United States presidential election, 1936
Encyclopedia
The United States presidential election of 1936 was the most lopsided presidential election in the history of the United States
in terms of electoral votes. In terms of the popular vote, it was the third biggest victory since the election of 1820
, which was not seriously contested.
The election took place as the Great Depression
entered its eighth year. Incumbent President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
was still working to push the provisions of his New Deal
economic policy through Congress and the courts. However, the New Deal policies he had already enacted, such as Social Security
and unemployment benefits, had proven to be highly popular with most Americans. Roosevelt's Republican opponent was Governor Alf Landon
of Kansas
, a political moderate.
Although some political pundits
predicted a close race, Roosevelt went on to win the greatest electoral landslide since the beginning of the current two-party system in the 1850s, carrying all but 8 electoral votes. Roosevelt carried every state except Maine and Vermont.
By winning 523 electoral votes, Roosevelt received 98.49% of the electoral vote, the highest percentage since 1820. Roosevelt also won the largest number of electoral votes ever recorded at that time, so far only surpassed by Ronald Reagan in the 1984 election
, when 7 more electoral votes were available. In addition, Roosevelt won 60.8% of the national popular vote, the second highest popular-vote percentage won since 1820.
, between June 9 and June 12. Although many candidates sought the Republican nomination, only two, Governor Landon and Senator Borah, were considered to be serious candidates. While favorite sons County Attorney Earl Warren
of California, Governor
Warren Green
of South Dakota, and Stephen A. Day
of Ohio won their respective primaries, the 70-year-old Borah, a well-known progressive
and "insurgent," won the Wisconsin, Nebraska
, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Oregon primaries, while also performing quite strongly in Knox's Illinois and Green's South Dakota. However, the party machinery almost uniformly backed Landon, a wealthy businessman and centrist
, who won primaries in Massachusetts and New Jersey and dominated in the caucus
es and at state party convention
s.
With Knox withdrawing as Landon's selection for vice-president and Day, Green, and Warren releasing their delegates, the tally at the convention was:
faced only one primary opponent other than various favorite son
s. Henry Skillman Breckinridge, an anti-New Deal lawyer from New York, filed to run against Roosevelt in four primaries. Breckinridge's test of the popularity of the New Deal among Democrats failed, as he lost by wide margins. In New Jersey, President Roosevelt did not file for the preference vote and lost that primary to Breckinridge, though he did receive 19% of the vote on write-ins. Roosevelt's candidates for delegates swept the race in New Jersey and elsewhere. In other primaries, Breckinridge's best showing was 15% in Maryland. Overall, Roosevelt received 93% of the primary vote, compared to 2% for Breckinridge.
The Democratic Party Convention was held in Philadelphia between July 23 and July 27. The delegates unanimously re-nominated incumbents President Roosevelt and Vice-President John Nance Garner
. At Roosevelt's request, the two-thirds rule, which had given the South a veto power, was repealed.
, the colorful Democratic senator from Louisiana, to run as a third-party candidate with his "Share Our Wealth
" program as his platform. However, he was assassinated in September 1935. It was later revealed by historian and Long biographer T. Harry Williams
that Long had never, in fact, intended to run for the presidency in 1936. Instead, he had been plotting with Father Charles Coughlin
, a Catholic priest
and populist
talk radio
personality, to run someone else on the soon-to-be-formed "Share Our Wealth" Party ticket. According to Williams, the idea was that this candidate would split the left-wing
vote with President Roosevelt, thereby electing a Republican president and proving the electoral appeal of SOW. Long would then wait four years and run for president as a Democrat in 1940.
Prior to Long's death, leading contenders for the role of the sacrificial 1936 candidate included Senators Burton K. Wheeler
(D-Montana) and William Edgar Borah
(R-Idaho) and Governor Floyd B. Olson
(FL-Minnesota). After the assassination, however, the two senators lost interest in the idea and Olson was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer
.
Father Coughlin, who had allied himself with Dr. Francis Townsend
, a left-wing political activist who was pushing for the creation of an old-age pension
system, and Rev. Gerald L. K. Smith
, a well-known white supremacist
and spokesman for the Christian Right
, was eventually forced to run Congressman William Lemke
(R-North Dakota) as the candidate of the newly-created "Union Party
". Lemke, who lacked the charisma and national stature of the other potential candidates, fared poorly in the election, barely managing 2% of the vote, and the party was dissolved the following year.
William Dudley Pelley
, Chief of the Silver Shirts
Legion, ran on the ballot in Washington state, managing to secure less than 2,000 votes.
