NEWLY ELECTED ROOSEVELT ASSASSINATED

What was happening in the run-up to the attempted assassination of Roosevelt in 1933?

The inauguration of Roosevelt took place at a much later date than we were used to in the electoral calendar. He’s elected in November 1932, but instead of taking office in the third week of January, he actually doesn’t take office until early March. The period between the defeat of [incumbent president Herbert Hoover] and the inauguration of FDR is usually referred to as the interregnum. The problem is that FDR was elected largely on a negative note. There’s a period of uncertainty during which the depression gets much, much worse. Unemployment begins to rise again. There’s a banking panic beginning. And on the eve of Roosevelt’s election, it looks as if the whole financial system is going down the drain. The New York Stock Exchange and