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My Dad came from a very Democrat family. His mom, my grandmother, was actually one of the local campaign leaders in FDR's 1932 campaign. She was quite talented in both vocal and instrumental music and worked tirelessly to get FDR elected.

Dad left home in 1937 at age 18 to find any work he could because while his hometown had always struggled financially, people had managed to get by.

Much to grandma's chagrin, he became a Republican. By 1940, grandma was even more disgusted with FDR than Dad. It had become clear to even the most ardent FDR supporters like her that he wasn't what he was advertised.

FDR got elected in 1932 campaigning against much of Hoover's activism, high taxes and excess spending. Then he proceeded to sell America on the notion that Hoover failed because he had not been bold enough.

Hoover was a thoroughly decent man. He was a self-made multi-millionaire and first came to the public eye by heading up the relief efforts in Europe after World War I. He did the same thing after World War II and probably saved millions from starvation. Yes, his economic policies failed because America had never been faced with an economic downturn of that magnitude, but if any care to check the record, the Depression was much worse after four years of FDR in 1936 by doing more of what Hoover did.