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; 2.3 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 electoral votes. The cause of this mistake has often been attributed to improper sampling: more Republicans subscribed to the Literary Digest than Democrats, and were thus more likely to vote for Landon than Roosevelt. However, a 1976 article in The American Statistician demonstrates that the actual reason for the error was that the Literary Digest relied on voluntary response. As the article explains, the 2.3 million "respondents who returned their questionnaires represented only that subset of the population with a relatively intense interest in the subject at hand, and as such constitute in no sense a random sample... it seems clear that the minority of anti-Roosevelt voters felt more strongly about the election than did the pro-Roosevelt majority." Unfortunately, this mistake by the Literary Digest proved to be devastating to the magazine's credibility, and in fact the magazine went out of existence within a few months of the election.
That same year, George Gallup
, an advertising executive who had begun a scientific poll, predicted that Roosevelt would win the election, based on a quota sample of 50,000 people. He also predicted that the Literary Digest would mis-predict the results. His correct predictions made public opinion polling a critical element of elections for journalists and indeed for politicians. The Gallup Poll would become a staple of future presidential elections, and remains one of the most prominent election polling organizations to this day.
's 61.1% share of the popular vote in 1964
, Roosevelt's 60.8% is the second-largest percentage in U.S. history since the nearly unopposed election of James Monroe
in 1820
, and his 98.5% of the electoral vote is the highest in two-party competition. Roosevelt won the largest number of electoral votes ever recorded at that time, so far only surpassed by Ronald Reagan
in 1984
, when 7 more electoral votes were available. Landon became the second official major-party candidate since the current system was established to win fewer than ten electoral votes; in fact, he tied fellow Republican William Taft
, who won 8 votes in his 1912
re-election campaign. No major-party candidate has won so few electoral votes since this election; the closest anyone has come since was Reagan's 1984 opponent, Walter Mondale
, who only won 13 votes.
Some political pundits predicted the Republicans, whom many voters blamed for the Great Depression
, would soon become an extinct political party. However, the Republicans would make a strong comeback in the 1938 congressional elections and would remain a potent force in Congress, although they were not able to win the presidency again until 1952.
The Electoral College results, in which Landon only won Maine and Vermont, inspired Democratic Party chairman James Farley
, who had in fact declared during the campaign that FDR was to lose only these two states, to amend the then-conventional political wisdom of "As Maine goes, so goes the nation
" into "As goes Maine, so goes Vermont." Additionally, a prankster posted a sign on Vermont's border with New Hampshire the day after the 1936 election, reading: "You are now leaving the United States." Some of Roosevelt's advisers even joked that America's fiscal woes might be best solved if he offered to sell Vermont and Maine to Canada
.
As of 2008, even after many years as a classic "blue" state that usually supports Democratic presidential candidates, Vermont has voted for more Republican presidential nominees than any other state. From 1856
through 1960
, Vermont gave the state's electoral votes to the Republican Party nominee in every presidential election. No other state has voted so many times in a row for major candidates of the same political party. Maine also held a similar political record. From 1856 through 1960, Maine voted for the Republican candidate in every presidential election but one (in 1912, the state gave Democrat Woodrow Wilson
a plurality with 39.43% of the vote). Another state that had been reliably Republican for a very long time up to 1936 was Pennsylvania
. Roosevelt was the first Democrat to carry Pennsylvania since "favorite son" James Buchanan
did so in 1856.
Source (Popular Vote):
Source (Electoral Vote):
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in terms of electoral votes. In terms of the popular vote, it was the third biggest victory since the election of 1820
United States presidential election, 1820
The United States presidential election of 1820 was the third and last presidential election in United States history in which a candidate ran effectively unopposed. In 1820, President James Monroe and Vice President Daniel D...
, which was not seriously contested.
The election took place as the Great Depression
Great Depression in the United States
The Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement...
entered its eighth year. Incumbent President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
was still working to push the provisions of his New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
economic policy through Congress and the courts. However, the New Deal policies he had already enacted, such as Social Security
Social Security (United States)
In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
and unemployment benefits, had proven to be highly popular with most Americans. Roosevelt's Republican opponent was Governor Alf Landon
Alf Landon
Alfred Mossman "Alf" Landon was an American Republican politician, who served as the 26th Governor of Kansas from 1933–1937. He was best known for being the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States, defeated in a landslide by Franklin D...
of Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, a political moderate.
Although some political pundits
Psephology
Psephology is that branch of political science which deals with the study and scientific analysis of elections. Psephology uses historical precinct voting data, public opinion polls, campaign finance information and similar statistical data. The term was coined in the United Kingdom in 1952 by...
predicted a close race, Roosevelt went on to win the greatest electoral landslide since the beginning of the current two-party system in the 1850s, carrying all but 8 electoral votes. Roosevelt carried every state except Maine and Vermont.
