Election

1932 Election

Who wins? You decide!

Poll

Which statement do you agree with most?

• First of all, I believe in as little government control of the farmers as possible. I do believe the government should help them help themselves by setting up a loan program for farmers’ cooperatives that would help farmers sell their crops, and for farmers who have had their crops wiped out by the drought, but to set up a program that tells farmers what and how much to plant is totally un-American. And I firmly object to federal handouts for farmers because this act of charity would make them dependent on the government and they would lose their sense of “rugged individualism” which we hold as a cherished American ideal.

• To begin with, I believe in more government control of farms and farmers. For instance, one of my first acts after taking office will be to have Congress give me the power to create the Agricultural Adjustment Administration. This administration, under Henry A. Wallace, will order farmers to plow up surplus crops and to slaughter millions of pigs to keep them off the market and thereby raise prices. It will also establish planting regulations and actually pay farmers for not raising crops. The acts are necessary to raise farm prices—without these regulations, the 60 percent of farmers who have lost their farms will be joined by the other 40 percent, and our wonderful tradition of family farms will be gone forever!

Multiple Choice

The rise of corporations, heavy industry, mechanized farming and technological innovations transformed the American economy from an agricultural economy to an increasingly ___________ economy.

• industrial

• command

• traditional

• post-industrial

Poll

Which statement do you agree with most?

• Secondly, I want a Works Progress Administration set up immediately to help the unemployed. This agency would hire those in need of work and then would supervise building public works such as dams, bridges, schools, and libraries. I also want a Civilian Conservation Corps that would voluntarily enlist all the young men between 18-25 who are unemployed, which by some estimates is as high as 70 percent, in a corps devoted to conservation. These young men would live in camps in the national parks or on federal land and would build trails, flood control projects, plant trees, and do other things to enhance our nation’s natural treasures.

• In addition, I do not believe the national government should directly offer jobs on public works to the huge number of unemployed. Instead, I want the federal government to loan money to local governments, who would hire contractors to build public projects. In this manner, our capitalist economic system would be preserved. By contrast, Roosevelt wants to hire the unemployed through a government agency which would be in direct, and unfair, competition with private companies. Private companies, with the help of government loans—not handouts—can hire those in need of work, and they will be much better at supervising the construction of public works such as dams, bridges, and parks

Multiple Select

Progressive reforms during the late 19th and early 20th centuries addressed problems associated with: (choose 3)

• political corruption

• industrial capitalism

• urbanization

• anti-immigrant attitudes

Poll

Which statement do you agree with most?

• Finally, I differ with Mr. Roosevelt on how to solve the shortage of money problem. Our free-market economy will eventually produce the money needed for business expansion and good times. We will simply have to wait for this upturn of the business cycle as we have always done in the past. Putting vast sums of money into people’s hands through direct handouts will create inflated prices, and it will weaken—not strengthen—people’s faith in our money. Leave the gold standard alone and allow the business cycle to work. We will have to tighten our belts some now, but we will soon have a “chicken in every pot” again, if only we have faith in our economic system and keep the federal government out of our lives.

• Finally, I believe that banks need money right away. Therefore, when I am elected president, I will lower the amount of gold behind each dollar to 33 cents. Under this plan, we can issue more paper money to loan to banks so that they can pay off their depositers. In addition, I will call for an insurance policy to protect Americans’ deposits in banks through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Most important of all, I will ask Congress to pass a Federal Emergency Relief Act and use this money to provide direct relief payments to the poor and low-cost loans to small businesses to get our economy going again.

Multiple Select

What are disadvantages to laissez-faire capitalism? (choose 3)

• Workers are often exploited (long working hours, unsafe conditions, etc)

• Monopolies form

• High taxes

• Huge gap between the rich and poor

Poll

Which statement do you agree with most?

• In sum, I promise you a new tomorrow! Give me your help: not to win votes alone, but to win in this crusade to restore America to its own people. With our proposed programs in place, farmers, workers, bankers, the poor—indeed, all Americans except the “economic royalists,” the very rich—will have a “New Deal”! I urge you to vote for a new future!

• In sum, the proposed New Deal programs would have farmers closely regulated by the government as to what and how much they can grow. The programs would provide handouts to working people, robbing them of their independence. And, above all else, they would create a federal government so strong that it would regulate every facet of our economy and our lives. Make no mistake, these programs will dramatically change our nation’s philosophy. Do we want Americans to think of the president as the “Great White Father” who will take care of them in any emergency? Do we want these programs that will be with us not just during these lean years but also far into the future, all at taxpayer expense? We are all challenged with a choice between the American style of rugged individualism and a European philosophy of paternalism and state socialism. I urge you to vote for me and the traditional American way

Multiple Select

What are advantages to laissez-faire capitalism? (choose 3)

• Little to rules = innovation

• Little to no rules = safety net to protect people

• Little to no rules = low taxes

• Little to no rules = competition resulting often lower prices

Poll

Whose statements did you agree with the most? Who gets your vote?

FDR (left) Hoover (right)

Multiple Choice

The efforts to combat the Great Depression led to an expanded role for the federal government.

• True

• False