D. Antonio Cantu

“In its effects on the lives of Americans, the Great Depression was one of the great shaping experiences of American history, ranking with the American Revolution, the Civil War, and the second industrial revolution” (1).

—National Standards for History

Given the tremendous importance of the Great Depression in American history, it is critical for students to gain a deep understanding of the issues, concerns, themes, and legacy of that period. Authors of the National Standards for History have noted the pedagogical opportunity this period in our history accords students and teachers: “This era provides students with ample opportunities to test their analytic skills as they assay Franklin Roosevelt’s leadership . . .” (2).

One pedagogical approach used to achieve deeper student understanding and provide an opportunity for students to use their historical thinking and analytic skills is to immerse students in the study of depression-era presidential election campaigns. As during previous periods of crisis in our nation’s history, presidential campaigns and elections still took place. For example, even in the midst of the Civil War, Lincoln had to run for re-election. However, these elections represented more than mere constitutional necessities. They served as a public forum for debate on the problems and issues confronting the nation, and helped the government to identify the most appropriate course of action. The results of these public debates forever changed America’s political landscape. Even in the twenty-first century, we can still point to numerous manifestations of the political paradigm shift that resulted from the 1932 presidential election. The chief architects of the National Standards for History perhaps best summarized the historical importance of these depression-era presidential contests:

Roosevelt’s landslide victories of 1932 and 1936 were accomplished through a new coalition of urban workers and African Americans, together with the still traditionally solid white South that would keep the Republicans out of the White House until 1953. Roosevelt’s success in restoring people’s faith in constitutional government and free enterprise also defeated those who sought a revolutionary end to the system. Prophets of direct action and drastic economic change were many, ranging from American Nazis to Louisiana’s fiery populist Governor Huey Long to the Communist Party USA. Each enjoyed local successes and newsworthy moments, but no extremist group, whether of the right or left, won a broad national following even in the depths of the Depression (3).

The following lesson plan is designed to address the salient issues and themes of the 1932, 1936, and 1940 presidential election campaigns. It also serves to illustrate one approach to integrating the left and right brain 4MAT curricular framework into the teaching of presidential election history.

Time Frame

This unit may be taught over a span of three fifty-minute class periods or two ninety-minute blocks. There is, however, tremendous flexibility associated with the left and right brain 4MAT curricular framework that allows teachers to modify the existing scope and sequence of this lesson if necessary. Teachers also have the option to integrate specific activities into their current curriculum to enhance existing lesson plans.

Objectives/National Standards

This teaching unit encompasses many of the elements outlined in Era 8 of the National Standards for History. The following student objectives/standards are addressed in this lesson:

Era 8: The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)

Standard 2A: The student understands the New Deal and the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Standard 2C: The student understands opposition to the New Deal, the alternative programs of its detractors, and the legacy of the New Deal.

Background

This lesson adopts as its pedagogical framework the left and right brain 4MAT teaching model. In 1980 Bernice McCarthy, a former classroom teacher, developed this open-ended, holistic teaching model that considers individual learning styles, in particular those characteristics associated with right and left hemisphere dominance. The purpose of the model, according to McCarthy, is simply to “raise teacher awareness as to why some things work with some learners and other things do not” (4). One way for teachers to attend to the needs of left and right brain learners is to develop lessons that sequentially incorporate multiple activities that call on students to utilize both left and right brain learning modalities. Table One lists characteristics associated with left and right brain learners.

Even though the issue of left and right hemisphere dominance remains the subject of heated debate in the psychology community, the left and right brain 4MAT approach has been quite well received by those in the field of education. It seems especially well suited for teaching secondary level American history, given its sequential and multidimensional approach to learning. In particular, it accords students opportunities to build upon previous learning, engage in critical analysis and decision making, develop historical empathy, and gain a deeper understanding of those events and issues that have shaped our nation’s history. The instructional sequence/learning cycle associated with the 4MAT model, and adhered to in this lesson, is described in Table Two.

Presidential elections provide history teachers with a number of ideal primary and secondary resources for classroom use. The left and right brain 4MAT curricular and instructional model also allows teachers to categorize these materials in accordance with the specific learning needs they address. Table Three provides some examples of election resources teachers might utilize in their classroom teaching.

Just as there are multiple resources for teaching depression-era presidential elections, so, too, are there myriad products that can result from student interaction with these materials. Once again, the left and right brain 4MAT curricular model provides history teachers with an excellent framework for classifying these students’ activities and products. Table Four details some of the student activities that can be included in presidential election history lessons.

This lesson represents but one way history teachers might integrate the left and right brain teaching approach into their instructional repertoire. It also provides a curricular model for organizing primary and secondary resources for student classroom use. The result is a primary document based, multidimensional approach to teaching one of the most critical periods in American history, from a perspective that is often overlooked.

