The Election of 1932

The prosperity of the 1920s ended with a jolt. On October 29, 1929, the stock market crashed, obliterating the savings and confidence of millions of Americans, and by the following spring the country was mired in the worst economic depression in its history. Many Americans blamed Herbert Hoover, whose name became indelibly associated with the misery of the times. One of the most remarkable aspects of Theodore Roosevelt’s campaign was that he hid his inability to walk. He never wanted the American people to see him in a wheelchair or with crutches, for he knew those things were the political kiss of death. Roosevelt was vague about what he would do to alleviate the Depression, and that was no accident. On Election Day, the American people were eager not so much to vote for Roosevelt as to vent their frustrations against Hoover.