By winning 523 electoral votes, Roosevelt received 98.49% of the electoral vote, the highest percentage since 1820. Roosevelt also won the largest number of electoral votes ever recorded at that time, so far only surpassed by Ronald Reagan in the 1984 election
United States presidential election, 1984
The United States presidential election of 1984 was a contest between the incumbent President Ronald Reagan, the Republican candidate, and former Vice President Walter Mondale, the Democratic candidate. Reagan was helped by a strong economic recovery from the deep recession of 1981–1982...
, when 7 more electoral votes were available. In addition, Roosevelt won 60.8% of the national popular vote, the second highest popular-vote percentage won since 1820.
Republican Party nomination
The 1936 Republican National Convention was held in Cleveland, OhioCleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, between June 9 and June 12. Although many candidates sought the Republican nomination, only two, Governor Landon and Senator Borah, were considered to be serious candidates. While favorite sons County Attorney Earl Warren
Earl Warren
Earl Warren was the 14th Chief Justice of the United States.He is known for the sweeping decisions of the Warren Court, which ended school segregation and transformed many areas of American law, especially regarding the rights of the accused, ending public-school-sponsored prayer, and requiring...
of California, Governor
Governor of South Dakota
The Governor of South Dakota is the head of the executive branch of the government of South Dakota. They are elected to a four year term on even years when there is no Presidential election. The current governor is Dennis Daugaard, a Republican elected in 2010....
Warren Green
Warren Green
Warren Everett Green was the thirteenth Governor of South Dakota. Green, a Republican from Hazel, South Dakota, served from 1931 to 1933.-Biography:...
of South Dakota, and Stephen A. Day
Stephen A. Day
Stephen Albion Day was a U.S. Representative from Illinois.Born in Canton, Ohio, Day attended the public schools at Canton, the University School at Cleveland, Ohio, and Asheville School. He graduated from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1905, and subsequently served as secretary to...
of Ohio won their respective primaries, the 70-year-old Borah, a well-known progressive
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
and "insurgent," won the Wisconsin, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Oregon primaries, while also performing quite strongly in Knox's Illinois and Green's South Dakota. However, the party machinery almost uniformly backed Landon, a wealthy businessman and centrist
Centrism
In politics, centrism is the ideal or the practice of promoting policies that lie different from the standard political left and political right. Most commonly, this is visualized as part of the one-dimensional political spectrum of left-right politics, with centrism landing in the middle between...
, who won primaries in Massachusetts and New Jersey and dominated in the caucus
Caucus
A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement, especially in the United States and Canada. As the use of the term has been expanded the exact definition has come to vary among political cultures.-Origin of the term:...
es and at state party convention
Political convention
In politics, a political convention is a meeting of a political party, typically to select party candidates.In the United States, a political convention usually refers to a presidential nominating convention, but it can also refer to state, county, or congressional district nominating conventions...
s.
- Alfred Landon 984
- William Borah 19
Democratic Party nomination
President Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
faced only one primary opponent other than various favorite son
Favorite son
A favorite son is a political term.*At the quadrennial American national political party conventions, a state delegation sometimes nominates and votes for a candidate from the state, or less often from the state's region, who is not a viable candidate...
s. Henry Skillman Breckinridge, an anti-New Deal lawyer from New York, filed to run against Roosevelt in four primaries. Breckinridge's test of the popularity of the New Deal among Democrats failed, as he lost by wide margins. In New Jersey, President Roosevelt did not file for the preference vote and lost that primary to Breckinridge, though he did receive 19% of the vote on write-ins. Roosevelt's candidates for delegates swept the race in New Jersey and elsewhere. In other primaries, Breckinridge's best showing was 15% in Maryland. Overall, Roosevelt received 93% of the primary vote, compared to 2% for Breckinridge.
The Democratic Party Convention was held in Philadelphia between July 23 and July 27. The delegates unanimously re-nominated incumbents President Roosevelt and Vice-President John Nance Garner
John Nance Garner
John Nance Garner, IV , was the 32nd Vice President of the United States and the 44th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives .- Early life and family :...
. At Roosevelt's request, the two-thirds rule, which had given the South a veto power, was repealed.
| Presidential Ballot | Vice Presidential Ballot | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war... | 1100 | John Nance Garner John Nance Garner John Nance Garner, IV , was the 32nd Vice President of the United States and the 44th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives .- Early life and family :... | 1100 |
Other nominations
Many people expected Huey LongHuey Long
Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...
, the colorful Democratic senator from Louisiana, to run as a third-party candidate with his "Share Our Wealth
Share Our Wealth
Share Our Wealth was a movement begun during the Great Depression by Huey Long, a governor and later United States Senator from Louisiana.-Major provisions of "Share Our Wealth":The key planks of the Share Our Wealth platform included:...