Procedure

I. Experiencing

Examine-Left Brain: Campaign Literature/Pamphlets
During the 1932 presidential election, FDR’s health and physical endurance became a campaign issue, although not necessarily a public one. Many in the Democratic National Committee feared this was a concern within the minds of potential voters. Therefore, they decided to confront the issue head on. The 1932 campaign pamphlet “Half a Million Life Insurance” attempted to alleviate the potential concerns of voters, thus putting an end to what they termed the “whispering campaign.”

1. Students should read copies of the 1932 campaign pamphlet “Half a Million Life Insurance” (Handout 1).
2. After examining the campaign pamphlet, students should respond to the following questions, either in small groups or individually:
   
   1. What was FDR’s physical condition in 1932?
      
   2. Were public concerns about his health warranted? Explain.
      
   3. What was the goal of the Democratic National Committee in publishing this pamphlet?
      
   4. Did they achieve their goal or fall short? Explain.
      
   5. What do you believe would have occurred had the Democrats failed to address the “whispering campaign”?
      
   6. Are candidate health and/or disability concerns ever raised today in presidential contests, and if so are they valid campaign issues?
      

Connect-Right Brain: Campaign Song
Kenneth Wardell’s 1932 campaign song provides teachers with an ideal means for introducing the topic of depression-era presidential elections. It addresses many salient themes of this period, such as the repeal of prohibition, unemployment, and the forgotten masses.

1. Students should read the lyrics for Wardell’s song “We Want A Man Like Roosevelt” (Handout 2), which suggests how FDR would address the economic crisis confronting the nation.
   
2. After reading the lyrics, students should respond to the following questions:
   
   1. What message was Wardell attempting to convey?
      
   2. Who was his target audience?
      
   3. What economic problems or issues did Wardell address in the song?
      
   4. What potential solutions to these problems and issues did the song identify?
      
   5. How effective do you believe this song was in convincing people to vote for Roosevelt? Explain.

II. Conceptualizing

Define-Left Brain: Party Platforms
Political party platforms can be a great source of information not only on the most important issues facing the nation in any given period of history, but also as a gauge of the nation’s political, economic, and social climate. By the 1932 political party conventions, the nation had endured nearly three years of economic suffering. The various political party platforms of the 1932 campaign all attempted to identify the causes of the Great Depression and with whom the blame should reside. They also provided an appraisal or overview of the current economic situation, in an attempt to lay the foundation for their individual courses of action.

1. Distribute copies of excerpts from the 1932 Democratic, Republican, Socialist, and Communist party platforms (Handout 3) and allow students time to analyze the various appraisals of the economic crisis facing the nation.
2. Students should answer the following questions, as they examine the platforms, for each of the four political parties:
   1. What were the causes of the Great Depression?
   2. Who was to blame?
   3. How did the crisis impact Americans?
   4. What was the appropriate course of action for the government to take?
3. After examining and identifying the perspectives put forth by each of the four political parties in their platform, have students respond to the following questions:
   1. Which party do you believe most accurately identified the causes of the Great Depression and the responsible individuals, groups, or institutions? Explain.
   2. Which party do you believe most accurately portrayed the economic situation confronting the nation in 1932? Explain.
   3. Which political party’s course of action do you feel was most appealing to the voters in 1932 and why?
   4. Would the same position on the role of government identified above be popular today? Explain.
      
4. After responding to the questions above, place students in cooperative learning groups and have each group develop their own political party platform that addresses the needs and concerns of the nation in 1932. Their platforms should address the following issues or topics: Agriculture, Industry, Stock Market, Unemployment, Prohibition.

Imagine-Right Brain: Political Cartoon
Depression-era presidential election campaigns were among the most colorful and imaginative of the twentieth century, reminiscent of Gilded Age contests. Unlike Gilded Age presidential elections, however, depression-era contests lacked the excitement at the finish line, always resulting in landslide victories for FDR. Even though the results were all but a forgone conclusion, this did not deter campaigners and political cartoonists from seizing the moment to produce what today are some of the most treasured campaign artifacts and memorabilia in our nation’s history. One of the most colorful and memorable political cartoons, “Reach the White House,” appeared in Redbook magazine in 1935, prior to the death of Huey Long. The cartoonist not only provided readers with a speculative glimpse into the upcoming presidential election campaign scenario, but also a critique of New Deal policy.

1. Distribute copies of the political cartoon “Reach the White House” (Handout 4) to students.
   
2. As they analyze the cartoon, students should respond to the following questions:
   
   1. Identify how the cartoonist portrayed the following: Franklin Roosevelt, Huey Long, the Republican Party, the dark horse candidate.
      
