Building a Ground Game: FDR and the 1936 Election

Abstract

Franklin D. Roosevelt is justifiably understood as an eloquent speaker, a master of radio, and a public communication par excellence. These traits are often seen as fundamental to his political success. What is often overlooked, however, in the tendency to praise Roosevelt’s communicative skill, is his equal dedication to organizational politics. This essay examines the importance of those politics in orchestrating the 1936 victory, in an election that is widely considered to be among the most important electoral contests in the twentieth century. Relying on papers and documents form the FDR Presidential Library, I will examine four main elements of that campaign: the polling of Emil Hurja, the organizational skill of Mary Dewson, the local organization through entities such as the Good Neighbor League, and the public rhetoric that tied it all together.

Emil Hurja, an econometrician and White House pollster, is widely considered to be the creator of the “tracking poll.” His ability to predict election results was nothing short of phenomenal, especially given the technology available to him. He was also an important influence on policy, and Hurja may well be the motivating force behind policies like the decision to channel resources to districts with narrow majorities rather than those that had voted overwhelmingly Democratic in 1932. Actions like this may have had a great deal to do with the creation of a solid Democratic majority in 1936.

Second, the Roosevelt White House became one of the first to actively seek out and organize voting from what are now understood as interest groups: women, African Americans, labor, and so on became understood as collectively important to governing and as crucial elements of a successful Democratic campaign. No one had more to do with organizing and mobilizing such constituencies that Mary Dewson, Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee. The innovative mobilization tactics she pioneered are indicative of the ways in which the Roosevelt campaign sought to include previously overlooked constituents.

Third, the Roosevelt campaign sought to organize people around religion as well as economic interests. These attempts are most evident in the creation of Good Neighbor Leagues, ostensibly non-partisan organizations that were nonetheless dedicated to providing the White House with both information about the state of the nation and the opinions of its citizens and a veritable army of already organized volunteers. Again, the establishment of such organizations was unprecedented.

None of these organizational innovations would have been effective, of course, without a competent candidate, and Roosevelt as a campaigner was considerably better than competent. The final aspect of the essay examines the campaign craft of this most impressive public speaker, with a particular eye toward how he made use of the organization and information provided for him by the previous three elements.

Franklin Roosevelt had significant influence over the institution of the presidency; we are less likely to look for his influence on modern campaigns. This essay indicates the importance and the depth of that influence.