" program as his platform. However, he was assassinated in September 1935. It was later revealed by historian and Long biographer T. Harry Williams
T. Harry Williams
Thomas Harry Williams was an award-winning historian at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge whose career began in 1941 and extended for thirty-eight years until his death at the age of seventy...
that Long had never, in fact, intended to run for the presidency in 1936. Instead, he had been plotting with Father Charles Coughlin
Charles Coughlin
Father Charles Edward Coughlin was a controversial Roman Catholic priest at Royal Oak, Michigan's National Shrine of the Little Flower church. He was one of the first political leaders to use radio to reach a mass audience, as more than thirty million tuned to his weekly broadcasts during the...
, a Catholic priest
Priesthood (Catholic Church)
The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
and populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
talk radio
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
personality, to run someone else on the soon-to-be-formed "Share Our Wealth" Party ticket. According to Williams, the idea was that this candidate would split the left-wing
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
vote with President Roosevelt, thereby electing a Republican president and proving the electoral appeal of SOW. Long would then wait four years and run for president as a Democrat in 1940.
Prior to Long's death, leading contenders for the role of the sacrificial 1936 candidate included Senators Burton K. Wheeler
Burton K. Wheeler
Burton Kendall Wheeler was an American politician of the Democratic Party and a United States Senator from 1923 until 1947.-Early life:...
(D-Montana) and William Edgar Borah
William Edgar Borah
William Edgar Borah was a prominent Republican attorney and longtime United States Senator from Idaho noted for his oratorical skills and isolationist views. One of his nicknames later in life was "The Lion of Idaho."...
(R-Idaho) and Governor Floyd B. Olson
Floyd B. Olson
Floyd Bjørnstjerne Olson was an American politician. He served as the 22nd Governor of Minnesota from January 6, 1931 to August 22, 1936. He died in office from stomach cancer. He was a member of the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party, and was the first member of the Farmer-Labor Party to win the...
(FL-Minnesota). After the assassination, however, the two senators lost interest in the idea and Olson was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer
Stomach cancer
Gastric cancer, commonly referred to as stomach cancer, can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs, lymph nodes, and the liver...
.
Father Coughlin, who had allied himself with Dr. Francis Townsend
Francis Townsend
Dr. Francis Everett Townsend was an American physician who was best known for his revolving old-age pension proposal during the Great Depression. Known as the "Townsend Plan," this proposal influenced the establishment of the Roosevelt administration's Social Security system...
, a left-wing political activist who was pushing for the creation of an old-age pension
Pension
In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
system, and Rev. Gerald L. K. Smith
Gerald L. K. Smith
Gerald Lyman Kenneth Smith was an American clergyman and political organizer, who became a leader of the Share Our Wealth movement during the Great Depression and later the Christian Nationalist Crusade...
, a well-known white supremacist
White supremacy
White supremacy is the belief, and promotion of the belief, that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds. The term is sometimes used specifically to describe a political ideology that advocates the social and political dominance by whites.White supremacy, as with racial...
and spokesman for the Christian Right
Christian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
, was eventually forced to run Congressman William Lemke
William Lemke
William Frederick Lemke was a United States politician.-Life and career:He was born in Albany, Minnesota, and raised in Towner County, North Dakota, the son of Fred Lemke and Julia Anna Klier, pioneer farmers who had accumulated some of land...
(R-North Dakota) as the candidate of the newly-created "Union Party
Union Party (United States)
The Union Party was a short-lived political party in the United States, formed in 1936 by a coalition of radio priest Father Charles Coughlin, old-age pension advocate Francis Townsend, and Gerald L. K. Smith, who had taken control of Huey Long's Share Our Wealth movement after Long's assassination...
". Lemke, who lacked the charisma and national stature of the other potential candidates, fared poorly in the election, barely managing 2% of the vote, and the party was dissolved the following year.
William Dudley Pelley
William Dudley Pelley
William Dudley Pelley was an American extremist and spiritualist who founded the Silver Legion in 1933, and ran for President in 1936 for the Christian Party.-Family:...
, Chief of the Silver Shirts
Silver Legion of America
The Silver Legion of America, commonly known as the Silver Shirts, was an American fascist organization founded by William Dudley Pelley on January 30, 1933, coincidentally, the same day Adolf Hitler, whom Pelley admired, seized power in Germany....
Legion, ran on the ballot in Washington state, managing to secure less than 2,000 votes.
Campaign
This election is notable for The Literary Digest poll, which was based on 10 million questionnaires mailed to readers and potential readers; 2.3 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 electoral votes. The cause of this mistake has often been attributed to improper sampling: more Republicans subscribed to the Literary Digest than Democrats, and were thus more likely to vote for Landon than Roosevelt. However, a 1976 article in The American Statistician demonstrates that the actual reason for the error was that the Literary Digest relied on voluntary response. As the article explains, the 2.3 million "respondents who returned their questionnaires represented only that subset of the population with a relatively intense interest in the subject at hand, and as such constitute in no sense a random sample... it seems clear that the minority of anti-Roosevelt voters felt more strongly about the election than did the pro-Roosevelt majority." Unfortunately, this mistake by the Literary Digest proved to be devastating to the magazine's credibility, and in fact the magazine went out of existence within a few months of the election.
