Changes

After a sweeping landslide reelection in 1936—losing only Maine and Vermont—Roosevelt stunned the nation, and his party, by calling for legislation to enlarge the Supreme Court by five new members after the court found illegal and unconstitutional many of Roosevelt's first term programs. A firestorm of opposition erupted, led by his own vice president [[John Nance Garner]]. Roosevelt was defeated by an alliance of Republicans and conservative Democrats, who formed a coalition that managed to block nearly all socialist planning. (Only a minimum wage law got through.) Angry with dissenters in his own party, Roosevelt tried to destroy them. In 1938, he actively campaigned against five incumbent conservative Democratic senators; all five senators won re-election.  In 1940, after rejecting DNC chair James Farley as his successor because Farley was [[Catholic]],<ref>John Flynn, ''The Roosevelt Myth'', 1948, p. 179.</ref> Roosevelt broke with tradition and sought a third term as president. The decision was controversial - Democrat Governor [[Strom Thurmond]] supported his third term while his own vice president John Nance Garner quit over the matter while.<ref>https://www.americanheritage.com/content/what-trent-meant</ref>

After a sweeping landslide reelection in 1936—losing only Maine and Vermont—Roosevelt stunned the nation, and his party, by calling for legislation to enlarge the Supreme Court by five new members after the court found illegal and unconstitutional many of Roosevelt's first term programs. A firestorm of opposition erupted, led by his own vice president [[John Nance Garner]]. Roosevelt was defeated by an alliance of Republicans and conservative Democrats, who formed a coalition that managed to block nearly all socialist planning. (Only a minimum wage law got through.) Angry with dissenters in his own party, Roosevelt tried to destroy them. In 1938, he actively campaigned against five incumbent conservative Democratic senators; all five senators won re-election.  In 1940, after rejecting DNC chair James Farley as his successor because Farley was [[Catholic]],<ref>John Flynn, ''The Roosevelt Myth'', 1948, p. 179.</ref> Roosevelt broke with tradition and sought a third term as president. The decision was controversial - Democrat Governor [[Strom Thurmond]] supported his third term while his own vice president John Nance Garner quit over the matter while.<ref>https://www.americanheritage.com/content/what-trent-meant</ref>

 

On the eve of [[World War II]], Roosevelt appointed [[Joseph P. Kennedy]], father of John Kennedy, [[Bobby Kennedy]], and [[Ted Kennedy]] as Ambassador to [[Great Britain]]. Joe Kennedy was a notorious [[anti-Semite]] and [[Nazi]] sympathizer. At the time of the [[Kristallnacht]], the ''New York Times'' reported Kennedy had a solution to the problems of German Jews: ship them all to [[Africa]].<ref>https://www.thedailybeast.com/joe-kennedys-answer-to-the-jewish-question-ship-them-to-africa?ref=home?ref=home</ref>

On the eve of [[World War II]], Roosevelt appointed [[Joseph P. Kennedy]], father of John Kennedy, [[Bobby Kennedy]], and [[Ted Kennedy]] as Ambassador to [[Great Britain]]. Joe Kennedy was a notorious [[anti-Semite]] and [[Nazi]] sympathizer. At the time of the [[Kristallnacht]], the ''New York Times'' reported Kennedy had a solution to the problems of German Jews: ship them all to [[Africa]].<ref>https://www.thedailybeast.com/joe-kennedys-answer-to-the-jewish-question-ship-them-to-africa?ref=home?ref=home</ref>

====FDR's Southern Strategy====

====FDR's Southern Strategy====

To win election, FDR forged a coalition of Northern Democrats and Southern segregationists by placing [[John Nance Garner]] of Texas on the ticket as his running mate. The Democrats won an overwhelming majority in the House, picked up 97 seats, bringing the total to 313. On the Republican side the first African-American in the 20th century, and the first since Reconstruction, Rep. Oscar De Priest was re-elected. The Democratic chairman of the new Congress' Committee on Accounts, Rep. Lindsay Warren, ordered a De Priest staffer and his son to be thrown out of the House's whites-only cafeteria. There was a separate facility for blacks in the basement. De Priest introduced a resolution calling for an investigation. On the House floor, De Priest refuted Warren's claim that African-Americans had always been banned from the restaurant, recalling that he and other black patrons had frequented the House cafeteria. De Priest implored his colleagues to support the resolution, remarking, {{quotebox-float|“If we allow segregation and the denial of constitutional rights under the Dome of the Capitol, where in God’s name will we get them? If we allow this challenge to go without correcting it, it will set an example where people will say Congress itself approves of segregation.”<ref>https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/D/DE-PRIEST,-Oscar-Stanton-(D000263)/</ref>}}  

To win election, FDR forged a coalition of Northern Democrats and Southern segregationists by placing [[John Nance Garner]] of Texas on the ticket as his running mate. The Democrats won an overwhelming majority in the House, picked up 97 seats, bringing the total to 313. On the Republican side the first African-American in the 20th century, and the first since Reconstruction, Rep. Oscar De Priest was re-elected. The Democratic chairman of the new Congress' Committee on Accounts, Rep. Lindsay Warren, ordered a De Priest staffer and his son to be thrown out of the House's whites-only cafeteria. There was a separate facility for blacks in the basement. De Priest introduced a resolution calling for an investigation. On the House floor, De Priest refuted Warren's claim that African-Americans had always been banned from the restaurant, recalling that he and other black patrons had frequented the House cafeteria. De Priest implored his colleagues to support the resolution, remarking, {{quotebox-float|“If we allow segregation and the denial of constitutional rights under the Dome of the Capitol, where in God’s name will we get them? If we allow this challenge to go without correcting it, it will set an example where people will say Congress itself approves of segregation.”<ref>https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/D/DE-PRIEST,-Oscar-Stanton-(D000263)/</ref>}}  

The effort to desegregate the Democrat-controlled House cafeteria was defeated. Civil rights were not on the party agenda. FDR always opposed the federal anti-lynching law as part of FDR's Southern Strategy. Anti-lynching bills were first introduced by Republicans. The Costigan-Wagner Anti-Lynching Bill was introduced in 1934, calling on the Roosevelt administration to take an active role in ending [[lynching]] in the United States. Senators Edward Costigan of Colorado and Robert Wagner of New York sponsored the bill. Under its provisions, any state officer who failed to exercise diligence in protecting a person under their care from a lynch mob or who neglected to arrest persons involved in a lynching, could themselves be subject to federal imprisonment for five years and a $5,000 fine. In 1935 attempts were made to persuade Roosevelt to speak out in support of the bill. However, Roosevelt refused. He argued that the white voters in the South would never forgive him if he supported the bill and he would, therefore, lose the next election.

The effort to desegregate the Democrat-controlled House cafeteria was defeated. Civil rights were not on the party agenda. FDR always opposed the federal anti-lynching law as part of FDR's Southern Strategy. Anti-lynching bills were first introduced by Republicans. The Costigan-Wagner Anti-Lynching Bill was introduced in 1934, calling on the Roosevelt administration to take an active role in ending [[lynching]] in the United States. Senators Edward Costigan of Colorado and Robert Wagner of New York sponsored the bill. Under its provisions, any state officer who failed to exercise diligence in protecting a person under their care from a lynch mob or who neglected to arrest persons involved in a lynching, could themselves be subject to federal imprisonment for five years and a $5,000 fine. In 1935 attempts were made to persuade Roosevelt to speak out in support of the bill. However, Roosevelt refused. He argued that the white voters in the South would never forgive him if he supported the bill and he would, therefore, lose the next election.