| Wendell Willkie | |
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| Election date November 5, 1940 |
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| Running mate | Charles L. McNary |
| Opponent(s) | Franklin D. Roosevelt (D). The United States presidential election of 1940 was fought in the shadow of World War II as the United States was emerging from the Great Depression. Events 1499 - Publication of the Catholicon in Treguier ( Brittany) Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Charles Linza McNary (June 12 1874 &ndash February 25 1944 was a U The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. |
| Incumbent | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Alf Landon |
| Succeeded by | Thomas E. Dewey |
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| Born | February 18, 1892 Elwood, Indiana |
| Died | October 8, 1944 New York, New York |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Edith Willkie |
| Alma mater | Indiana University |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Episcopalian |
Wendell Lewis Willkie (February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was a corporate lawyer in the United States and the Republican Party (GOP) nominee for the 1940 presidential election, despite having never held a prior elected political office. Alfred "Alf" Mossman Landon ( September 9, 1887 – October 12, 1987) was an American Republican Politician Thomas Edmund Dewey ( March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was the Governor of New York (1943-1955 and the unsuccessful Republican Events 3102 BC - Epoch (origin of the Kali Yuga. 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II Holy Year 1892 ( MDCCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Elwood is a city in Madison County, Indiana, United States. It is part of the Anderson Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. Events 314 - Roman Emperor Licinius is defeated by his colleague Constantine I at the Battle of Cibalae, and loses Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The City of New York Alma mater is Latin for "nourishing mother" It was used in Ancient Rome as a title for the mother Goddess, and in Medieval Indiana University, founded in 1820, is a nine-campus University system in the state of Indiana. A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law as an attorney, Counsel or Solicitor; a person Events 3102 BC - Epoch (origin of the Kali Yuga. 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II Holy Year 1892 ( MDCCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Events 314 - Roman Emperor Licinius is defeated by his colleague Constantine I at the Battle of Cibalae, and loses Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The United States presidential election of 1940 was fought in the shadow of World War II as the United States was emerging from the Great Depression.
Although Willkie in 1940 received more votes than any previous GOP candidate (22. 3 million votes), he lost to Franklin D. Roosevelt in an Electoral College landslide: 449 to 82, carrying ten states. An electoral college is a set of many electors who are empowered to elect a candidate to a particular Office.
Contents |
Early life
Education and early career
Born Lewis Wendell Willkie in Elwood, Indiana, he was the son of Herman Willkie, a German immigrant, and Henrietta Tisch. Elwood is a city in Madison County, Indiana, United States. It is part of the Anderson Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. His parents were lawyers in Elwood, and Henrietta was one of the first women to be admitted to the bar in Indiana. Although his first name was Lewis, at home and among friends in Elwood he was called by his middle name, Wendell. When an Army error in 1917 transposed his first and middle names, Willkie did not correct it as he preferred the new version; he would thereafter spell his name as Wendell Lewis Willkie.
Willkie was raised in Elwood and attended Elwood High School. He was a graduate of Indiana University, where he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Indiana University is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. After teaching history for one year at the high school in Coffeyville, Kansas, he entered the Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington. Coffeyville is a City situated along the Verdigris River in the southeastern part of Montgomery County, located in Southeast Kansas The Indiana University School of Law — Bloomington is a Law school located in Bloomington, Indiana. After serving in the U. S. Army in World War I, Willkie moved to Akron, Ohio, where he worked as a corporate lawyer for the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Akron is a city in the US state of Ohio and the County seat of Summit County. The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company was founded by Harvey Firestone in 1900 to supply pneumatic tires for wagons buggies and other forms of wheeled transportation In Akron he also quickly gained status in the local Democratic Party, and he was a delegate to the 1924 Democratic National Convention. The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. In 1919 Willkie married Edith Wilk (no relation), a librarian from Rushville, Indiana. A librarian is an information Professional trained in Library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials Rushville is a city in Rushville Township, Rush County, Indiana, United States. They had one son, Philip.