That same year, George Gallup
George Gallup
George Horace Gallup was an American pioneer of survey sampling techniques and inventor of the Gallup poll, a successful statistical method of survey sampling for measuring public opinion.-Biography:...
, an advertising executive who had begun a scientific poll, predicted that Roosevelt would win the election, based on a quota sample of 50,000 people. He also predicted that the Literary Digest would mis-predict the results. His correct predictions made public opinion polling a critical element of elections for journalists and indeed for politicians. The Gallup Poll would become a staple of future presidential elections, and remains one of the most prominent election polling organizations to this day.
Results
Roosevelt won by a landslide, carrying 46 of the 48 states and bringing in many additional Democratic members of Congress. After fellow Democrat Lyndon B. JohnsonLyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
's 61.1% share of the popular vote in 1964
United States presidential election, 1964
The United States presidential election of 1964 was held on November 3, 1964. Incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had come to office less than a year earlier following the assassination of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy. Johnson, who had successfully associated himself with Kennedy's...
, Roosevelt's 60.8% is the second-largest percentage in U.S. history since the nearly unopposed election of James Monroe
James Monroe
James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...
in 1820
United States presidential election, 1820
The United States presidential election of 1820 was the third and last presidential election in United States history in which a candidate ran effectively unopposed. In 1820, President James Monroe and Vice President Daniel D...
, and his 98.5% of the electoral vote is the highest in two-party competition. Roosevelt won the largest number of electoral votes ever recorded at that time, so far only surpassed by Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
in 1984
United States presidential election, 1984
The United States presidential election of 1984 was a contest between the incumbent President Ronald Reagan, the Republican candidate, and former Vice President Walter Mondale, the Democratic candidate. Reagan was helped by a strong economic recovery from the deep recession of 1981–1982...
, when 7 more electoral votes were available. Landon became the second official major-party candidate since the current system was established to win fewer than ten electoral votes; in fact, he tied fellow Republican William Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
, who won 8 votes in his 1912
United States presidential election, 1912
The United States presidential election of 1912 was a rare four-way contest. Incumbent President William Howard Taft was renominated by the Republican Party with the support of its conservative wing. After former President Theodore Roosevelt failed to receive the Republican nomination, he called...
re-election campaign. No major-party candidate has won so few electoral votes since this election; the closest anyone has come since was Reagan's 1984 opponent, Walter Mondale
Walter Mondale
Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 42nd Vice President of the United States , under President Jimmy Carter, and as a United States Senator for Minnesota...
, who only won 13 votes.
Some political pundits predicted the Republicans, whom many voters blamed for the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, would soon become an extinct political party. However, the Republicans would make a strong comeback in the 1938 congressional elections and would remain a potent force in Congress, although they were not able to win the presidency again until 1952.
The Electoral College results, in which Landon only won Maine and Vermont, inspired Democratic Party chairman James Farley
James Farley
James Aloysius Farley was the first Irish Catholic politician in American history to achieve success on a national level, serving as Chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and as Postmaster General simultaneously under the first two...
, who had in fact declared during the campaign that FDR was to lose only these two states, to amend the then-conventional political wisdom of "As Maine goes, so goes the nation
As Maine goes, so goes the nation
"As Maine goes, so goes the nation" is a phrase that at one time was in wide currency in United States politics. The phrase described Maine's reputation as a bellwether state for presidential elections...
" into "As goes Maine, so goes Vermont." Additionally, a prankster posted a sign on Vermont's border with New Hampshire the day after the 1936 election, reading: "You are now leaving the United States." Some of Roosevelt's advisers even joked that America's fiscal woes might be best solved if he offered to sell Vermont and Maine to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
As of 2008, even after many years as a classic "blue" state that usually supports Democratic presidential candidates, Vermont has voted for more Republican presidential nominees than any other state. From 1856
United States presidential election, 1856
The United States presidential election of 1856 was an unusually heated contest that led to the election of James Buchanan, the ambassador to the United Kingdom. Republican candidate John C. Frémont condemned the Kansas–Nebraska Act and crusaded against the expansion of slavery, while Democrat...
through 1960
United States presidential election, 1960
The United States presidential election of 1960 was the 44th American presidential election, held on November 8, 1960, for the term beginning January 20, 1961, and ending January 20, 1965. The incumbent president, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, was not eligible to run again. The Republican Party...