   2. What message was the cartoonist attempting to convey?
      
   3. Who was the cartoonist’s target audience?
      
   4. How effective do you believe the cartoonist was in getting his or her message across to voters?
      
   5. Did this cartoon accurately portray the upcoming 1936 presidential election campaign scenario? Explain.
      
3. Develop a “Reach the White House” board game type political cartoon of another presidential contest in American history that similarly addresses the salient themes, issues, and candidates in that particular race.
   

III. Applying

Try-Left Brain: Campaign Memo
The road to the White House is indeed a winding one, with many hills, valleys, and potholes. Campaign organizers are great students of history, studying the triumphs and mistakes of their predecessors. One of the campaign strategies adopted by the Democrats during the 1932 contest involved the use of campaign advertising on automobiles. Students can often learn more about the complexity of a campaign by analyzing candidate/campaign memos, letters, and diaries. Such data are often more elucidating, due to the private and more candid nature of the medium, than documents or materials originally intended for public consumption (e.g., posters, platforms, pamphlets, speeches).

1. Distribute copies of the Democratic National Committee memo from the 1932 campaign (Handout 5).
2. Students should examine the document and then respond to the following questions:
   
   1. What message was the Democratic National Committee attempting to deliver to the electorate with this strategy?
      
   2. Given the means of dissemination, what segment of the population did this strategy target?
      
   3. How effective do you believe this campaign strategy was? Explain.
      
   4. What other campaign message and means of dissemination do you think might have been more effective? Explain.

Extend-Right Brain: Campaign Broadside
New issues seemed to arise during the 1940 presidential election campaign. Although the economic crisis facing the nation was still very real for millions of Americans, there was now a war being waged abroad that occupied the attention of Americans, many of whom wondered how long the United States would be able to remain on the sidelines of this global conflict. As if these two domestic and global crises were not enough for the electorate to concern themselves with, yet another issue manifested itself during the campaign, whether FDR should run for an unprecedented third term. Unlike the health concerns surrounding FDR’s 1932 campaign, the third term issue was a topic of heated public debate. The 1940 Republican National Committee broadside “A Third Term?” perhaps best summed up the position of many Republicans—and even some Democrats—who vehemently opposed a third term of office for any chief executive.

1. Prepare a PowerPoint slide, transparency, or copies of the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) 1940 broadside “A Third Term?” (Handout 6) for students to examine.
   
2. After analyzing the broadside, students should respond to the following questions:
   
   1. Who were the Republicans attempting to target with this broadside?
      
   2. What were the Republicans attempting to convey in their selection of proponents of a third term?
      
   3. What were the Republicans attempting to convey in their selection of opponents of a third term?
      
   4. Do you believe the Republicans were effective in winning over many voters on this particular issue?
      
   5. If you were a voter in 1940, would this broadside have influenced your decision on whether or not to vote for FDR? Explain.
      
3. Finally, ask students to assume the role of a Democratic National Campaign Committee member given the responsibility of creating a broadside to address this issue and counter the RNC’s campaign. Working in groups or individually, have the students design the broadside and provide a written or oral rationale for the campaign strategy they choose.

IV. Creating

Refine-Left Brain: Election Results Statistics
Although the issues and events surrounding the presidential election campaigns of 1932, 1936, and 1940 were of tremendous historical importance, from a political perspective the three elections lacked the drama and suspense of late-nineteenth-century contests. Even though these elections all resulted in landslide victories for FDR, there are still a number of demographic and longitudinal lessons students can learn from analyzing the popular and electoral voting results of each depression-era presidential contest.

1. Distribute copies of the popular and electoral returns from the 1932, 1936, and 1940 presidential elections (Handout 7) to students.
   
2. Students should respond to the following questions:
   
   1. From the popular vote returns for each election, what can you determine about Roosevelt’s overall popularity?
      
   2. Why was FDR’s percentage of the popular vote highest in 1936?
      
   3. Why was FDR’s percentage of the popular vote lowest in 1940?
      
   4. What can you determine, from the popular and electoral vote returns for each election, about FDR’s regional appeal?
      
   5. What accounts for any difference in FDR’s regional popularity?
      
3. Place students in cooperative learning groups and have them work on the following activities:
   
   1. Develop a chart that compares and contrasts the issues and concerns that had the greatest impact on the election returns for each of the three presidential contests.
      
   2. Create a map for each election that illustrates FDR’s regions of greatest support, as well as those regions in which the Republican presidential candidates appeared more popular.
      
   3. Then, as a class, identify certain demographic categories or factors that might have influenced a voter’s decision to cast a ballot for or against FDR (e.g., religion, wealth, unemployment, agricultural and industrial concentration, rural and urban composition).
      
   4. Once these categories have been identified, have each group create overlays that illustrate each of the specific demographics they identified earlier for each of these three critical periods in the nation’s history.
      