Business and politics
In 1929, Willkie became a legal counsel for the New York-based Commonwealth & Southern Corporation, the nation's largest electric utility holding company. The City of New York An electric utility is a company (often a Public utility) that engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale A holding company is a company that owns part all or a majority of other companies' outstanding Stock. Commonwealth & Southern provided electrical power to customers in eleven states. He rapidly rose through the ranks and became company president in 1933. Willkie was a delegate to the 1932 Democratic National Convention. The 1932 Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago Illinois from June 27 - July 2, 1932. He initially backed former Cleveland mayor and United States Secretary of War Newton D. Baker for the presidential nomination, but once Franklin Roosevelt captured the nomination, Willkie supported him and contributed money to his campaign. Cleveland is a City in the US state of Ohio and the County seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington 's administration Newton Diehl Baker Jr ( December 3, 1871 &ndash December 25, 1937) was an American Politician of the United States He was enthusiastic to help the country out of the Great Depression.
In 1933, President Roosevelt proposed legislation creating the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a government agency with far-reaching influence that promised to bring flood control and cheap electricity to the extremely poor Tennessee Valley. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA is a federally owned Corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide Flood control is a feature of many communication protocols designed to prevent overwhelming of a destination receiver The Tennessee Valley is the Drainage basin of the Tennessee River and is largely within the U However, the TVA would compete with existing private power companies in the area, including Commonwealth & Southern. This prompted Willkie to become an active critic of the TVA, as well as other New Deal agencies that directly competed with private corporations. The New Deal was the name that United States President Franklin D Willkie's argument was that government-controlled organizations (such as the TVA) had unfair advantages over private competitors, in that they did not have to make a profit and could thus charge cheaper rates than private corporations like the Commonwealth & Southern. This was not a new idea for Willkie - in 1930 he had stated publicly that it would be unconstitutional for the federal government to enter the utility business. In April 1933, Willkie testified against the TVA legislation before the House of Representatives. The United States House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. His testimony convinced the House to limit the TVA's ability to build transmission lines that would compete with existing private utility companies, including Commonwealth & Southern.
President Roosevelt, however, persuaded the Senate to remove those restrictions and the resulting law gave the TVA extremely broad power. Because the government-run TVA could borrow unlimited funds at low interest rates, Willkie's Commonwealth & Southern was unable to compete, and Willkie was forced to sell C & S properties in the Tennessee Valley to the TVA in 1939 for $78. 6 million. Willkie formally switched political parties in 1939 and began making speeches in opposition to the New Deal. However, Willkie did not condemn all New Deal programs, and he supported those programs that he felt could not be run better by private enterprise. His objection was that the government had unfair advantages over private businesses, and thus should avoid competing directly against them. In 1939 Willkie made a highly-publicized appearance on the popular "Town Hall" nationwide radio program, where he argued the merits of the private-enterprise system with Robert Jackson, President Roosevelt's Solicitor General and a possible candidate for the 1940 Democratic presidential nomination. Robert Jackson may refer to Robert Jackson (basketball player (b The United States Solicitor General is the individual appointed to argue for the Government of the United States in front of the Supreme Court of the United States Most observers felt that Willkie won the debate, and many liberal Republicans began - for the first time - to view him as a dark horse presidential candidate. This article describes dark horse candidates For other uses see Dark Horse.
1940 presidential election
Republican primaries
The 1940 presidential campaign was conducted against the backdrop of the Second World War. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Although the United States was still neutral, the nation - and especially the Republican Party - was deeply divided between isolationists, or those who felt the nation should avoid helping any of the warring powers and not take any steps that could lead America into the war, and interventionists, who felt that America's survival depended upon helping the British and other allied powers defeat Nazi Germany. Isolationism is a Foreign policy which combines a non-interventionist military policy and a political policy of Economic nationalism ( Protectionism The three leading candidates for the 1940 Republican nomination were Senators Robert Taft of Ohio and Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan, and Thomas E. Dewey, the "gangbusting" District Attorney from Manhattan. Robert Alphonso Taft ( September 8, 1889 - July 31, 1953) of the Taft political family of Ohio, was a Republican Ohio ( is a Midwestern state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads Arthur Hendrick Vandenberg ( March 22 1884 &ndash April 18 1951) was a Republican Senator from the U Michigan ( is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. Thomas Edmund Dewey ( March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was the Governor of New York (1943-1955 and the unsuccessful Republican A district attorney (DA is in some US jurisdictions the title of the local public official who represents the government in the prosecution of alleged criminals Manhattan Island, in New York Harbor, is much the largest part of the Borough of Manhattan, one of the Five Boroughs which form the City of New York All three men had campaigned vigorously, but only 300 of the 1,000 convention delegates had been pledged to a candidate by the time the Republican National Convention opened. The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. This left an opening for a dark horse candidate to emerge. This article describes dark horse candidates For other uses see Dark Horse.
