SOLD FDR: “The Democratic Party is “unequivocally the party of progress and liberal thought.”

In 1924, the Democratic Party was deeply divided, and this was on display at the National Convention. Candidate Alfred E. Smith, New York’s governor, was a Catholic and an opponent of prohibition, and was bitterly opposed by Democrats in the South and West. His opponent, former Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo, a Protestant, defended prohibition and refused to repudiate the Ku Klux Klan, making him unacceptable to Catholics and Jews in the Northeast.

The convention was the longest in American history, going 103 ballots and 17 days before the leaders threw in the towel and the convention settled on a nonentity, former West Virginia Congressman John W. Davis. He was trounced by Coolidge in the general election. This failure caused some serious soul-searching about how the party could place itself in a leadership position again. Leading this reassessment was the party’s 1920 vice presidential nominee, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who took the step of writing to party leaders. He told them that the national party organization was too weak, and made suggestions on how to strengthen it. Even more importantly, he articulated what he saw as the Democratic Party’s core principles.

Typed Letter Signed, two pages, New York, December 5, 1924, to Thomas F. Harwood, cotton mill owner and lawyer from Gonzales, Texas, who had been a delegate to the 1924 National Convention. “A number of acknowledged leaders of our Party have asked my opinion as to what should be done to make the Democracy a stronger and more militant organization nationally. In recent years and in many States we have succeeded in electing Democratic governors. Yet these same States we fail to carry for our presidential candidates. It is fair to reason that the Party organization is far weaker nationally than locally…I take it that we are all agreed on certain fundamental truths: 1. That the National Committee, or its Executive machinery should function every day in every year and not merely in Presidential election years. 2. That the National Committee should be brought into far closer touch with the State organizations. 3. That the executive machinery for year in and year out work should be put on a continuing and business-like financial basis. 4. That publicity for fundamental party policy and for the dissemination of current information should be greatly extended. 5. That party leaders from all sections should meet more frequently in order to exchange views and plan for united party action. Something must be done, and done now to bring home to the voting population the true basis and sound reasons why the Democratic Party is entitled to national confidence as a governing party. There is room for but two parties. The Republican leadership has stood and still stands for conservatism, for the control of the social and economic structure of the nation by a small minority of hand-picked associates. The Democratic Party organization is made more difficult by the fact that it is made up in chief part by men and women who are unwilling to stand still but who often differ as to the methods and lines of progress. Yet we are unequivocally the party of progress and liberal thought. Only by uniting can we win. It is not, I take it, a matter of personalities or candidates, but a matter of principles. If in the next three years we stop wasting time in booming or opposing this man or that for a nomination four years away, and devote ourselves instead to organizing for party principles, for the taking advantage of our opponents errors and omissions, and for presenting our own logical and progressive program, we shall gain the confidence of the country; and find it far easier to choose a representative and successful ticket when the time comes.”

FDR had been a minor figure riding on the renowned Roosevelt name when he was chosen to run for vice president in 1920, and was submerged for years afterwards by his bout with polio. At the Democratic National Convention of 1924, he signaled his interest in returning to politics by making the nominating speech for Al Smith. However, it was this letter, dated just a month after the election, that marked his real reemergence onto the national stage. Its scope, outreach, thoughtful advice and call to principles immediately thrust him into prominence. It gave him stature in his own right, and elevated him to a position as a leader. His activity level within the party dramatically increased, and in 1928 he was elected governor of New York, a post then second only to president of the United States in public exposure and power. Four years later he was president.