The United States presidential election of 1932 was the 37th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 1932. It took place against the backdrop of the Great Depression. PresidentHerbert Hoover's popularity was falling as voters felt he was unable to reverse the country's economic collapse. Joe Steele used Hoover's perceived failure as a platform for his own election, promising a policy called the Four Year Plan to jumpstart the economy. Steele won in a landslide, and began to slowly accumulate power to the executive branch at the expense of the legislative and judicial.
Sensing that they were in their best position in over a decade, the Democrats held their Convention in Chicago, and very nearly undid themselves, as the party had decided on two front runners: California Congressman Joe Steele, and; New York governor Franklin D. Roosevelt. But after two days, neither man had the needed two-thirds majority to clinch the nomination.[1] However, when Roosevelt (who suffered from polio) died in a fire at the Executive Mansion in Albany, Steele became the party's presidential nominee. His vice-presidential nominee was John Nance Garner.[2] Other potential candidates such as Louisiana Senator Huey Long attempted the gain the nomination from Steele, but failed spectacularly.
The Republican Convention[]
Despite Herbert Hoover's lack of popularity and charisma, the Republicans chose to keep him as their nominee.
The Election[]
Hoover's lack of charisma hurt him, particularly when compared with the relentless campaign machine Steele brought to bear. Steele's down-to-earth façade and his promise of the Four Year Plan appealed to the working class, and Steele defeated Hoover in a landslide, even winning states Democrats hadn't won in generations. Steele's coattails won a solid majority for the Democrats in Congress.[3]
The election ends with a Steele victory in both the Joe Steele novel and the short story. The short story actually specifies that Hoover carried Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Vermont, with Steele carrying the remaining 42. The novel is not that specific.
OTL Election[]
In OTL, of course, there was no Joe Steele; rather, in 1932, Joseph Stalin was already coming up on a decade as iron-fisted leader of the Soviet Union. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the Democratic nominee, and his running mate was John Nance Garner. Roosevelt and Garner did indeed defeat Herbert Hoover and Charles Curtis in a landslide victory. Hoover won the six states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Vermont, as in the short story, while Roosevelt carried the remaining 42 states.
