Policies of the New Administration

Report Outline
Democratic Sweep in Presidential and Congressional Elections
Depression Relief and Economic Reconstruction
The Tariff, Taxation, and Economy
Power Control and the Regulation of Business
The War Debts and Questions of Foreign Policy

Democratic Sweep in Presidential and Congressional Elections

The democratic sweep of November 8 resulted in the election to the presidency of Governor Roosevelt of New York by an estimated plurality of 7,500,000 votes and gave the Democratic party control of both houses of the 73rd Congress, which comes into being March 4, 1933. The Democrats already controlled the House of the present Congress. They may have gained control of the Senate for the short session which meets December 5, 1932, by a margin of one vote.

The executive branch of the government will remain in Republican control until the expiration of President Hoover's term on March 4 and it was asserted by the President and his supporters during the campaign that the ensuing four months would be a period of “chaos and uncertainty” in case of Democratic success at the polls. At Springfield, Ill., however, four days in advance of the election, President Hoover read a secret memorandum of Abraham Lincoln, dated August 23, 1864, which may chart his own course.

This morning, as for some days past [Lincoln wrote] it seems exceedingly probable that this administration will not be reelected. Then it will be my duty to so cooperate with the President-elect as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration, as he will have secured his election on such ground that he cannot possibly save it afterward.