, Vermont gave the state's electoral votes to the Republican Party nominee in every presidential election. No other state has voted so many times in a row for major candidates of the same political party. Maine also held a similar political record. From 1856 through 1960, Maine voted for the Republican candidate in every presidential election but one (in 1912, the state gave Democrat Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
a plurality with 39.43% of the vote). Another state that had been reliably Republican for a very long time up to 1936 was Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Roosevelt was the first Democrat to carry Pennsylvania since "favorite son" James Buchanan
James Buchanan
James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
did so in 1856.
Source (Popular Vote):
Source (Electoral Vote):
Results by state
| Franklin Roosevelt Democratic |
Alfred Landon Republican |
William Lemke Union |
Other | State Total | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | electoral votes |
# | % | electoral votes |
# | % | electoral votes |
# | % | electoral votes |
# | % | electoral votes |
# | ||
| Alabama | 11 | 238,136 | 86.4 | 11 | 35,358 | 12.8 | ||||||||||
| 551 | 0.2 | |||||||||||||||
| 1,639 | 0.6 | |||||||||||||||
| 275,244 | AL | |||||||||||||||
| Arizona | 3 | 86,722 | 69.9 | 3 | 33,433 | 26.9 | ||||||||||
| 3,307 | 2.7 | |||||||||||||||
| 701 | 0.6 | |||||||||||||||
| 124,163 | AZ | |||||||||||||||
| Arkansas | 9 | 146,765 | 81.8 | 9 | 32,039 | 17.9 | ||||||||||
| 4 | 0.0 | |||||||||||||||
| 615 | 0.3 | |||||||||||||||
| 179,423 | AR | |||||||||||||||
| California | 22 | 1,766,836 | 67.0 | 22 | 836,431 | 31.7 | ||||||||||
| not on ballot | 35,615 | 1.4 | ||||||||||||||
| 2,638,882 | CA | |||||||||||||||
| Colorado | 6 | 295,021 | 60.4 | 6 | 181,267 | 37.1 | ||||||||||
| 9,962 | 2.0 | |||||||||||||||
| 2,434 | 0.5 | |||||||||||||||
| 488,684 | CO | |||||||||||||||
| Connecticut | 8 | 382,129 | 55.3 | 8 | 278,685 | 40.4 | ||||||||||
| 21,805 | 3.2 | |||||||||||||||
| 8,104 | 1.2 | |||||||||||||||
| 690,723 | CT | |||||||||||||||
| Delaware | 3 | 69,702 | 54.6 | 3 | 57,236 | 44.9 | ||||||||||
| 442 | 0.4 | |||||||||||||||
| 223 | 0.2 | |||||||||||||||
| 127,603 | DE | |||||||||||||||
| Florida | 7 | 249,117 | 76.1 | 7 | 78,248 | 23.9 | ||||||||||
| not on ballot | 327,365 | FL | ||||||||||||||
| Georgia | 12 | 255,364 | 87.1 | 12 | 36,942 | 12.6 | ||||||||||
| 141 | 0.1 | |||||||||||||||
| 728 | 0.3 | |||||||||||||||
| 293,175 | GA | |||||||||||||||
| Idaho | 4 | 125,683 | 63.0 | 4 | 66,256 | 33.2 | ||||||||||
| 7,678 | 3.9 | |||||||||||||||
| not on ballot | 199,617 | ID | ||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 29 | 2,282,999 | 57.7 | 29 | 1,570,393 | 39.7 | ||||||||||
| 89,439 | 2.3 | |||||||||||||||
| 13,691 | 0.4 | |||||||||||||||
| 3,956,522 | IL | |||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 14 | 934,974 | 56.6 | 14 | 691,570 | 41.9 | ||||||||||
| 19,407 | 1.2 | |||||||||||||||
| 4,946 | 0.3 | |||||||||||||||
| 1,650,897 | IN | |||||||||||||||
| Iowa | 11 | 621,756 | 54.4 | 11 | 487,977 | 42.7 | ||||||||||
| 29,687 | 2.6 | |||||||||||||||
| 3,313 | 0.3 | |||||||||||||||
| 1,142,733 | IA | |||||||||||||||
| Kansas | 9 | 464,520 | 53.7 | 9 | 397,727 | 46.0 | ||||||||||
| 497 | 0.1 | |||||||||||||||
| 2,770 | 0.3 | |||||||||||||||
