ELECTION #38, 1936. The NASTY-METER is 4.

QUOTE from Franklin D. Roosevelt when giving his second inaugural address on January 20, 1937: "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

The CANDIDATES in 1936.

DEMOCRAT: FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT.

Roosevelt was easily renominated for a second term. He kept "Cactus Jack" Garner as his VP.

REPUBLICAN: ALF LANDON.

With the Democrats having a very popular FDR running for reelection the Republicans did the best they could. The nominated Kansas Governor Alf Landon, who tried to present himself as the everyday American.

The CAMPAIGN in 1936.

By 1936 Roosevelt had proven to the American people that he was a man of action. In his first four years he had gotten Congress to pass the F.D.I.C, the WPA, the Social Security Act, the TVA, the CCC and several others. These measures had an immediate effect on the nation's recovery. Natually, his political enemies didn't like him or his achievements.

The Republicans went after Roosevelt by saying he was a socialist and was leading the nation down the road to communism. Landon embarked on a "holy crusade" against the excesses of the New Deal which he said had centralized government and gave too much power to labor. Republicans had hired a film director named Ted Bohn to teach Landon not to smile with his mouth hanging open, to walk slightly ahead when in a group in order to dominate photos, and to shake hands with his chin up to give the impression of firmness - the training did little good.

Roosevelt - who privately referred to Landon as "the White Mouse" who wants to live in the White House didn't have to do much campaigning. However, when he did he was met by huge crowds, as many as 100,000 during some speeches - who were showing their approval for his policies.

Desperate, the Republicans tried to manipulate the media, asking the Associated Press to always identify Landon in its stories with the tag "budget balancer." The AP said it would, but only if they could tag Roosevelt as "humanity's savior."

The WINNER: FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT and he continued as the 32nd president of the U.S.

Roosevelt got 27,757,333 popular and 523 electoral.

Landon got 16,684,231 popular and 8 electoral.

Even though the Republicans spent nine million dollars on the campaign Roosevelt kicked butt with over eleven million more popular votes and
515 electoral.