Rhetoric of Restoration and Reform Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1932 Campaign for the Presidency By: Alexander K. Uryga Celebration of Undergraduate Research Saturday, 05/02/15

A.K.U. 2013 S.B.P. Campaign The Torch’s Artwork

The stories that were told were the ones from rags to riches. The Roaring Twenties 1920 – 1929

The stories that were told were the ones from riches to rags. October 29th, 1929 – 1930s The Great Depression The stories that were told were the ones from riches to rags.

The Tale of Jesse Jackson in Hooverville, Seattle, U.S.A.

The 1932 Election Incumbent President Hoover Challenger Governor Roosevelt Born 1874 – Died 1964 Born 1882 – Died 1945

The Importance What Franklin D. Roosevelt thought the campaign and election meant for the United States.

Question Did Franklin D. Roosevelt’s frame his 1932 campaign for the presidency as a revolution or a restoration in the American republic?

Historiography: A New Deal Rupture “The Long Exception: Rethinking the Place of the New Deal in American History” (2008) Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time (2013) Ira Katznelson Nick Salvatore Jefferson Cowie Born 1944 Born 1943 Columbia University Professor of Political Science and History Cornell University Professor of American History Cornell University Associate Professor of History

Thesis Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1932 campaign for the presidency employed rhetoric of restoration and reform.

Restoration F.D.R. employed rhetoric of restoration as an appeal to nostalgia to persuade the American people in the hopeful promise of restoring the republic to its prior greatness.

Reform F.D.R. employed rhetoric of reform as an appeal to change to convince Americans in reforming what was wrong within the United States.

Methodology Thorough rhetorical analysis of speeches made by Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the 1932 campaign.

“‘Forgotten Man’” Radio Address on April 7th, 1932 “These unhappy times call for the building of plans that rest upon the forgotten… for plans like those of 1917 that build from the bottom up…” “It is high time to get back to fundamentals.” –Franklin Delano Roosevelt Restoration!

Jefferson Day Dinner Address on April 18th, 1932 in St. Paul, Minnesota “All three… understood the yearnings and the lack of opportunity, the hopes and fears of millions of their fellow beings.” –Franklin Delano Roosevelt Restoration!

Speech on May 22nd, 1932 at Oglethorpe University Reform! Speech on May 22nd, 1932 at Oglethorpe University “The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it: If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.” –Franklin Delano Roosevelt

“New Deal” Nomination Acceptance Speech on July 2nd, 1932 in Chicago, Illinois “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people. Let us all here assembled constitute ourselves prophets of a new order of competence and of courage.” –Franklin Delano Roosevelt Reform! Reform!

“New Deal” Speech Continued… “This is more than a political campaign; it is a call to arms. Give me your help, not to win votes alone, but to win in this crusade to restore America to its own people.” –Franklin Delano Roosevelt Restoration!

“Social Justice” Speech on October 2nd, 1932 in Detroit, Michigan “We cannot go back to the old prisons… We cannot go back to the old systems of asylums. We cannot go back to the old lack of hospitals, the lack of public health. We cannot go back to the sweatshops of America. We cannot go back to children working in factories. Those days are gone. There are a lot of new steps to take.” –Franklin Delano Roosevelt Reform!

Republican-for-Roosevelt League Speech on November 3rd, 1932 “I am here tonight at the invitation of a group of public-minded citizens who have placed principle above party. These citizens, whose party affiliation has been Republican, have publicly declared that they consider a change in the administration of this Government is necessary, that it is, in fact, indispensable to a restoration to normal conditions.” -Franklin Delano Roosevelt Reform and Restoration!!

1932 Election Results Incumbent President Hoover Challenger Governor Roosevelt Electoral Vote: 59 Popular Vote: 15,758,397 Electoral Vote: 472 Popular Vote: 22,825,016

Conclusion Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1932 campaign for the presidency employed rhetoric of restoration and reform.

Q u e s t i o n s ? Thank You!!