldn’t let matters go; the two men would remain antagonists for the rest of their lives.
Then the US economy took a further downturn. Investors exchanged dollars for gold based on vague statements from FDR, who questioned the validity of the Gold Standard. As the supply of gold went down in the Federal Reserve, the stability of the banks went down, as did the confidence of citizens in their banks. Congress had decided to “punish” the banks before Inauguration Day, contrary to all sound advice. And the insistence of Congress to publicize the loans issued banks from the RFC reduced confidence in specific banks, which was contrary to Hoover’s advice. Hoover had good reason to blame FDR and the Democrats in Congress for ruining his hard-earned partial economic recovery, an argument which has gained credence among economists over the succeeding decades. For every item Hoover wanted addressed before his Presidency ended, he was thwarted by Congressional Democrats, acting at the behest of FDR, who pretended to sit on the sidelines. To Democrats, it was simply politically stupid to cooperate in any way with Hoover when FDR would be inaugurated on 4 March 1933, and the Democrats would have a majority in both the House and the Senate.
A full-blown banking crisis forced another meeting to occur between Hoover and FDR before Inauguration Day, mostly due to the actions of Henry Ford’s arrogant idiot son,
Edsel Ford. The mammoth Guardian Group, headed by Edsel Ford, was in desperate need of capital since the firm under his leadership had squandered an incredible amount of money on irresponsible speculation. Edsel Ford refused to cooperate with the strict terms of the RFC, believing the Guardian Group was too big to be allowed to fail. The RFC refused to loan Edsel Ford any money, the Guardian Group collapsed, and its failure triggered bank runs on a national scale.
As a result, all the positive economic signals of the second half of 1932 went up in smoke. By the end of February 1933, 25% of the Fed's gold reserves had vanished. Wholesale prices declined, unemployment increased, and many states followed the lead of MI in declaring “bank holidays”. As FDR saw things, the economic collapse would give him even more freedom as President to enact his economic recovery programs. FDR showed nothing but poise and confidence as President-Elect all the way to his Inauguration. After FDR took the Oath of Office to become the 32nd President of the United States, FDR and Hoover never again saw each other.