The Jobless Party was formed in early 1932. The leader of the party was James R. Cox, a Catholic priest in Pittsburgh. Cox was active in the "Bonus March" on Washington DC and called for federal assistance to the unemployed. On 1/16/1932, Cox addressed a rally of 55,000 people in Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh. He called for a national convention of the unemployed to meet at St. Louis on Labor Day. [New York Times 1/17/1932]

An important step in the creation of the party took place on 2/27/1932 when Cox filed papers in the Allegheny County Court House to pre-empt the use of the name of the "Jobless Party" by any other organization. The papers specifically stated that one aim of the group was the election of Presidential Electors. Similar pre-emption efforts were under way in other states as well. [New York Times 2/28/1932]

The general plans for the national convention were announced on 4/2/1932. Cox stated in his Easter sermon that the convention would meet on 8/17/1932. He expected one million jobless men to attend the convention; each was requested to wear a blue shirt, which would signify who the delegates were. Civic leaders in St. Louis told a New York Times reporter they worried that many of the million unemployed would remain in the city after the convention without a means of returning home. [New York Times 4/3/1932]

An indication of the strength of the party came in a special congressional election on 4/26/1932.

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The Jobless Party was formed in early 1932. The leader of the party was James R. Cox, a Catholic priest in Pittsburgh. Cox was active in the "Bonus March" on Washington DC and called for federal assistance to the unemployed. On 1/16/1932, Cox addressed a rally of 55,000 people in Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh. He called for a national convention of the unemployed to meet at St. Louis on Labor Day. [New York Times 1/17/1932]

An important step in the creation of the party took place on 2/27/1932 when Cox filed papers in the Allegheny County Court House to pre-empt the use of the name of the "Jobless Party" by any other organization. The papers specifically stated that one aim of the group was the election of Presidential Electors. Similar pre-emption efforts were under way in other states as well. [New York Times 2/28/1932]

The general plans for the national convention were announced on 4/2/1932. Cox stated in his Easter sermon that the convention would meet on 8/17/1932. He expected one million jobless men to attend the convention; each was requested to wear a blue shirt, which would signify who the delegates were. Civic leaders in St. Louis told a New York Times reporter they worried that many of the million unemployed would remain in the city after the convention without a means of returning home. [New York Times 4/3/1932]

An indication of the strength of the party came in a special congressional election on 4/26/1932. In a three-way race in the 20th Congressional District, the Republican Party held onto the formerly safe seat with just 44% of the vote. The Jobless nominee garnered 12.8% of the vote. [Michael J. Dubin, United States Congressional Elections 1788-1997, p. 487).

To show how he would work as President to relieve suffering, Cox established Coxtown on 5/29/1932. Cox purchased 36 acres of land for Coxtown and called in the unemployed to build 100 houses. The houses would be strictly for unemployed and destitute families. Cox also created a "Coxtown currency" with which to pay the workers. [New York Times 5/30/1932]

Cox left Pittsburgh for the national convention on 8/14/1932. He drove out from Pittsburgh, followed by 200 other cars. The procession led west through Wheeling and then Ohio, picking up additional delegates along the way. [New York Times 8/15/1932]

The Jobless Party National Convention

The Jobless Party held its national convention on Crevecour Speedway in St. Louis Mo on 8/17/1932. There were 500 delegates present.

On the eve of the convention, William H. Harvey, the nominee of the Liberty Party, met Cox in St. Louis. Delegates were in attendance from both parties, which had discussed a merger to take place during the national convention. Although the two men agreed on the bulk of the proposed platform, neither was amenable to stepping aside for the other to run on the joint party ticket. As a result, the Liberty Party held its national convention separately at Creve Cour Lake, one mile away. [New York Times 8/17/1932]

The "Blue Shirt" convention accomplished all of its business on its first day, so the second day of the convention was cancelled. Cox's 18-point platform was endorsed with little opposition. Austin L. Staley of Pittsburgh placed Cox's name in contention as the nominee, and he was unanimously nominated. Cox had approached V.C. Tisdal of Elk City OK to run for vice president; in the morning of the convention, Tisdal declined to run. However, the events of the convention changed his mind, and by the time the vice presidential discussion came up, he agreed to run. [New York Times 8/18/1932]

The Campaign and Collapse of the Party

During the summer of 1932, Cox continued his campaign, calling for federal assistance to the unemployed, both direct and indirect. In addition to his Jobless Party supporters, the leaders of Pennsylvania's Liberal Party seemed inclined to place him at the head of their slate as well.

Two events caused the collapse of the Jobless Party.

First, the party was appealling to people who were already having trouble meeting their obligations, and the party was continually strapped for cash. On a speaking trip through New Mexico, Cox ran out of money. He and his small party were stranded in a small town for several days until the VP nominee was able to get an airplane sent to return them to Pittsburgh. [New York Times, 9/22/1932]

Second, the Democratic Party wanted to minimize Cox's vote in the election. As the campaign progressed, it became clear that the Democratic nominee, Franklin Roosevelt, was endorsing much of Cox's platform. Democratic leaders, recalling that they lost the U.S. House special election in Pennsylvania due to the presence of the Jobless candidate, worked with Cox to bring him into Roosevelt's campaign. [New York Times 10/20/1932]

Cox officially withdrew from the race on 10/12/1932. His campaign was out of money, and his doctor believed that he was nearing a mental breakdown. [New York Times, 10/13/1932]

On 10/19/1932, the alliance between Roosevelt and Cox was completed. FDR had not publicy stated his opinion of providing early bonuses to World War I veterans, and former President Coolidge had just publicly ridiculed him for not having a position on such an important issue of the day. FDR held a public rally on Forbes Field in Pittsburgh on 10/19, which was attended by Cox and 30,000 others. FDR stated that as soon as the federal budget was balanced, he would support plans for an early distribution of funds to the veterans. [New York Times 10/20/1932]

As a result of Cox's withdrawal from the race before the election, the Jobless Party collapsed. Cox withdrew too late for his name to be removed from the ballot in Pennsylvania, and he received 726 votes in his home state. Fifteen write-in votes from Virginia were the only other votes certified for Cox in the election. Five candidates for the U.S. House appeared on the ballot in the general election of 1932, four of whom were cross-endorsed major party nominees (all of whom were elected). The losing Jobless Party candidate was Donald J. Perry of Pennsylvania's 27th district, who received 802 votes - sixty more than Cox garnered nationwide.

Popular Vote of 1932

Electoral Vote of 1932

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