What was a major factor in Herbert Hoover's election victory?
1 Answer
The unpopularity of of the democratic candidate.
Explanation:
Incumbent President Calvin Coolidge declined to seek re-election. So the front runner for the Republican nomination was Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover. There was a anti-Hoover faction within the Republican Party but they failed to rally around another candidate so Hoover received the majority of votes at the Republican Convention. Hoover chose Kansas senator Charles Curtis for his VP.
The Democratic nominee was Al Smith. There weren't a lot of huge names in the running because of the strong economy at the time. Al Smith was the Governor of New York. Smith then proceed to choose Joseph Robinson, a senator from Arkansas as his VP. Smith was a Roman Catholic, the first to be nominated for a major party, and religion became an issue in the election. Many protestants feared that he would take orders from the Vatican. There were uneasy feelings about both nominees and neither gained whole support from their party.
The general election was a bruiser for Al Smith. His faith was a controversy that anti-catholic causes took advantage of, the Tammany Hall scandal, and Smith's anti-prohibition beliefs. Republican ran on the booming economy of the 1920's (roaring 20's) and that resonated with many Americans.
The results were disastrous for Al Smith.
Smith won the deep south, as Democrats were popular in the deep south at the time. But Hoover over-preformed in many southern communities. Smith lost his home state of New York by about 2 points. He did win Massachusetts and Rhode Island by razor thin margins.
Here are the results by county.
However, Hoover is considered one of the worst presidents in modern American history. He is pointed to as responsible for leading the country into the Great Depression and not taking enough action to lift us out of it. Many called him "A do-nothing President." Hoover did help build communities that the poor and homeless could go and live in. These communities were called "Hoovervilles" by the occupants. Hoover's deep unpopularity led to Franklin D. Roosevelt's huge win in the 1932 election.
