220 a short history of the united states
Roosevelt exuded confidence that he was the man who could rescue the
nation from this terrible disaster. He scored many points with the
American people by alluding to Hoover’s supposed callousness toward
the starving and his seeming unwillingness to aid those in distress.
The results of the election of 1932 completely reversed the political
fortunes of the two major parties. Roo sevelt swept the cities and rural
areas outside New England for a total of nearly 23 million popular and
472 electoral votes. Hoover carried Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Connecticut, Delaware, and Pennsylvania with almost 16 million pop-
ular and 59 electoral votes. The Socialist, Thomas, won almost 900 , 000
popular votes; the Communist, Foster, won 100 , 000 ; and the Prohibi-
tionist, Upshaw, 80 , 000. And both houses of Congress were won by
the Democrats.
The lame-duck Congress did nothing to address the worsening eco-
nomic conditions in the country. Its members simply did not know
what to do. They let everything slide until the new administration
could take office on March 4 , 1933. Industrial construction had plunged
from $ 949 million to a disastrous $ 74 million. Depositors attempting
to withdraw their money from banks caused runs on these institutions,
and many of them went bankrupt. Some 50 , 504 banks closed from 1930
through February 1933. Fourteen million people were out of work.
There was talk that what the nation desperately needed was a dictato-
rial direction of the government. “A genial and lighthearted dictator
might be a relief,” editorialized one publication, “from the pompous
futility of such a Congress as we have recently had.” In Germany, such
a dictator had already emerged, but he was hardly genial and light-
hearted. Adolf Hitler was chosen chancellor in January 1933 and would
later plunge Europe and the world into further chaos.
Franklin D. Roo sevelt was sworn into office on March 4 , the
last President to take the oath of office four months after his election. On
Februar y 6 , 1933 , the Twentieth Amendment was ratified which directed
that henceforth the members of Congress who were elected the previous
November would take office on January 3 and the President and Vice
President on January 20 instead of March 4. In his inaugural address,
Roosevelt tried to restore confi dence in the ability of the government to