FDR's New Deal Coalition: 1932-1968

After spending most of the post Civil War era in the wilderness, the Democratic Party returned to power in 1932. The Great Depression occurred with the Republicans in power. As a result, it wiped the party out. This did not necessarily mean the Republicans would end up in their own wilderness for a couple generations. However, the rise of Franklin Roosevelt and the New Dealers created a new national consensus. The New Dealers believed in governmental action on behalf of the citizenry and internationalism. These policies proved popular. In the end, New Deal policies helped patch together a coalition that remained intact until the late sixties.

The Great Depression led to a Democratic landslide in 1932. Republican impotence in the face of the depression created a realignment. The Democrats dominated Congress for the next 60 years and the presidency for the next 36 years. During this period, only World War II superhero Dwight Eisenhower was able to break the Democratic hold on the White House.

Upon taking office, Roosevelt pulled together the engines of government to combat the depression. The unemployment rate hit 25% in 1933. Laissez faire capitalism had to go. The New Deal created a number of “alphabet agencies” designed to pull America out of the depression. Some worked and some did not. Roosevelt’s biggest accomplishment was saving the banks from complete collapse. Ironically, saving the banks and regulating the economy saved capitalism. Whether individual programs worked or not, it showed the Democrats cared and were trying as opposed to the laissez faire Republicans. This helped forge a new coalition.

Roosevelt ably reached out to labor unions, farmers, seniors, southerners, Jews, Catholics, and liberals with his policies. It took a very skilled politician to stitch together a coalition with apparent contradictory needs. The New Deal strengthened labor and led to tremendous prosperity for urban workers in the post war era. Senior citizens got Social Security. Farm subsidies helped many. Roosevelt was able to cultivate relationships in order to build this coalition. It was a delicate balancing act. Despite the overwhelming majority, Roosevelt still experienced some difficulties getting his ideas enacted.

The New Deal faced two major tests before World War II. First of all, FDR needed to be re-elected. Many hated and feared the New Deal. Some believed the New Deal unconstitutional while others feared Roosevelt was setting up a dictatorship. If Germany could turn into a dictatorship, then America could as well. In 1936, Roosevelt won re-election in a landslide. This reaffirmed the New Deal and ended any chance at stopping the new paradigm. Roosevelt passed the first test, but was not sure about the second.

Although Roosevelt and his programs popularity remained high, his second problem was out of the voters’ hands. The Supreme Court continually ruled against New Deal programs. They invalidated them and sent Congress back to the drawing board. This drove Roosevelt crazy. As a result, he attempted to add new seats to the Supreme Court. Conservatives smelled a power grab. Vice President John Nance Garner, conservative Democrats, and Republicans stopped Roosevelt’s court packing scheme. In the end, it did not matter. The court started ruling in the president’s favor. Despite losing the political battle over the court, Roosevelt won the war.

While transforming America at home, Roosevelt worked to change the country’s orientation toward the world. World War I turned Americans off foreign intervention. People wanted nothing to do with European affairs. Hitler was England’s problem. When World War II broke out, FDR worked hard to get the country behind it. Then, Pearl Harbor transformed the nation entirely. On December 7, 1941, America became an internationalist country. It has remained so ever since.

After the Allied victory in World War II, Roosevelt’s successors continued his policies. Democrats and Republicans became internationalists. The Cold War started during the Truman Administration. President Truman decided to stand up to the Russians lest they become the next Nazis. Every president after Truman continued the policy of containment. Some tweaked it, but it essentially remained the same.

Domestically, the Democrats continued to support government action for the poor. Initially, the Republicans opposed New Deal like policies. In 1940, they began supporting government programs promising to do it cheaper. In 1953, Republican President Eisenhower refused to dismantle the New Deal confirming the Roosevelt consensus. There was little difference between the two parties from 1940 until 1980.

This consensus briefly ripped the Democratic Party apart in 1948. President Truman ran for election in his own right. The Republicans ran Thomas Dewey. Dewey and Truman were very close on the issues. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party ripped in three. Strom Thurmond ran as a third party candidate supporting segregation. Former Vice President Henry Wallace ran as a “progressive” candidate. Wallace did not like the Truman Administration’s hard line stance against the Soviets. The Republicans thought they had this election and stayed home. Truman pulled out a victory despite the three way split thanks to complacent Republican voters. The Democrats reunited for the next twenty years and elected their next president in 1960.

In 1960, John Kennedy copied Roosevelt in style and rhetoric. He promised a “New Frontier” while running for president. Like FDR, he tapped into American idealism and a promise of dynamic government action. Kennedy won the election by a razor thin margin. Kennedy’s election marked a major change in African American voting patterns. Robert Kennedy prodded southern authorities to release Martin Luther King from jail. King endorsed Kennedy and African Americans have not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since. Although Roosevelt garnered significant support from African Americans, and was the first Democratic candidate to do so, it was not until Kennedy that blacks fully converted. Between 1932 and 1960, they proved a swing constituency. Nowadays, blacks vote around 90% Democratic.

Despite African American support, Kennedy was slow to help the Civil Rights Movement. Kennedy did not want to upset key southerners in Congress. Despite his attempts to avoid confrontation, southerners, conservatives, and Republicans bottled up his domestic agenda. Following his assassination, Lyndon Johnson took up the banner and his skilled leadership helped pass many laws.

Johnson declared a “War on Poverty.” He wanted desperately to be another FDR. LBJ called it “The Great Society” as opposed to the New Deal. Johnson ably passed several policies helping the poor. The Great Society also championed consumerism and environmentalism. Johnson’s domestic policies proved long lasting. However, Vietnam and his Civil Rights policies ripped his party and country apart.

Johnson rightly championed Civil Rights and Voting Rights for African Americans. While civil rights solidified the African American vote, it caused a rift between the party and blue collar and southern voters. In fact, this cost the Democratic Party the South and they have yet to recover. Strom Thurmond’s Dixiecrats bolted and never returned. Blue collar voters felt the Democrats abandoned them, so they looked to Richard Nixon. The more racist element gravitated toward Governor George Wallace. In the end, the Republican Party would benefit dramatically from these constituencies.

While civil rights hurt the Democrats, Vietnam doomed the party for forty years. The neo-left began asserting itself through anti-government protests. This caused a massive breach between the New Dealers and the neo-left. During the 1968 Democratic Convention, a riot occurred. It was an example of a culture clash between the two wings of the party. Another famous incident occurred when a group of construction workers in hard hats took 2x4’s to a bunch of hippies. These images, along with video from Vietnam, played into Richard Nixon’s law and order campaign. Since 1968, the Democrats have been viewed through the prism of 1968 and Vietnam by a large portion of the country. The Republicans have successfully exploited this image in campaign after campaign. In 2008, the Democrats experienced their first real chance to break this image with Barack Obama attempting to play the role of FDR and JFK.

Franklin Roosevelt built a consensus that more or less exists today. Due to Roosevelt, most Americans believe government has a role in helping people. Worries over the loss of freedom proved unfounded. However, the debate over the scope and effectiveness of government continues and remains in question to this day. Despite the consensus and debate, the party Roosevelt built dominated the national scene until 1968 until blown apart by war, civil rights, and the rise of the neo-left.