After Coolidge decided not to run for a second term in office, Hoover became the leading GOP candidate challenged only by Frank Lowden. Hoover quickly left Lowden behind due to a large amount of positive press coverage in the months preceding the GOP convention. When Hoover was named the Republican candidate he selected Senator Charles Curtis as his running mate.
In the general election, Hoover ran against Democratic candidate Alfred E. Smith. Smith was a Roman Catholic and during this period a very anti-Catholic feeling was present in America from many protestant communities. This, along with Hoover’s support of the Volstead Act, a reinforcement of Prohibition, helped Hoover greatly in the election.
Hoover won by a landside:
Hoover – Curtis
Pop. Vote: 21,427,123
Electoral vote: 444
Smith – Robinson
Pop. Vote: 15,015,464
Electoral vote: 87
Hoover lost the election of 1932 because the majority of the public blamed him for the Great Depression.
