Richard Norton Smith, who wrote a biography of Herbert Hoover and is writing one on Gerald R. Ford, two of the 9, recalled Hoover’s anger on the ma
Richard Norton Smith, who wrote a biography of Herbert Hoover and is writing one on Gerald R. Ford, two of the 9, recalled Hoover’s anger on the man who beat him, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and their frosty automobile trip to the inauguration in March 1933.
“However the level is Hoover, nevertheless embittered he was over F.D.R.’s unwillingness to cooperate, as he outlined the time period, shared the identical automobile, simply as he had welcomed the Roosevelts for the ritualistic pre-inaugural tea the night time earlier than,” Mr. Smith stated. “They could despise each other, however their private animosity was outweighed by their dedication to the democratic course of.”
The parallel usually cited is when Vice President Al Gore pushed for recounts in Florida in 2000 to beat a slim lead by his Republican opponent, Gov. George W. Bush of Texas. However Mr. Gore was not the incumbent, and President Invoice Clinton didn’t direct the administration to intervene, though it did withhold transition assets from Mr. Bush till the combat was resolved.
“We had been so darn cautious to not use any authorities assets, funds, employees or perhaps a paper clip,” stated Donna Brazile, who was Mr. Gore’s marketing campaign supervisor.
In Florida, Mr. Gore had a believable probability to alter the result of the election, on condition that he was down by solely 327 votes in a single state after the automated machine recount. Mr. Trump, in contrast, is behind by tens of 1000’s of votes in a number of states that must swap, which has by no means occurred on that scale.
“The massive distinction,” Ms. Brazile stated, “is that this appears like a serious P.R. marketing campaign being waged within the courts to sully the voters the place Trump misplaced or underperformed versus shaping a a lot bigger narrative that this election was so-called rigged.”
Reporting was contributed by Michael D. Shear from Wilmington, Del., and Helene Cooper and Alan Rappeport from Washington.