As the 1932 presidential election approached , Roosevelt increasingly turned his attention to national politics . He established a campaign team led by Howe and Farley and a " brain trust " of policy advisers . With the economy ailing , many Democrats hoped that the 1932 elections would result in the election of the first Democratic president since Woodrow Wilson . Roosevelt 's re-election as governor had established him as the front-runner for the 1932 Democratic presidential nomination . Roosevelt rallied the progressive supporters of the Wilson administration while also appealing to many conservatives , establishing himself as the leading candidate in the South and West . The chief opposition to Roosevelt 's candidacy came from Northeastern conservatives such as Al Smith , the 1928 Democratic presidential nominee . Smith hoped to deny Roosevelt the two-thirds support necessary to win the party 's presidential nomination at the 1932 Democratic National Convention in Chicago , and then emerge as the nominee after multiple rounds of balloting . Roosevelt entered the convention with a delegate lead due to his success in the 1932 Democratic primaries , but most delegates entered the convention unbound to any particular candidate . On the first presidential ballot of the convention , Roosevelt received the votes of more than half but less than two-thirds of the delegates , with Smith finishing in a distant second place . Speaker of the House John Nance Garner , who controlled the votes of Texas and California , threw his support behind Roosevelt after the third ballot , and Roosevelt clinched the nomination on the fourth ballot . With little input from Roosevelt , Garner won the vice presidential nomination . Roosevelt flew in from New York after learning that he had won the nomination , becoming the first major party presidential nominee to accept the nomination in person
1932 Democratic National Convention
1932 Democratic National Convention
Franklin D. Roosevelt