Willkie seemed an unlikely candidate as he was a former Democrat and a Wall Street-based industrialist who had never before run for public office. Wall Street is a street in lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. He had received backing from media magnates; key Willkie supporters were Ogden Reid of the New York Herald Tribune, Roy Howard of the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain and John and Gardner Cowles, publishers of the Minneapolis Star and the Minneapolis Tribune, as well as the Des Moines Register and Look magazine. Ogden Rogers Reid (born June 24, 1925) was a United States Representative from New York. The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald. Willkie's supporters established a national grassroots network, but his popularity was thinly spread, with a May 8 Gallup poll showing Dewey at 67% support among Republicans, followed by Vandenberg and Taft, with Willkie at a mere 3%. The Gallup Poll is the division of Gallup that regularly conducts public Opinion polls in the United States and more than 140 countries around the world
Willkie did try to appeal to the powerful isolationist wing of the Republican Party by saying, "No man has the right to use the great powers of the Presidency to lead the people, indirectly, into war", The next day newspaper headlines blared, "MUST AVOID WAR, WILLKIE DECLARES. " However, Willkie's greatest support came from the GOP's internationalist wing, which felt that America needed to provide all aid to the Allied forces short of war. Willkie consistently spoke of the need to aid the British in their fight against Germany; this made a direct contrast with the other leading Republican candidates, who were isolationists.
While Taft stressed that America needed to prevent the New Deal from using the international crisis to extend socialism at home, the Nazis' rapid blitz into France shook public opinion. Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution In New York, Republican Congressman Hamilton Fish III warned Roosevelt was making the world vulnerable to international communism by becoming Winston Churchill's willing accomplice to lead the nation to war against Germany to save the British Empire. See Hamilton Fish (disambiguation for others with the same name Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC, PC (Can ( 30 November 1874 Fish denied being an isolationist, saying he was a non-interventionist who wanted negotiated settlements of disputes rather than American involvement in foreign wars. Nevertheless, sympathy for the embattled British was mounting. By mid-June, little over one week before the convention opened, Gallup reported Willkie had surged to second place with 17%, and that Dewey was slipping. Willkie was stumping the country getting the votes of liberal and East Coast Republicans who were concerned about the Nazis' conquest of western Europe. As the convention delegates were arriving at Philadelphia, Gallup reported Willkie had moved up to 29%, Dewey had slipped 5 more points to 47%, and Taft, Vandenberg and Hoover trailed at 8%, 8%, and 6% respectively. With the surrender of France to Germany on June 25, 1940, and the belief that Britain was under imminent threat of a Nazi invasion, the 1940 Republican Convention opened in an atmosphere of great excitement and national stress; this is believed to have boosted Willkie's chances even further.
Republican nomination
Hundreds of thousands, perhaps as many as one million, telegrams urging support for Willkie poured in, many from "Willkie Clubs" that had sprung up across the country. Millions more signed petitions circulating everywhere. At the convention itself Governor Harold Stassen of Minnesota, the keynote speaker, announced for Willkie and became his official floor manager. Harold Edward Stassen ( April 13, 1907 March 4, 2001) was the 25th Governor of Minnesota from 1939 to 1943 and a later Perennial Minnesota ( Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers Hundreds of vocal Willkie supporters packed the upper galleries of the convention hall. Willkie's amateur status and fresh face appealed to delegates as well as voters. The delegations were selected not by primaries but by party leaders in each state, and they had a keen sense of the fast changing pulse of public opinion. Gallup found the same thing in data not reported until after the convention: Willkie had pulled ahead among Republican voters by 44% to only 29% for the collapsing Dewey. On the first ballot Dewey was in the lead, but far short of a majority; Taft was in second place and Willkie was a surprisingly strong third. On the second and third ballots Dewey's support dwindled, as it did his delegates went to either Taft or Willkie, with most favoring Willkie. Meanwhile, Willkie's supporters in the galleries kept yelling "We Want Willkie" over and over, adding to the excitement and pro-Willkie momentum. By the fourth ballot Willkie had surged into first place, with Taft close behind; the other candidates began to drop out in favor of the two frontrunners. As the delegates belonging to these "favorite son" candidates were released, Willkie steadily gained more of them than Taft. A favorite son (or a favorite daughter) is a political term that can refer to two different types of Politicians A politician whose electoral Finally, on the sixth ballot, Willkie received a majority of the ballots cast and won the nomination. His victory is still considered by most political historians to be one of the most dramatic moments in the history of American presidential conventions.
General election
Willkie left the vice presidential selection to convention chairman Joseph W. Martin, who suggested Senate Minority Leader Charles L. McNary of Oregon. Joseph William Martin Jr ( November 3, 1884 - March 6, 1968) was a Republican Congressman and Speaker of the House The Senate Majority and Minority Leaders (also called Senate Floor Leaders) are two United States Senators who are elected by the party conferences Charles Linza McNary (June 12 1874 &ndash February 25 1944 was a U Oregon ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Despite the fact that McNary had spearheaded a "Stop Willkie" campaign late in the balloting, Willkie selected McNary and he was nominated by acclamation.
Willkie's presidential campaign was centered around three major themes: the alleged inefficiency and corruption of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal programs, Roosevelt's attempt to win an unprecedented third term as President, and the government's alleged lack of military preparedness. The New Deal was the name that United States President Franklin D Willkie claimed that he would keep most of FDR's New Deal welfare and regulatory programs, but that he would make them more efficient and effective, and that he would work more closely with business leaders to end the Great Depression. Roosevelt's attempt to break the "two-term" tradition established by George Washington was also a focus of Willkie's criticism, as Willkie declared that "if one man is indispensable, then none of us is free. George Washington (February 22 1732 December 14 1799 served as the first President of the United States of America (1789&ndash1797 and led the " However, neither of these issues caught the public's attention, and as Willkie's support sagged he turned to criticism of Roosevelt's lack of preparedness in military matters. However, during the campaign Roosevelt shrewdly preempted the military issue by expanding military contracts and instituting a military draft. Although Willkie had initially supported the draft, he reversed his stance when polls showed that opposition to entering another world war was a popular issue for the Republicans. Willkie then began to claim that Roosevelt was secretly planning to take the USA into the European war against Germany, with this claim his campaign managed to regain some of its momentum. [1]
Late in the campaign the Republicans uncovered a series of letters Democratic vice presidential nominee Henry A. Wallace had written to Russian mystic Nicholas Roerich. Henry Agard Wallace (October 7 1888 &ndash November 18 1965 was the thirty-third Vice President of the United States (1941&ndash45 the eleventh Secretary of Nicholas Roerich, ( October 9, 1874 - December 13, 1947) also known as Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh (misspelled surname ( In the letters, Wallace addressed Roerich as "Dear Guru" and signed his name as "G" for Galahad- the name Roerich had assigned Wallace in the faith. A guru (गुरु গুরু is a person who is regarded as having great knowledge wisdom and authority in a certain area and uses it to guide others Wallace assured Roerich he awaited "the breaking of the New Day," when the people of "Northern Shambhalla" (a Buddhist term roughly equivalent to the kingdom of heaven) would create an era of peace and plenty. Wallace also used code words to describe leaders such as Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC, PC (Can ( 30 November 1874 Democratic leaders were fearful that if the letters became public knowledge and Wallace's "eccentric" beliefs and lifestyle were exposed, it would hurt their ticket in the election. In fact, the Republicans threatened to reveal the letters but balked when the Democrats threatened to release information about Wendell Willkie's rumored extramarital affair with the wealthy writer Irita Van Doren. Adultery is the voluntary Sexual intercourse between a married person and another person who is not his or her Spouse, though in many places it is Irita Bradford Van Doren ( March 16, 1891 - December 18, 1966) was an American literary figure and editor of the New York Herald Tribune [2] According to New Deal historian Joseph Lash: "The anti-Roosevelt underground campaign in 1940 was venomous, and (US Secretary of State) Flynn accused the Republicans of conducting the 'most vicious, most shameful campaign since the time of Lincoln'. Much of the abuse centered on Eleanor and the Roosevelt family" (Lash, p. 629). However, the abuse went both ways, as the historian William Manchester noted: "above all, he [Willkie] should never had been subjected to the accusation of Henry Wallace, FDR's new vice-presidential candidate, that Willkie was the Nazis' choice. William Raymond Manchester ( April 1, 1922 &ndash June 1, 2004) was an American Historian and Biographer, notable as the " (Manchester, p. 226)
Defeat
On election day Roosevelt received 27 million votes to Willkie's 22 million, and in the Electoral College, Roosevelt defeated Willkie 449 to 82. Willkie carried ten states: Maine, Vermont, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado. However, Willkie did gain over six million more votes than the GOP's 1936 nominee, Alf Landon, and he ran strong in the rural Midwest, taking 57% of the farm vote. Alfred "Alf" Mossman Landon ( September 9, 1887 – October 12, 1987) was an American Republican Politician Rural areas can be large and isolated (also referred to as "the country" and/or "the countryside over the course of time Roosevelt, meanwhile, carried every city in the nation with a population of more than 400,000, except for Cincinnati. Willkie's popular-vote total would remain the highest for a Republican until Dwight Eisenhower's election in 1952. Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (October 14 1890 – March 28 1969 was President of the United States from 1953 until 1961 and a five-star general
Post-election life
Willkie became one of Roosevelt's most unlikely allies. To the chagrin of many in his party, Willkie called for greater national support for controversial Roosevelt initiatives such as the Lend-Lease Act and embarked on a new campaign against isolationism in America. Lend-Lease (Public Law 77-11 was the name of the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Isolationism is a Foreign policy which combines a non-interventionist military policy and a political policy of Economic nationalism ( Protectionism
Diplomat and author
On July 23, 1941, he urged unlimited aid to the United Kingdom in its struggle against Nazi Germany. Events 1632 - Three hundred colonists bound for New France depart from Dieppe France. Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. That same year he traveled to Britain and the Middle East as Roosevelt's personal representative, and in 1942 visited the USSR and China in the same capacity. The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National In 1943, Willkie wrote One World, a plea for international peacekeeping after the war. One World is a travelogue written by Wendell Willkie and originally published in 1943. Extremely popular, millions of copies of the book sold. In 1941, Willkie helped to establish Freedom House together with Eleanor Roosevelt. Freedom House is a United States -based international Non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on Democracy, political Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (ˈɛlɪnɔr ˈroʊzəvɛlt October 11 1884 &ndash November 7 1962
Anti-racism activist
Willkie spoke often of the need to end racism in America, and addressed a convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1942, one of the most prominent whites ever to do so at the time. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is one of the oldest and most influential Civil rights organizations When a violent race riot broke out in Detroit on June 20, 1943, Willkie went on national radio to criticize Republicans and Democrats both for ignoring "the Negro question," and to illustrate the similarity between racism and Fascism, saying "The desire to deprive some of our citizens of their rights—economic, civic or political—has the same basic motivation as actuates the Fascist mind when it seeks to dominate whole peoples and nations. Events 451 - Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius ' defeats Attila the Hun. Year 1943 ( MCMXLIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. It is essential that we eliminate it at home as well as abroad. " During this time Willkie also worked with Walter White, executive secretary of the NAACP, to try to convince Hollywood to change its portrayal of blacks on film. For the football player of the same name see Walter White (football player.
Relations with Madame Chiang Kai-shek
According to Gardner Cowles, publisher of the Des Moines Register, Willkie's visit to the Republic of China led to a bizarre consequence: Madame Chiang Kai-shek, the hugely ambitious wife of China's ruler, developed the idea that she could seduce and marry Willkie, use China's wealth to help him become president in 1944, and thus become the most powerful woman in the world. The Des Moines Register is the daily morning Newspaper of Des Moines Iowa, in the United States. REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES Soong May-ling or Soong Mei-ling, also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek ( ca 1897 She was the third of six children she was born in Shanghai Cowles claimed that the affair was consummated in China, and that on a visit to the U. S. a few months later, she told him "If Wendell could be elected, then he and I would rule the world. I would rule the Orient and Wendell would rule the western world. " He pointedly did not dismiss the possibility that Willkie, had he been nominated, might have accepted her highly improbable offer on some level. [3]
1944 Republican primaries
In the 1944 presidential election Willkie again sought the Republican nomination, choosing his wife's hometown, Rushville, Indiana, as his campaign headquarters. The United States presidential election of 1944 took place while the United States was preoccupied with fighting World War II. Rushville is a city in Rushville Township, Rush County, Indiana, United States. But his progressive views gained little support due to the rightward shift of the Republican Party, and to GOP resentment over Willkie's support of many of President Roosevelt's initiatives. The key event of Willkie's 1944 campaign was the Wisconsin primary. Wisconsin ( or wɪˈskɑnsɨn (French Ouisconsin) is one of the fifty United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States Willkie was considered a favorite but finished a distant third to his main rival, New York Governor Thomas Dewey, and behind General Douglas MacArthur. Thomas Edmund Dewey ( March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was the Governor of New York (1943-1955 and the unsuccessful Republican General MacArthur redirects here for other meanings see General MacArthur (disambiguation. Following this crushing loss Willkie withdrew from the race. By the time of his sudden death in October 1944 Willkie had not endorsed Dewey or his Democratic opponent, President Roosevelt. Willkie began working with the new Liberal Party of New York to launch a new national party, but his death ended that movement. The Liberal Party of New York is a minor American Political party that has been active only in the state of New York.
Business
In April 1941 Willkie joined the law firm of Miller, Boston & Owen in New York City, and shortly thereafter the firm changed its' name to Willkie, Owen, Otis, Farr & Gallagher (and presently, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP). Founded in 1888, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP is an international Law firm with eight offices in six countries including offices in New York (the flagship
Death
After surviving several heart attacks, Willkie succumbed to heart disease, dying on October 8, 1944, aged 52. Myocardial infarction ( MI or AMI for acute myocardial infarction) also known as a heart attack, occurs when the blood supply Events 314 - Roman Emperor Licinius is defeated by his colleague Constantine I at the Battle of Cibalae, and loses Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. His 1940 running mate, McNary, died six months earlier, the only occasion where both halves of a major party ticket passed away during the term for which they sought election. Shortly before Willkie died, he told a friend, that if he could write his own epitaph and had to choose between "here lies a president" or "here lies one who contributed to saving freedom", he would prefer the latter.
Eleanor Roosevelt in her October 12, 1944 My Day column eulogized Willkie as a "man of courage. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (ˈɛlɪnɔr ˈroʊzəvɛlt October 11 1884 &ndash November 7 1962 Events 539 BC - The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon. Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. . . (whose) outspoken opinions on race relations were among his great contributions to the thinking of the world. " She concluded, "Americans tend to forget the names of the men who lost their bid for the presidency. Willkie proved the exception to this rule. "
Willkie is buried in East Hill Cemetery, Rushville, Indiana. Rushville is a city in Rushville Township, Rush County, Indiana, United States. In honor of his brief time practicing law in Akron as well as his national reputation, the Bar of the Summit County Courthouse erected a brass bas relief which is prominently displayed in the main hall.
Legacies
Willkie's name was prominently mentioned by keynote speaker and Democratic Senator Zell Miller at the 2004 Republican National Convention. Zell Bryan Miller (born February 24 1932 is an American Politician from the U The 2004 Republican National Convention, the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States, took place from August Miller praised Willkie as a politician who embodied a non-partisan spirit of co-operation during wartime and praised his support of President Roosevelt's creation of a military draft. In Political science, nonpartisan denotes an Election, event or organization in which the participants declare or do not formally have a Political party He compared John Kerry negatively and blasted the senator for being critical of President Bush's foreign policy. } John Forbes Kerry (born December 11 1943 is an American Politician who is currently serving his fourth term as the junior United States Senator Miller did not note, however, that Willkie had been a Democrat for the majority of his adult life and had supported FDR in 1932 and 1936.
State of the Union, a play by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse, filmed by Frank Capra in 1948, was reportedly loosely inspired by Willkie and the role played in his campaign by his mistress Irita Bradford Van Doren. State of the Union is a 1948 film adaptation written by Myles Connolly and Anthony Veiller of the Russel Crouse, Howard Howard Lindsay ( March 29, 1889 - February 11, 1968) was a Broadway producer, Playwright, Librettist Russel Crouse ( February 20, 1893 – April 3, 1966) was a US Frank Russell Capra ( May 18, 1897 &ndash September 3, 1991) was an Academy Award winning Italian-American Film Irita Bradford Van Doren ( March 16, 1891 - December 18, 1966) was an American literary figure and editor of the New York Herald Tribune
Willkie was also featured as a character in Philip Roth's counterfactual history novel, The Plot Against America, in which Willkie opposes Charles Lindbergh in the 1940 presidential election. Philip Milton Roth (born March 19, 1933, Newark New Jersey) is an American novelist Counterfactual history, also sometimes referred to as virtual history, is a recent form of Historiography which attempts to answer "what if" questions The Plot Against America A Novel (ISBN 0-618-50928-3 is a novel by Philip Roth published in 2004 WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout
A large dorm complex at Indiana University is named after him, and for several decades was home to the Willkie Co-op, an experimental housing cooperative that emphasized student operation of dormitory service. Dormitory typically refers in the United States to residence halls which are sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for Indiana University, founded in 1820, is a nine-campus University system in the state of Indiana. A housing cooperative is a legal entity—usually a Corporation —that owns Real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings
In a humorous reference in the Bugs Bunny animated cartoon Falling Hare, Bugs is pestered by a gremlin while trying to fly a World War II bomber. Clyde Rabbit (uncleMrs Bugs Bunny (wifePapa Bunny (fatherMama Bunny (motherRugs Bunny An animated cartoon is a short hand-drawn (or made with computers to look similar to something hand-drawn Film for the cinema, Television or computer Falling Hare is a 1943 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Robert Clampett, starring Bugs Bunny. A gremlin is a folkloric creature commonly depicted as mischievous and mechanically oriented with a specific interest in Aircraft. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including When Bugs realizes what the gremlin is, he timidly asks, "Could it be a - [whispering] gremlin?" In a foreign accent, the gremlin shouts in Bugs' ear, "It ain't Vendell Villkie!" This recalls an incident at the 1940 Republican National Convention when the head of a state delegation from the Midwest announced "two votes for Villkie" in a Scandinavian accent. Terminology and usage As a cultural term "Scandinavia" has no official definition and is subject to usage by those who identify with the culture in question as well This sound bite, broadcast on nationwide radio, enjoyed a brief vogue as a humorous catchphrase. A sound bite is an audiolinguistic and social communications phenomenon whose nature was recognized in the late 20th century helped by people such as Marshall McLuhan.
In an alternative history novel by S.M. Stirling Marching Through Georgia it is mentioned that Roosevelt retired after his second term and Willkie became his successor as President. Stephen Michael Stirling is a French -born Canadian - American Science fiction and Fantasy author Marching Through Georgia is the first of four books of SM Stirling's Alternate history series The Domination.
A Liberty ship, laid down November 8, 1944 just one month after his death and commissioned December 9, 1944, was christened the SS Wendell L. History and service In 1936 the American Merchant Marine Act was passed to subsidize the annual construction of 50 commercial merchant vessels to be used in wartime by Events 1519 - Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with great a Celebration Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 536 - Byzantine General Belisarius enters Rome while the Ostrogothic garrison peacefully leaves the city Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Wilkie. It served with the United States Maritime Commission until scrapped in 1970. The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the US Federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, passed by Congress Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
Electoral history
References
- ^ NPS archive
- ^ The religion of Henry A. Wallace, U.S. Vice-President
- ^ Buzzle.com
- ^ Our Campaigns - US President - R Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1940
- ^ Our Campaigns - US President - R Convention Race - Jul 24, 1940
- ^ Our Campaigns - US President - R Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1944
Notes
- Roosevelt, Eleanor. My Day, October 12, 1944.
Bibliography
- Kavanagh, Dennis. ed. A Dictionary of Political Biography: Who's Who in Twentieth Century World Politics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998, 505.
- Lash, Joseph. "Eleanor and Franklin". W. W. Norton, New York (1971)
- Barnard, Ellsworth. Wendell Willkie, fighter for freedom (1966)
- Madison, James H. , ed. Wendell Willkie: Hoosier Internationalist. Indiana U. Press, 1992. 184 pp.
- Manchester, William. The Glory and the Dream: A Narrative History of America, 1932-1972. Bantam Books, (1974)
- Neal, Steve. Dark Horse: A Biography of Wendell Willkie (1989)
- Parmet, Herbert S. and Marie B. Hecht. Never Again: A President Runs for a Third Term (1968)
- Peters, Charles. Five Days in Philadelphia: 1940, Wendell Willkie, and the Political Convention That Freed FDR to Win World War II (2006)
Primary sources
- Willkie, Wendell L. An American Program (1944)
- Willkie, Wendell L. One World (1943)
External links
- Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site
- 1940 Time magazine cover (featuring correct spelling of his surname)
- Willkie Farr & Gallagher website
- Academic-style site on Willkie
- Freedom House
- Wendell Willkie at Find A Grave
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Alf Landon |
Republican Party presidential candidate 1940 |
Succeeded by Thomas E. Dewey |
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