Governor of New York, 1929–1932
Roosevelt maintained contacts and mended fences with the Democratic Party during the 1920s, especially in New York. Although he initially had made his name as an opponent of New York City's Tammany Hall machine, Roosevelt moderated his stance against that group as well. He helped Alfred E. Smith win the election for governor of New York in 1922, and in 1924 was even a strong supporter of Smith against his cousin, Republican Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. Roosevelt gave nominating speeches for Smith at the 1924 and 1928 Democratic conventions.
As the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1928 election, Smith in turn asked Roosevelt to run for governor in the state election. Roosevelt was nominated by the Democrats by acclamation. While Smith lost the Presidency in a landslide, and was even defeated in his home state, Roosevelt was narrowly elected governor, by a one-percent margin. As a reform governor, he established a number of new social programs, and was advised by Frances Perkins and Harry Hopkins.
In May 1930, as he began his run for a second term, Roosevelt reiterated his doctrine from the campaign two years before: "that progressive government by its very terms, must be a living and growing thing, that the battle for it is never ending and that if we let up for one single moment or one single year, not merely do we stand still but we fall back in the march of civilization." In this campaign for re-election, Roosevelt needed the good will of the Tammany Hall machine in New York City to succeed; however, his Republican opponent, Charles H. Tuttle, used Roosevelt's connection with Tammany Hall's corruption as an election issue. As the election approached, Roosevelt began preemptive efforts by initiating investigations of the sale of judicial offices. He was directly involved, as he had made a routine short-term court appointment of a Tammany Hall man who was alleged to have paid Tammany $30,000 for the position. His Republican opponent, however, could not overcome the public's criticism of his party for current economic distress, and Roosevelt was elected to a second term by a margin of fourteen percent.
Read more about this topic: Franklin D. Roosevelt
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