United States Presidential Election of 1936

Roosevelt re-elected 523 to 8, carrying 46 states and 60.8 percent of the vote.

Overview

The New Deal's high-water referendum saw FDR lose only Maine and Vermont against Kansas Governor Alf Landon, 523 to 8, with 60.8 percent, a share unsurpassed since. The Literary Digest's straw poll, sampling from phone and car lists, predicted Landon, destroying its credibility and founding modern scientific polling as Gallup called it right. Roosevelt's coalition of labor, cities, and the Solid South seemed unbeatable, though the court-packing fight, recession of 1937, and southern revolt on race immediately tested it.