The Franklin D. Roosevelt

Presidential Library and Museum

presents a conversation and signing

with Mary E. Stuckey, author of

VOTING DELIBERATIVELY: FDR AND

THE 1936 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at 6PM

In-person: Wallace Center at the

FDR Presidential Library and Home

REGISTER HERE

Online: Streamed live to the official

FDR Library YouTube and Facebook accounts

HYDE PARK, NY -- The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum will present a conversation and book signing with Mary E. Stuckey, author of VOTING DELIBERATIVELY: FDR AND THE 1936 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN, at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The event will be held in the Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home and streamed live to the official FDR Presidential Library YouTube and Facebook accounts. Registered attendees can visit the Library's new exhibition, BLACK AMERICANS, CIVIL RIGHTS, AND THE ROOSEVELTS, free of charge before the program, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. This is a free public event, but registration is required to attend in-person. REGISTER HERE.

Synopsis:

The 1932 election of Franklin D. Roosevelt seemed to hold the promise of Democratic domination for years to come. However, leading up to the 1936 election, persistent economic problems, a controversial domestic agenda, and the perception of a weak foreign policy were chipping away at public support. The president faced unrelenting criticism from both the Left and the Right, and it seemed unlikely that he would cruise to the same clear victory he enjoyed in 1932. But 1936 was yet another landslide win for FDR, which makes it easy to forget just how contested the campaign was.

In VOTING DELIBERATIVELY, Mary E. Stuckey examines little-discussed components of FDR’s 1936 campaign that aided his victory. She reveals four elements of this reelection campaign that have not received adequate attention: the use of public opinion polling, the attention paid to local organizations, the focus on specific kinds of interests, and the public rhetoric that tied it all together. Previous studies of the 1936 presidential election discuss elements such as FDR’s vulnerability before the campaign and the weakness of Republican candidate Alf Landon. But these histories pay little attention to the quantity and quality of information Roosevelt acquired, the importance of organizations such as the Good Neighbor League and the Committee of One, the mobilization of the vote -- including a major shift in the Black vote, and the ways in which these organizational strategies fused with Roosevelt’s rhetorical strategies. Stuckey shows how these facets combined in one of the largest victories in Electoral College history and provided a template for future victory.

Mary E. Stuckey is Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Pennsylvania State University. She specializes in political and presidential rhetoric, political communication, and American Indian politics. She is the author of many articles and books including, THE GOOD NEIGHBOR: FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT AND THE RHETORIC OF AMERICAN POWER; DEFINING AMERICANS: THE PRESIDENCY AND NATIONAL IDENTITY and FOR THE ENJOYMENT OF THE PEOPLE: THE CREATION OF NATIONAL IDENTITY IN AMERICAN PUBLIC LANDS.