U.S. presidential election, 1936

The U.S. presidential election of 1936 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 interventionist economic policy through Congress and the courts.

General election

Campaign

The election was held on November 3, 1936 (except in Maine, where the election was held earlier).

Related Topics:
November 3 - 1936 - Maine

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This election is notable for the Literary Digest poll, which was based on 10 million questionnaires mailed to readers and potential readers; over two 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 electorial votes. The cause of this mistake is believed to be due to improper sampling: more Republicans subscribed to the Literary Digest than Democrats.

Related Topics:
Literary Digest - October 31

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

That same year, an unknown pollster named George Gallup predicted that Roosevelt would win the election, based on a random sample of 50,000 people. This correct prediction led to Gallup's later fame and respect in predicting the outcome of elections.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Roosevelt won reelection by a wide margin; while the country was still suffering from the Great Depression, most voters thought Roosevelt's progressive programs were more likely to improve the situation than a return to a Republican administration. Roosevelt's 60.8% of the popular vote is the second-largest percentage in U.S. history after Lyndon Johnson in 1964, and his 98.5% of the electoral vote is the fourth-largest in U.S. history after George Washington's two unanimous wins in 1789 and 1792 and James Monroe's unopposed race in 1820. (It has also been noted that Roosevelt won the second largest number of electoral votes in history, but that reflects more on the fact that the Electoral College didn't have 523 electoral votes to win until 1912.)

Related Topics:
Great Depression - Lyndon Johnson - 1964 - George Washington's - 1789 - 1792 - James Monroe's - 1820 - Electoral College

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Electoral College results gave rise to one of the most famous quips in modern political history. Democratic party boss James Farley amended the then-conventional political wisdom of "As Maine goes, so goes the country" into "As goes Maine, so goes Vermont."

Related Topics:
Electoral College - James Farley - As Maine goes, so goes the country

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Results

Source (Popular Vote): {{Leip PV source 2| year=1936| as of=July 31, 2005}}

Related Topics:
July 31 - 2005

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Source (Electoral Vote): {{National Archives EV source| year=1936| as of=July 31, 2005}}

Related Topics:
July 31 - 2005

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~