The Promise of Change

With Republican President Herbert Hoover presiding over a nation in economic collapse, it was clear a Democrat would win the presidency in 1932. But which Democrat?

By the spring of 1932, New York Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt emerged as the frontrunner. The popular leader of the country's most populous state, he attracted attention by aggressively using governmental power to help alleviate the suffering of the Depression.

Yet FDR was not universally admired. Some felt he was an opportunist. Others labeled him a lightweight. But Roosevelt's emphasis on action-embodied in his dynamic personality - appealed to a depression-weary nation.