Why People Voted for Roosevelt in 1932

Why People Voted for Roosevelt in 1932

There were many reasons why people voted for Roosevelt in 1932. These

were to do with the effects of the great depression the unpopularity

of Hoover and the appeal and promises of Roosevelt.

Firstly an important reason that affected the fact that people voted

for Roosevelt was the great depression and the Wall Street crash. The

world wide economic slump began in October 1929 with the Wall Street

crash and continued through to the 1930s. During 1920S while business

in the United States prospered farmers did not. In 1932 and 1924 over

in Germany hyperinflation took hold and the country had trouble paying

the reparations it had been ordered to pay after world war one. The

shortage of cash meant that there was less money to be spent on

industrial and farm products. By 1932 most banks in the United States

were closed. The slump led to a massive unemployment of 14 million in

the United States. In the United States drought and dust storms hit

parts of the Midwest and southwest. The region later became known as

the dust bowl. The election of Franklin D Roosevelt and the

introduction of the new deal in 1932 helped restore the confidence in

the United States and marked the beginning of the end of the

depression there. In many countries the great depression resulted in a

big shift in public attitudes and in government policy towards welfare

provision.

The second reason was the unpopularity of Hoover. Hoover was the 31st

president of the United States and held office during the great

depression. The unpopularity of Hoover was shown in many different

ways such as in source b where Roosevelt's biographer Alan Hatch write

"Hoover showed little patience with those out of work" this is

referring to the attitude of Hoover which were the republican belief

of "rugged individualism" Hoovers attempts to deal with the depression

were not much better he set up places where the homeless could eat and

he gave them soup which was named the Hoover soup he also set up