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.

Nominations

Democratic Party nomination

The Democratic Party Convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and overwhelmingly nominated incumbent President Franklin Roosevelt.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Republican Party nomination

The Republican Party Convention in Cleveland, Ohio nominated Alf Landon from Kansas.

Related Topics:
Cleveland, Ohio - Alf Landon - Kansas

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Landon ran on a moderate platform, accepting the need for some government involvement in the economy and opposed to the power of big business, but felt that the New Deal was corrupt and wasteful.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Other nominations

Although many people expected Huey Long, the colorful Democratic senator from Louisiana, to run as a third-party candidate with his "Share Our Wealth" program as his platform, his bid was cut short when he was assassinated in September of 1935.

Related Topics:
Huey Long - Louisiana - Share Our Wealth - September - 1935

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was later revealed by historian and Long biographer T. Harry Williams that the senator 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.

Related Topics:
T. Harry Williams - Charles Coughlin - Catholic - Priest - Populist - Talk radio - Left-wing - 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 E. 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.

Related Topics:
Burton K. Wheeler - Montana - William E. Borah - Idaho - Floyd B. Olson - FL - Minnesota - 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 nationalist 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.

Related Topics:
Francis Townsend - Pension - Gerald L.K. Smith - White nationalist - Christian Right - William Lemke - North Dakota - Union Party

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~