| 865,014 | KS | |||||||||||||||
| Kentucky | 11 | 541,944 | 58.5 | 11 | 369,702 | 39.9 | ||||||||||
| 12,501 | 1.4 | |||||||||||||||
| 2,056 | 0.2 | |||||||||||||||
| 926,203 | KY | |||||||||||||||
| Louisiana | 10 | 292,894 | 88.8 | 10 | 36,791 | 11.2 | ||||||||||
| not on ballot | 93 | 0.0 | ||||||||||||||
| 329,778 | LA | |||||||||||||||
| Maine | 5 | 126,333 | 41.5 | |||||||||||||
| 168,823 | 55.5 | 5 | 7,581 | 2.5 | ||||||||||||
| 1,503 | 0.5 | |||||||||||||||
| 304,240 | ME | |||||||||||||||
| Maryland | 8 | 389,612 | 62.4 | 8 | 231,435 | 37.0 | ||||||||||
| not on ballot | 3,849 | 0.6 | ||||||||||||||
| 624,896 | MD | |||||||||||||||
| Massachusetts | 17 | 942,716 | 51.2 | 17 | 768,613 | 41.8 | ||||||||||
| 118,639 | 6.5 | |||||||||||||||
| 10,389 | 0.6 | |||||||||||||||
| 1,840,357 | MA | |||||||||||||||
| Michigan | 19 | 1,016,794 | 56.3 | 19 | 699,733 | 38.8 | ||||||||||
| 75,795 | 4.2 | |||||||||||||||
| 12,776 | 0.7 | |||||||||||||||
| 1,805,098 | MI | |||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 11 | 698,811 | 61.8 | 11 | 350,461 | 31.0 | ||||||||||
| 74,296 | 6.6 | |||||||||||||||
| 6,407 | 0.6 | |||||||||||||||
| 1,129,975 | MN | |||||||||||||||
| Mississippi | 9 | 157,318 | 97.1 | 9 | 4,443 | 2.7 | ||||||||||
| not on ballot | 329 | 0.2 | ||||||||||||||
| 162,090 | MS | |||||||||||||||
| Missouri | 15 | 1,111,043 | 60.8 | 15 | 697,891 | 38.2 | ||||||||||
| 14,630 | 0.8 | |||||||||||||||
| 5,071 | 0.3 | |||||||||||||||
| 1,828,635 | MO | |||||||||||||||
| Montana | 4 | 159,690 | 69.3 | 4 | 63,598 | 27.6 | ||||||||||
| 5,549 | 2.4 | |||||||||||||||
| 1,675 | 0.7 | |||||||||||||||
| 230,512 | MT | |||||||||||||||
| Nebraska | 7 | 347,445 | 57.1 | 7 | 247,731 | 40.7 | ||||||||||
| 12,847 | 2.1 | |||||||||||||||
| not on ballot | 608,023 | NE | ||||||||||||||
| Nevada | 3 | 31,925 | 72.8 | 3 | 11,923 | 27.2 | ||||||||||
| not on ballot | 43,848 | NV | ||||||||||||||
| New Hampshire | 4 | 108,460 | 49.7 | 4 | 104,642 | 48.0 | ||||||||||
| 4,819 | 2.2 | |||||||||||||||
| 193 | 0.1 | |||||||||||||||
| 218,114 | NH | |||||||||||||||
| New Jersey | 16 | 1,083,549 | 59.6 | 16 | 719,421 | 39.6 | ||||||||||
| 9,405 | 0.5 | |||||||||||||||
| 6,752 | 0.4 | |||||||||||||||
| 1,819,127 | NJ | |||||||||||||||
| New Mexico | 3 | 106,037 | 62.7 | 3 | 61,727 | 36.5 | ||||||||||
| 924 | 0.6 | |||||||||||||||
| 448 | 0.3 | |||||||||||||||
| 169,176 | NM | |||||||||||||||
| New York | 47 | 3,293,222 | 58.9 | 47 | 2,180,670 | 39.0 | ||||||||||
| not on ballot | 122,506 | 2.2 | ||||||||||||||
| 5,596,398 | NY | |||||||||||||||
| North Carolina | 13 | 616,141 | 73.4 | 13 | 223,283 | 26.6 | ||||||||||
| 2 | 0.0 | |||||||||||||||
| 38 | 0.0 | |||||||||||||||
| 839,464 | NC | |||||||||||||||
| North Dakota | 4 | 163,148 | 59.6 | 4 | 72,751 | 26.6 | ||||||||||
| 36,708 | 13.4 | |||||||||||||||
| 1,109 | 0.4 | |||||||||||||||
| 273,716 | ND | |||||||||||||||
| Ohio | 26 | 1,747,140 | 58.0 | 26 | 1,127,855 | 37.4 | ||||||||||
| 132,212 | 4.4 | |||||||||||||||
| 5,382 | 0.2 | |||||||||||||||
| 3,012,589 | OH | |||||||||||||||
| Oklahoma | 11 | 501,069 | 66.8 | 11 | 245,122 | 32.7 | ||||||||||
| not on ballot | 3,549 | 0.5 | ||||||||||||||
| 749,740 | OK | |||||||||||||||
| Oregon | 5 | 266,733 | 64.4 | 5 | 122,706 | 29.6 | ||||||||||
| 21,831 | 5.3 | |||||||||||||||
| 2,751 | 0.7 | |||||||||||||||
| 414,021 | OR | |||||||||||||||
