[26] Roosevelt won the largest number of electoral votes ever recorded at that time, and has so far only been surpassed by Ronald Reagan in 1984, when seven more electoral votes were available to contest. You have these great ambitions, but thats really going to cost a fortune, so lets do a little bit less. The governments own greatly enlarged economic activity did not compensate for the private shortfall. "Alfred Mossman Landon Please, enable JavaScript and reload the page to enjoy our modern features. We dedicate ourselves to the preservation of their political liberty, their individual opportunity and their character as free citizens, which today for the first time are threatened by Government itself. "[19], As the 1936 election approached, the Roosevelt administration grew increasingly concerned by Long's popularity. Its longevity has made it one of his most significant legislative contributionseven though he died before he was able to see its popularity grow. Alfred Mossman Landon (September 9, 1887 - October 12, 1987) was an American oilman and politician who served as the 26th governor of Kansas from 1933 to 1937. . Omissions? . In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed amendments that established the Medicare and Medicaid health insurance programs. Ronald and Nancy Reagan were among the visitors who helped him celebrate his 100th birthday. You elect Landon in 1936, and then FDR in 1940. The next year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Social Security as constitutional in Steward Machine Co. v. Davis and Helvering v. Davis. Margin of victory less than 5% (4 electoral votes): Margin of victory between 5% and 10% (29 electoral votes): Margin of victory Between 11% and 20% (214 electoral votes): Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Democratic), Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Republican), Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Other). Despite Roosevelts widespread popularity, his policies had evoked stiff criticism, including from former supporters. Disgusted by Hoovers inability to stem the collapse, in 1932 the voters elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt, along with a heavily Democratic Congress, and set in motion the radical restructuring of governments role in the economy known as the New Deal. But he didnt have the intransigence that you see today. Taking office in the midst of the Great Depression, Landon worked to fulfill his campaign pledge to cut government spending and promote moderately progressive policies. The Agricultural Adjustment Administration resembled the Food Administration; the National Recovery Administration resembled the War Industries Board; the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (created under Hoover but greatly expanded under Roosevelt) resembled the War Finance Corporation; the National Labor Relations Board resembled the War Labor Board; the Tennessee Valley Authority resembled the Muscle Shoals project; the Civilian Conservation Corps resembled the army itself. But, due to his untimely death, President Roosevelt faced only one primary opponent other than various favorite sons. While promising to support a progressive Republican like Sen. William Borah, Long claimed that he would only support a Share Our Wealth candidate. For nearly four years you have had an Administration which instead of twirling its thumbs has rolled up its sleeves. At the same time he impresses upon his sons and daughters the necessity of saving for their old age. In 1936 they rallied at their national convention, held in Cleveland June 912, in favour of Landon, considered a moderate progressive, who won 984 of the 1,003 delegate votes. That is one consolation you get out of a good licking. Such statements put him at odds with his party's conservatives, as did his support for the League of Nations and the World Court that were set up to deal with international issues following World War I. So every month he puts aside in a box his I O U carefully executed, and, moreover, bearing interest at 3 per cent. He returned to private business and settled down to home life with his second wife, Theo Cobb. Despite being Roosevelt's home state, in the context of the 1936 nationwide Democratic landslide, New York weighed in for this election as 4% more Republican than the national average, although FDR won the state by nearly 20 points. Even FDR paid lip service to balancing the budget, but he never did. Kansas Senator Robert Dole was among those who eulogized Landon, hailing him as "a legendary Republican who taught generations of politicians what integrity and leadership were all about.". Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. THE presidency of Benjamin Harrison attests that the office requires a breadth of personal qualities and politic, Alfonso XI (Spanish king of Castile and Len), Alfred Russel Wallace Web Site (18431913), Alfred Wegener Introduces the Concept of Continental Drift, https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/alfred-mossman-landon. But the courts were one place where opponents thought they could steamroll Obamacare. Obama didnt do that, nor could he get way with it. The GOP nominated Kansas Governor Alfred Landon as their presidential candidate. Like most other New Dealers, they viewed the collapse of prices as the cause of the depression, and therefore they regarded various means of raising prices, especially cartelization and other measures to restrict market supply, as appropriate in the circumstances. . The Gallup Poll would become a staple of future presidential elections, and remains one of the most prominent election polling organizations. The Literary Digest had correctly predicted the winner of the last five elections, and announced in its October 31 issue that Landon would be the winner with 57.1% of the vote (v Roosevelt) and 370 electoral votes. Alf Landon, the Republican candidate for President in 1936, offered strong opposition to Social Security based on its burden on employers and employees as well as the possibility that the money coming into the Treasury would not be put away for later liabilities. By wheeling and dealing, by taxing and spending, by ranting against economic royalists and posturing as the friend of the common man, he got himself elected time after time. 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. Sources: Electoral and popular vote totals based on data from the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives and Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Put it all together and you have what political scientists call the New Deal Coalitiona potent political force that remained intact until the 1970s. These are a few reasons why I called this law unjust and stupidly drafted. Sen. Huey Long of Louisiana, an early supporter of the president, had become dissatisfied with Roosevelts policies. In 1939, FDR signed amendments to the Social Security Act that introduced dependent and survivor benefits for workers spouses and children. Palmer, Frederick, This Man Landon, Dodd, Mead & Company, 1936. Roosevelt defeated Governor Alf Landon of Kansas with 523 electoral votes to 8 and almost 28 million popular votes to Landon's less than 17 million. Republican presidential candidate Alfred M. Landon holds the dubious distinction of being one of the great losers in American political history. I think anytime you have a president come into power who is not very well-known when hes elected, and Roosevelt was exactly the same, he was the governor of New York, but to the rest of the country he was sort of a cipher and people made of him what they wanted to make of him. Roosevelt's victory was described as a landslide, which it was in electoral . That was seven years into the future at a time where a lot of people, including older people, were living in extreme poverty, says Daniel Bland, a political science professor at McGill University and author of Social Security: History and Politics from the New Deal to the Privatization Debate. