How much help they needed. Or how much money local governments could raise.
The situation grew worse. And some Americans began to lose faith in their government completely. They looked to groups with extreme political ideas to provide answers. Some Americans joined the Communist Party. Others helped elect state leaders with extreme political ideas. And in growing numbers, people began to turn to hatred and violence.
However, most Americans remained loyal to traditional values even as conditions grew steadily worse. They looked ahead to nineteen thirty-two, when they would have a chance to vote for a new president.
Leaders of the Democratic Party felt they had an excellent chance to capture the White House in the election. And their hopes increased when the Republicans re-nominated President Hoover and Vice President Charles Curtis in the summer of nineteen thirty-two.
For this reason, competition was fierce for the democratic presidential nomination. The top candidate was Franklin Roosevelt, the governor of New York state.
Roosevelt had been re-elected to that office just two years before by a large vote. He came from a rich and famous family, but was seen as a friend of the common man.