1930's Government and Politics | "What's the Matter with Congress?"

Magazine article

By: Lester J. Dickinson

Date: February 1936

Source: Dickinson, Lester J. "What's the Matter with Congress?" The American Mercury 37, no. 146, February 1936, 129–36.

About the Author: Lester J. Dickinson (1873–1968) was born and raised in Iowa. He served six terms in the House of Representatives (1919–1931) and one term in the Senate (1931–1937). A Republican and strong critic of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (served 1933–1945), Dickinson lost his bid for reelection to the Senate in 1936.

Introduction

Roosevelt entered the White House in a position to appeal to all gradations of the political spectrum. Sensing victory very early in the 1932 campaign, he had kept his program very vague. While he was known to be an active and liberal governor of New York, his aristocratic background and fairly conservative economic views led many...