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1936 Gov Alf M Landon Guest Of Robert B Choate, Publisher Politics 7X9 Photo at the best online prices at eBay! "[23] A more detailed study in 1988 showed that both the initial sample and non-response bias were contributing factors, and that the error due to the initial sample taken alone would not have been sufficient to predict the Landon victory.[24]. After expressing disbelief that anyone saw him as presidential material, he pursued the nomination in earnest, tapping Kansas national committeeman John D. M. Hamilton as his campaign manager. FDR won in a landslide, taking all states but two. Call (800) 877-4755. Please do not edit the piece, ensure that you attribute the author and mention that this article was originally published on FEE.org, Roosevelt Was a Resourceful Political Opportunist. The populist Union Party nominated Congressman William Lemke for president. By Huey Pierce Long. MH: These conservatives on the Court really were an issue for FDR. Landon contended that the New Deal would destroy the free market because it was excessively interventionist. Landon was a bit more liberal than the rest of his party, as he did support some of the New Deal programs.. 6 Alf Landon Presidential Political Campaign Pinback Buttons 1936. . Farm subsidies, price supports, credit programs, and related measures won over much of the rural middle class. Nobody, not even Bill Clinton, was nearly as good as FDR was at making sure that people understood what his goals were, what he was doing to achieve it, what the pitfalls were, and how he was going to deal with them. Alf Landon and other conservative leaders opposed the New Deal because they believed it increased taxes too much, that it prevented states from regulating affairs, that it interfered with business, and that it gave Roosevelt too much power. Once the New Deal had burst the dam between 1933 and 1938, ample precedent had been set for virtually any government program that could gain sufficient political support in Congress. By the time the Republican National Convention opened in Cleveland on June 9, Landon's nomination was all but assured. Alf Landon, got 16 million votes. ." Nine mocking years with the golden calf and three long years of the scourge! Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), https://www.history.com/news/social-security-history-fdr-new-deal, Why Social Security Was the Cornerstone of FDRs New Deal. Franklin Roosevelt reinstated several government programs. However, in a later Senate speech, he admitted that he "might have a good parade to offer before I get through". Thornton, Willis, The Life of Alfred M. Landon, Grosset & Dunlap, 1936. During the 1950s, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed amendments that expanded the job categories eligible for Social Security and added a disability insurance program. People in the mass, wrote H.L. Despite attempts to dismantle or privatize the program, it has endured for nearly a century, in part, because FDR and his secretary of labor, Frances Perkins, designed it as something workers felt invested in. As of 2020, this is the equal lowest total electoral vote total for a major-party candidate; the lowest number since was Reagan's 1984 opponent, Walter Mondale, who won only thirteen electoral votes. In October the highly regarded Liberty Digest straw poll predicted a Landon victory. 32, No. (Moreover, the President and his supporters greatly overestimated how successful their wartime measures had beenthe war had ended before the many defects of those measures became widely understood.). Journalists titillated the public with talk of Roosevelts Brain Trusthis coterie of policy advisers before and shortly after his election in 1932, of whom the most prominent were the Columbia University professors Raymond Moley, Rexford Guy Tugwell, and Adolph A. Berle. But there was so much anger, public anger, against the Court that members of the Court, especially the chief justice, Charles Evans Hughes, began to get a little nervous about their standing. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Landon respected and admired FDR and accepted much of the New Deal but objected that it was hostile to business and involved too much waste. What happens to their savings? Fundamentally he was without any definite political or economic philosophy. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. That same year, America's entry into World War I prompted Landon to enlist in the Army, where he received a commission in the chemical warfare corps. . In 1915 he married Margaret Fleming, who died less than two years later while giving birth to their daughter, Margaret Anne. The radio priest began expressing reactionary views that were increasingly anti-New Deal and containing anti-Semitic (and anticommunist) rhetoric. Landon's natural friendliness and ready smile made him a popular figure in political circles. In his first inaugural speech, Roosevelt declared, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline. He warned that should Congress fail to act to his satisfaction, he would seek broad executive power to wage a war against the emergency as great as the power that would be given me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe. However stirring the rhetoric, this approach to dealing with the depression rested on a complete misapprehension. They begin to know that here in America we are waging a great and successful war. Kansas Governor Alfred M. Landon (1887-1987) was the Republican nominee opposing Franklin D. Roosevelt in the U.S. presidential election of 1936. After the 1930s, opponents of a proposed federal program might object to its structure, its personnel, or its cost, but hardly anyone objected on the grounds that the program was by its very nature improper to undertake at the federal level of government. ", Kennedy, Patrick D. "Chicago's Irish Americans and the Candidacies of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1932-1944. He faced the equally firm opposition of conservatives, but the epithets hurled at him from the right merely helped to unify his following. Even at the time, many thoughtful onlookers found the overweening arrogance of these deluded policy advisers to be their most distinctive trait. In every big job theres going to be imperfections, there are always going to be chiselers, theres always going to be unfairness, theres always going to be black sheep. And to call it social security is a fraud on the workingman. 2023
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