Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate

[octoberlib]

74. K&R!

Many Democratic Party chiefs considered New York governor Franklin D. Roosevelt a weak choice in 1932. He had run as James Cox’s vice presidential candidate in 1920 but did not have the strong track record of some other presidential hopefuls, including Al Smith, who wanted to run again. It took four votes and aggressive behind-the-scenes maneuvering to get Roosevelt nominated.

H. L. Mencken commented, “Here was a great convention … nominating the weakest candidate before it. How many of the delegates were honestly for him I don’t know, but … [t]here was absolutely nothing in his record to make them eager for him.” Political commentator Walter Lippmann described Roosevelt contemptuously as “an amiable boy scout.”

The Republicans did their best, attacking Roosevelt as a radical and a socialist. Hoover predicted economic ruin if the Democratic ticket was elected, saying “grass would grow in the streets of one hundred cities.” Republicans also questioned whether Roosevelt was healthy enough to be president — polio had left him paralyzed from the waist down since 1921. Roosevelt answered his critics with a vigorous cross-country campaign, giving dozens of speeches in front of cheering crowds. He told them, “My policy is as radical as American liberty, as radical as the Constitution.”




http://www.salon.com/2011/09/03/slinging_mud_excerpt_slideshow/slide_show/7