Why was FDR chose for Vice-President in 1920?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Really. He had only been a county executive and Deputy Secretary of the Navy. Deputy Secretary of the Navy!!

[Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey]

Really. He had only been a county executive and Deputy Secretary of the Navy. Deputy Secretary of the Navy!!

Probably because nobody else wanted to take the slot, IDK.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

He was a Roosevelt and with Teddy passing away in 1919, there was likely some hope of him being able to sway Progressives into the Democratic camp.  Keep in mind that Assistant Secretary of the Navy had been a position Teddy had held during his rise to power as well.  The way Washington politics worked back them, the Secretary of the Navy was often someone who was appointed for political reasons rather than ability, while the Assistant Secretary of the Navy was the person who actual ran the Navy.

[Frink]

Really. He had only been a county executive and Deputy Secretary of the Navy. Deputy Secretary of the Navy!!

He was a member of the equivalent of an aristocracy and his family name carried a LOT of weight.

[rob in cal]

In one biography of FDR there is a photo of him walking along a wide street while campaigning in 1920.  Its so weird to see him so young and vibrant, shows how devastating polio was to him.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Really. He had only been a county executive and Deputy Secretary of the Navy. Deputy Secretary of the Navy!!

State Senator, not County Executive. Also, during his time in office, he de facto led Navy Department.

1. His name
2. He was very energetic campaigner
3. He was well-conected

VP candidates selection process was diffrent in those years. Tahe John Kern for example in 1908: he was just a state Senator. Or take Garret Hobart in 1896: another State Senator. Chester Arthur? Did not held an office before. Arthur Sewall? Same.

But all were prominent members of the machine/establishment.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

OK, take another ones:

Lewis Stevenson, a son of Adlai Stevenson I and father of Adial Stevenson II. Never held an elected office, except of being an appointed Illinois Secretary of State, but had a chances of becoming 1924 Democratic Vice Presidential nominee in 1924, due to his connections.

[The Mikado]

The way Washington politics worked back them, the Secretary of the Navy was often someone who was appointed for political reasons rather than ability, while the Assistant Secretary of the Navy was the person who actual ran the Navy.

Stick close to your desk and never go to sea and you all may be Rulers of the Queen's Navee!

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The way Washington politics worked back them, the Secretary of the Navy was often someone who was appointed for political reasons rather than ability, while the Assistant Secretary of the Navy was the person who actual ran the Navy.

Stick close to your desk and never go to sea and you all may be Rulers of the Queen's Navee!

I can hum a fugue of which I've heard the music's din afore, and whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore.

[Bacon King]

FDR was VP nominee because he was (superficially) just like Teddy! NY State politics -> Assistant Secretary of the Navy -> VP!

The way Washington politics worked back them, the Secretary of the Navy was often someone who was appointed for political reasons rather than ability, while the Assistant Secretary of the Navy was the person who actual ran the Navy.

Stick close to your desk and never go to sea and you all may be Rulers of the Queen's Navee!

I can hum a fugue of which I've heard the music's din afore, and whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore.

Crap, that'll be stuck in my head all day now.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Really. He had only been a county executive and Deputy Secretary of the Navy. Deputy Secretary of the Navy!!

State Senator, not County Executive.

As long as we're being pedantic, it was Assistant Secretary of the Navy.  The various junior posts for cabinet officials have succumbed to name rot over the years. originally the title for #2's was Assistant Secretary, but them some departments started to get multiple Assistant Secretaries, and so it was decided to set Under Secretaries over them as the unambiguous #2 in each department.    That wrinkle happened pre-DoD, with Forrestal becoming the first Under Secretary of the Navy in 1940.  In some departments, but not the Navy, these Under Secretaries started to proliferate, so that Deputy Secretary posts were created to be the new #2's.  However, since the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force are essentially just Deputy Secretaries of Defense for the Army, Navy, and Air Force respectively, the military departments have never had Deputy Secretaries, since their deputies are at the same bureaucratic level as the Under Secretaries in the cabinet departments and hence have retained the title Under Secretary.

[J. J.]

NY was, at the time the most populous state in the Union, equivalent to CA today.

[feeblepizza]

Probably for one of two reasons, or both:

New York State, at the time, was the most populous state in the Union and therefore would benefit the Democratic column in terms of Electoral Votes.

Also, the Roosevelt name carried a LOT of weight in 1920 - probably the equivalent of the Clinton name today. He was a member of a popular family that could sway an election (i.e. sway the liberal, or progressive, vote to the Dems).

Hope that answers your question .

[Mechaman]

Probably for one of two reasons, or both:

New York State, at the time, was the most populous state in the Union and therefore would benefit the Democratic column in terms of Electoral Votes.

Also, the Roosevelt name carried a LOT of weight in 1920 - probably the equivalent of the Clinton name today. He was a member of a popular family that could sway an election (i.e. sway the liberal, or progressive, vote to the Dems).

Hope that answers your question .

Considering how much President Wilson pissed off the Irish Catholic and German voters in New York earlier that year it would seem quite self destructive to put Franklin Roosevelt, who at the time was a vocal critic of Tammany Hall, on the ticket.  The Roosevelt name may have been influential, but the influence of Tammany Hall (and other urban machines) over certain demographic groups was a lot stronger.  Wilson already screwed over his party in New York when he blamed German and Irish Americans for the lack of support for the League of Nations.  Appealing to progressives won't do jack sh*t in New York in 1920 when you have already pissed off a significant chunk of your own voting base by blaming them for why (insert x name here) is unpopular.  For every progressive that might've been swayed by the Democratic ticket there would've been 2 to 3 Irish Catholics staying home and 2 Germans voting Republican come election time.

Considering that the Democrats lost New York by seven points in the Election of 1916 (a somewhat better year for the Democrats), the idea that they would've attracted enough voters with FDR on the ticket to possibly win New York makes even less sense.  I mean one of the reasons Wilson survived re-election was because he assured voting bases like German and Irish Americans that he would not get involved in World War I.  The US joining the Allied side in World War I and the League of Nations were the closest thing to metaphorically pissing in those voting bases faces as one could get.  Hell, if they did think like that I'm not surprised they got such an epic ass whooping.

My theory?  The Democrats went out of their way to screw themselves in 1920.  You want to screw up an election as much as possible, just do what these guys did.  Franklin Roosevelt's last name may have been Roosevelt but he was still Franklin Roosevelt, a name that was not popular at all with the boys who ran Tammany Hall or their votes.

Sometimes the conventional thinking on this website just sucks.

[Mechaman]

Really. He had only been a county executive and Deputy Secretary of the Navy. Deputy Secretary of the Navy!!

Probably because nobody else wanted to take the slot, IDK.

I also think this is a very good argument.

[Dr. Cynic]

True, FDR was unpopular with Tammany, however, I believe Cox was looking to expand upstate, at the time, reformist, anti-Tammany and a Roosevelt stronghold. The League was the big issue and the one who really lost the election of 1920 was Woodrow Wilson by pressing Cox and Roosevelt to defend the League.