   5. Finally, students should interpret the data they have compiled to determine if there is any correlation between the election results and the given demographic categories they have identified.

Integrate-Right Brain: Campaign Posters
Perhaps the most identifiable and memorable contribution presidential election campaigns make to our political, historical, and collective consciousness is the resulting campaign posters. The depression-era presidential contests were certainly no exception, contributing a plethora of campaign posters to add to those already stored away forever in the Smithsonian and our schemata. These campaign relics represent ideal pedagogical tools that allow students to utilize their historical thinking skills of interpretation and analysis. The result of this process is the integration of all the previous activities outlined in this teaching unit. One of the best ways for students to accomplish this is to compare and contrast the themes and issues the Republican National Committee chose to address in their political posters from the 1932, 1936, and 1940 campaigns. This illustrates not only the evolution of the Republican strategy and critique of FDR, but also the evolving nature of the public’s perception of the Great Depression and New Deal.

1. Distribute copies, prepare PowerPoint slides, or create transparencies of each of the three Republican party campaign posters (Handout 8) from the presidential election campaigns of 1932, 1936, and 1940.
   
2. As they analyze each campaign poster, students should respond to the following questions:
   
   1. What issue(s) did the Republicans target in each of the three election campaigns?
      
   2. Which issue(s) from each of these three periods did the Republicans not address in these particular posters? Why do you believe these issues were omitted from the posters?
      
   3. Explain how and why the focus of their campaigns, as illustrated by these posters, changed from one election to another.
      
   4. Which of these campaign posters do you believe was most effective and why?
      
   5. Which of these campaign posters do you believe was least effective and why?
      
3. Ask students to assume the role of a Republican National Committee staff member in charge of creating a new campaign poster for one of the three depression-era presidential elections. Have students design a poster for any one of the three campaigns, highlighting a specific theme not addressed in the example provided. Finally, students should prepare a written or oral rationale for the posters they designed.

Endnotes

1. National Center for History in the Schools, National Standards for History, basic ed. (Los Angeles: National Center for History in the Schools, 1996), 116.

2. Ibid.

3. Charlotte Crabtree, et al., eds., Lessons from History: Essential Understandings and Historical Perspectives Students Should Acquire (Los Angeles: National Center for History in the Schools, 1992), 156-57.

4. Bernice McCarthy and Susan Morris, The 4MAT CourseBook, vol. 1 (Barrington, IL: Excel, 1994), 7.

Selected Bibliography

Boller, Paul F., Jr. Presidential Campaigns. Rev. ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Cantu, D. Antonio. Presidential Elections: 1789-1996. Carlisle, MA.: Discovery Enterprises, 1998.

Crabtree, Charlotte, et al., eds. Lessons from History: Essential Understandings and Historical Perspectives Students Should Acquire. Los Angeles: National Center for History in the Schools, 1992.

Durant, John, and Alice Durant. Pictorial History of American Presidents. 2d rev. ed. New York: A. S. Barnes and Company, 1962.

Goldinger, Carolyn, ed. Presidential Elections Since 1789. 5th ed. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1991.

Johnson, Donald Bruce. National Party Platforms. Volume 1, 1840-1956. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978.

McCarthy, Bernice, and Susan Morris. The 4MAT CourseBook. Volume 1. Barrington, IL: Excel, 1994.

Melder, Keith. Hail to the Candidate: Presidential Campaigns from Banners to Broadcasts. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992.

National Center for History in the Schools. National Standards for History. Basic ed. Los Angeles: National Center for History in the Schools, 1996.

Nelson, Michael, ed. Historic Documents on Presidential Elections: 1787-1988. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1991.

Peel, Roy V., and Thomas C. Donnelly. The 1932 Campaign: An Analysis. New York: Da Capo Press, 1973.

Petersen, Svend. A Statistical History of the American Presidential Elections. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1981.

Post, Robert C., ed. Every Four Years: The American Presidency. New York: W. W. Norton, 1980.

Ragsdale, Lyn. Vital Statistics on the Presidency: Washington to Clinton. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1996.

Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr., ed. Running for President: The Candidates and Their Images. Volume 2, 1900-1992. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994.

Silber, Irwin. Songs America Voted By. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1988.

Smallwood, Frank. The Other Candidates: Third Parties in Presidential Elections. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1983.

Southwick, Leslie H. Presidential Also-Rans and Running Mates, 1788 through 1996. 2d ed. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, 1998.

Thomas, G. Scott. The Pursuit of the White House: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics and History. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987.

Troy, Gil. See How They Ran: The Changing Role of the Presidential Candidate. Rev. ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996.

D. Antonio Cantu, a former high school history teacher, is an assistant professor of history at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, where he teaches American history and secondary social studies methods. He is editor of the International Journal of Social Education and author of Presidential Elections: 1789-1996 (1998).