U.S. Presidential election, 1936: The election was a Republican landslide.
Republican Nomination[]
Incumbent president Theodore Roosevelt Jr. and Vice President Taft was unopposed for renomination.
Democratic Nomination[]
The Democrats were in disarray, the early front-runner Louisiana Senator Huey Long was shot and killed in September, 1935. By early-1936, three Democrats emerged; NY Governor Franklin Roosevelt, the candidate of the North-east, New York County District Attorney Henry Breckinridge, the candidate of mid-westerners and westerners, and lastly Senate Minority Leader Morris Sheppard, the candidate of the Old South. Roosevelt won post of the primaries, but the convention would still decide who the nom inee would be. The Democratic convention was a wild affair, House Minority Leader Jack Garner was chosen as convention chair, and he saw to it that the 2/3s rule for nominating presidential and vice presidential nominees remained in place (Garner did this so as to prevent a quick Roosevelt victory). After twenty-three ballots, Roosevelt finally won the nomination when he got Garner to switch the Texas delegation to him in exchange for Garner getting the VP spot.
| Ballots | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 23 | Vice Presidential Ballot | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roosevelt | 386 | 401 | 379 | 372 | 359 | 369 | 381 | 401 | 469 | 501 | 568 | 601 | 737 | Garner | 1002 |
| Breckinridge | 341 | 348 | 381 | 412 | 450 | 462 | 456 | 432 | 399 | 365 | 329 | 319 | 306 | Scattering | 152 |
| Sheppard | 149 | 165 | 171 | 165 | 145 | 159 | 149 | 139 | 142 | 146 | 106 | 72 | 36 | ||
| Scattering | 156 | 123 | 103 | 93 | 87 | 34 | 23 | 15 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 17 | 23 |
General Election Campaign[]
Coming out of a brutal convention (Franklin) Roosevelt never really had a chance against (Ted) Roosevelt. Liberty Digest predicted that Ted would win 401 electoral votes and 56% of the popular vote. George Gallup predicted that the President would win 61% of the popular vote and 44 states.
On Election night, Gallup's prediction came to pass, President Roosevelt won 61 percent of the vote and every state except Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas.
| Candidate | Party | Popular Vote | PV% | Electoral Vote | Running Mate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theodore Roosevelt Jr. | Republican | 27,935,328 | 61.5% | 449 | Robert Alphonso Taft |
| Franklin Delano Roosevelt | Democratic | 15,900,591 | 35.8% | 82 | John Nance Garner |
| Other | 1,167,383 | 2.7% | 0 |
Roosevelt Coattails[]
In the Congressional election, the Republicans won a 65-31 seat majority in the Senate, and a 356-66 seat majority in the House.