"Roger, Doghouse. You want size in inches..."

Can't let this go, and as long as Jambo wants front-page coverage, I may as well take it too.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the 1932 Presidential election.

"Roosey" only had one real opponent in '32... Al Smith of NY. Former Governor and three time Presidential nomination candidate within the Democratic party and wildly popular among his Irish-American voting block. So "blue-collar" you could smell the Brylcreem at 20 yards away. All of America knew who he was, and he was popular... big time.

Frank knew he had to beat the "elitist" label that was sure to fall from the Smith camp, and try to appeal to the working class American ASAP. How did he do it?

With his opening speech to the DNC in Chicago, he stated clearly and with real gusto... "I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a NEW DEAL for the American people."

No plan, so to speak... more of a slogan, really. But it got him the nomination over Smith, who spent his floor time blaming Hoover for the Depression. Roosevelt had a "New Deal" and all Al could do was blame Hoover... something the rest of the world was doing anyway. That PLAN got him the nomination in just four ballots. He then went on to WIN the election in what even today is considered a "landslide".

So, I still attest that FDR had a PLAN for the people in the run for the White House, and it won him the longest tenure in office... ever.

More to the point, the after-effects of the election are even more shocking. Allow me to elaborate...

In the first two years in Office, Roosevelt maintained many of Hoover's policies concerning depression relief... and took ALL the credit. FDR's own initiatives were all mainly failures (or flat out illegal)... James listed several in his post: NRA, WPA, CCC, NIRA... all of it questionable, and at least two illegal (NIRA-NRA). The most successfull of "Roosevelt's" New Deal plans were all Hoover institutions... FERA, RFC and the AAA (the only BIG exception was the TVA... wildly successfull and a flower in FDR's cap... no doubt!).

Now, when Hoover and the GOP tried to take the credit for these initial successes, did the people care? NOT AT ALL! FDR gave them the New Deal... that is what they knew, and no one was going to tell them different.

So, I maintain that not only did FDR have a "PLAN" prior to being elected... he had one through the first term, too.