| Pennsylvania | 36 | 2,353,987 | 56.9 | 36 | 1,690,200 | 40.8 | ||||||||||
| 67,468 | 1.6 | |||||||||||||||
| 26,771 | 0.7 | |||||||||||||||
| 4,138,426 | PA | |||||||||||||||
| Rhode Island | 4 | 165,238 | 53.1 | 4 | 125,031 | 40.2 | ||||||||||
| 19,569 | 6.3 | |||||||||||||||
| 1,340 | 0.4 | |||||||||||||||
| 311,178 | RI | |||||||||||||||
| South Carolina | 8 | 113,791 | 98.6 | 8 | 1,646 | 1.4 | ||||||||||
| not on ballot | 115,437 | SC | ||||||||||||||
| South Dakota | 4 | 160,137 | 54.0 | 4 | 125,977 | 42.5 | ||||||||||
| 10,338 | 3.5 | |||||||||||||||
| not on ballot | 296,472 | SD | ||||||||||||||
| Tennessee | 11 | 328,083 | 68.9 | 11 | 146,520 | 30.8 | ||||||||||
| 296 | 0.1 | |||||||||||||||
| 1,639 | 0.3 | |||||||||||||||
| 476,538 | TN | |||||||||||||||
| Texas | 23 | 734,485 | 87.1 | 23 | 103,874 | 12.3 | ||||||||||
| 3,281 | 0.4 | |||||||||||||||
| 1,842 | 0.2 | |||||||||||||||
| 843,482 | TX | |||||||||||||||
| Utah | 4 | 150,246 | 69.3 | 4 | 64,555 | 29.8 | ||||||||||
| 1,121 | 0.5 | |||||||||||||||
| 755 | 0.4 | |||||||||||||||
| 216,677 | UT | |||||||||||||||
| Vermont | 3 | 62,124 | 43.2 | |||||||||||||
| 81,023 | 56.4 | 3 | not on ballot | 542 | 0.4 | |||||||||||
| 143,689 | VT | |||||||||||||||
| Virginia | 11 | 234,980 | 70.2 | 11 | 98,336 | 29.4 | ||||||||||
| 233 | 0.1 | |||||||||||||||
| 1,041 | 0.3 | |||||||||||||||
| 334,590 | VA | |||||||||||||||
| Washington | 8 | 459,579 | 66.4 | 8 | 206,892 | 29.9 | ||||||||||
| 17,463 | 2.5 | |||||||||||||||
| 8,404 | 1.2 | |||||||||||||||
| 692,338 | WA | |||||||||||||||
| West Virginia | 8 | 502,582 | 60.6 | 8 | 325,358 | 39.2 | ||||||||||
| not on ballot | 2,005 | 0.2 | ||||||||||||||
| 829,945 | WV | |||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 12 | 802,984 | 63.8 | 12 | 380,828 | 30.3 | ||||||||||
| 60,297 | 4.8 | |||||||||||||||
| 14,451 | 1.1 | |||||||||||||||
| 1,258,560 | WI | |||||||||||||||
| Wyoming | 3 | 62,624 | 60.6 | 3 | 38,739 | 37.5 | ||||||||||
| 1,653 | 1.6 | |||||||||||||||
| 366 | 0.4 | |||||||||||||||
| 103,382 | WY | |||||||||||||||
| TOTALS: | 531 | 27,752,648 | 60.8 | 523 | 16,681,862 | 36.5 | 8 | 892,378 | 2.0 | |||||||
| 320,811 | 0.7 | |||||||||||||||
| 45,647,699 | ||||||||||||||||
| TO WIN: | 266 | |||||||||||||||
See also
- History of the United States (1918-1945)
- United States Senate elections, 1936
Further reading
- Andersen, Kristi. The Creation of a Democratic Majority: 1928-1936 (1979), statistical
- Burns, James McGregor. Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox (1956)
- Fadely, James Philip. "Editors, Whistle Stops, and Elephants: the Presidential Campaign of 1936 in Indiana." Indiana Magazine of History 1989 85(2): 101-137. Issn: 0019-6673
- Leuchtenburg, William E. "Election of 1936", in Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., ed., A History of American Presidential Elections vol 3 (1971), analysis and primary documents
- McCoy, Donald. Landon of Kansas (1968)
- Nicolaides, Becky M. "Radio Electioneering in the American Presidential Campaigns of 1932 and 1936," Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, June 1988, Vol. 8 Issue 2, pp 115-138
- Schlesinger, Jr., Arthur M. The Politics of Upheaval (1960)
External links
- 1936 popular vote by counties
- How close was the 1936 election? — Michael Sheppard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology