History 211: History of US Elections

In 1924, with the Republicans riding a wave of prosperity, it looked like incumbent President Coolidge would be serving another term. But what seemed like a simple election would be punctuated by two very important developments in modern American politics. The election will be remembered for the final schism in the Democratic party in the 20^th century, as well as the first election in which the American people heard their candidates speak for the first time; from their living rooms.

The Democrats approached campaign strategy with plans to, as author Donald McCoy put it, “lambaste the Republicans for wickedness and corruption in the office and in general.” (Calvin Coolidge the Quiet President 248) Lambaste they did, and with the advent of politics over the radio, their harsh words for the Republican party could be heard in most major cities daily during the convention and the campaign.

Holding back the Democrats, was the schism created over several issues during the convention. Amongst these were the endorsements of the League of Nations, repeal of Prohibition, and oil-tainted Democrats. The largest of the issues was the racist Ku Klux Klan, which had literally split the party in two. (Calvin Coolidge the Quiet President 248) William McAdoo, the best candidate, was ruined by his stance on oil, Alfred Smith by prohibition, and Oscar Underwood by his criticism of the Klan. Eventually, the Democrats chose the little-known John W. Davis (a conservative) for his dry stance on Prohibition and indifference to the Klan.

The Republicans stood by incumbent Calvin Coolidge. 1923 was a good year for America, with previous years just as good. Coolidge and his campaign manager decided that the race would be run on “prosperity, economy, and respectability… Prosperity, however distributed, was the leading issue among Democrats and Progressives as well as Republicans, and virtue was a close second. Coolidge had already made himself appear the procurator of prosperity and the symbol of virtue, and he had accomplished that almost by doing nothing at all.” (Calvin Coolidge the Quiet President 253)

Interestingly enough, a third-party independent, William La Follette, was given a voice by this radio revolution. Today, independents have a voice because of the availability of modern media at a relatively cheap price. In 1924, it could cost up to $5000 dollars to carry a speech over six radio stations. These charges had to be paid, and naturally the parties endorsing their candidates picked up the bill. This was the first time that campaign contributions would be set aside for media time, a practice that dominates the allocation of political funds today.

 Coolidge’s final speech was carried over the waves from 26 radio stations, Davis’ just 7. In Coolidge’s non-partisan, final speech, he simply urged citizens to vote, and concluded with, “To my father, who is listening in my old home in Vermont, and to my other invisible audience, I say ‘good night.’” Coolidge won in a landslide over Davis and La Follette in what the New York Times reported as the first national election in years to be decided so quickly. Coolidge captured 54% of the popular vote and 382 electoral college votes with Davis and La Follette carrying 28% and 136 and 16% and 13, respectively.

While the 1924 election marked a victory for the Republicans and a party-changing defeat for the Democrats, it also represented a major change in the way that the media and politics affected each other.  These effects can be seen over the last  century, where politics and media have created a symbiotic relationship, from Coolidge to CSPAN.

New York Times headline, November 9, 1932

On election eve in 1932, over the Columbia Broadcasting System, Socialist presidential candidate Norman Thomas made his final appeal to a crowd of eleven thousand socialists supporters on November 7, arguing that “neither of the old parties has any program for bringing us out of our misery and fear.” Scholars contest that Thomas’s campaign for massive federal aid for the unemployed and a drastic reorganization for the ailing economy was “more of a protest movement than an electoral race.” Thomas needed to convert the immense feeling of unease regarding American capitalism into votes for an alternative political party. Ultimately, it would come down to the quantity and aptitude of the Socialist vote, which Thomas believed had the power to alter to future of American politics. So the night before the election, Thomas promised his audience that “every vote will count.” 

However, Thomas was wrong—every vote did not count. Thomas failed to foresee that hundreds of thousands of votes went uncounted on Election Day. In districts lacking voting machines, election officials often disregarded votes for third-party candidates. It was evident that a lack of Socialist Party poll-watchers directly resulted in untallied votes for Socialist candidates. A socialist poll-watcher in a south-side Chicago polling site observed the familiar occurrence when Democrats and Republicans chose not to count Socialist votes. When challenged, one poll-watcher said, “When you Socialists have no poll-watchers, we do the same to you. But since you’re here, we’ll split up the Communist vote among the three of us.”   

With early precincts in, a New York Times story was headlined: “Thomas may get 1,500,000.” In hindsight, Thomas only received 900,000 votes. Had every vote been accounted for, estimates suggest Thomas could have reached 2,000,000—which was Thomas’s original campaign goal. With early returns on Election Day, Thomas said that 1,000,000 votes will be “moderately encouraged,” over 1,500,000 votes Socialists will be “decidingly encouraged,”  but every vote over 2,000,000 will be “tremendous jubilation.” With the total votes cast for presidential candidates at nearly 40 million, Thomas deemed his hopes modest. Yet, he was realistic regarding his chances of winning the 1932 election, and though disappointed, he did not show it. “The fine young intellectual element which composes the nucleus of Socialism today and which will be indicated by the vote cast for me today,” Thomas said in his so-called victory statement on Election Day, “is the most hopeful factor in America.”  Thomas ran for President as the Socialists Party’s candidate in every election between 1928 and 1948.  He devoted his career to matching the impact he had in the 1932 election, yet was never nearly as successful. After Thomas’s presidential attempts, American Socialism began to slowly collapse. As a result, Thomas is remembered for being a tireless symbol of the American Left, advocating for unpopular causes such as civil rights, but also for presiding over the end of Socialism in America.