Wendell Willkie

Warning: Page using Template:Infobox person with took more isolationist positions towards the end of the
unknown parameter profession (this message is shown race. Roosevelt won a third term, taking 38 of the 48
only in preview).
states.
After the election, Willkie made two wartime foreign
trips as Roosevelts informal envoy, and as nominal leader
of the Republican Party he gave the president his full
support. This angered many conservatives, especially as
Willkie increasingly advocated liberal or internationalist
causes. Willkie ran for the Republican nomination in
1944, but bowed out after a disastrous showing in the
Wisconsin primary in April. He and Roosevelt discussed
the possibility of forming, after the war, a liberal political
party, but Willkie died in October 1944 before the idea
could bear fruit. Willkie is remembered for giving Roosevelt vital political assistance in 1940, which allowed the
president to aid Britain in its time of crisis.

Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Lewis Wendell Willkie;

February 18, 1892 August 10, 1944) was an American lawyer, corporate executive, and the 1940 Republican
candidate for president. Willkie appealed to many
convention delegates as the Republican elds only
interventionist: although the U.S. remained neutral prior
to Pearl Harbor, he favored greater U.S. involvement in
World War II to support Britain and other Allies. His
Democratic opponent, incumbent President Franklin D.
Roosevelt, won the 1940 election with about 55% of the
popular vote and took the electoral college vote by a wide
margin.
Willkie was born in Indiana in 1892; both his parents
were lawyers, and he also became one. He served in
World War I but was not sent to France until the nal days of the war, and saw no action. Willkie settled in Akron, Ohio, where he was initially employed by
Firestone, but left for a law rm, becoming one of the
leaders of the Akron bar. Much of his work was representing electric utilities and in 1929, Willkie accepted
a job in New York City as counsel for Commonwealth
& Southern Corporation (C&S), a utility holding company. He was rapidly promoted, and became corporate
president in 1933. Roosevelt was sworn in as U.S. president soon after Willkie became head of C&S, and announced plans for a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
that would supply power in competition with C&S. Between 1933 and 1939, Willkie fought against the TVA
before Congress, in the courts, and before the public. He
was ultimately unsuccessful, but sold C&Ss property for
a good price, and gained public esteem.

1 Youth, education and World War

I service

Lewis Wendell Willkie was born in Elwood, Indiana, on

February 18, 1892, the son of Henrietta (Trisch) and Herman Francis Willkie.[1] Both of his parents were lawyers,
his mother being one of the rst women admitted to
the Indiana bar.[2] His father was born in Germany and
his mother was born in Indiana, to German parents; his
grandparents were involved in the unsuccessful 1848 revolutions in Germany. The Trisches initially settled in the
Kansas Territory but because they were abolitionists, they
moved to Indiana after the territory was opened to slavery
in the mid-1850s. Willkie was the fourth of six children,
all intelligent, and he learned skills during the nightly debates around the dinner table that would later serve him
[3]
A longtime Democratic activist, Willkie changed his well.
party registration to Republican in late 1939. He did Although given the rst name Lewis, Willkie was known
not run in the 1940 presidential primaries, but positioned from childhood by his middle name.[4] Herman Willkie,
himself as an acceptable choice for a deadlocked conven- who had come from Prussia with his parents at age four,
tion. He sought backing from uncommitted delegates, was intensely involved in progressive politics, and in 1896
while his supporters, many youthful, enthusiastically pro- he took his sons to a torchlight procession for Democratic
moted his candidacy. As German forces under Hitler presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, who had
rampaged through western Europe in 1940, many Re- come to Elwood during his campaign. The Willkie boys
publicans did not wish to nominate an isolationist like had a sidewalk ght with Republican youths, and though
Thomas E. Dewey, and turned to Willkie, who was nom- the Willkies won their battle, Bryan did not, defeated by
inated on the sixth ballot over Ohio Senator Robert A. former Ohio governor William McKinley. When Bryan
Taft. Willkies support for aid to Britain removed it as ran again in 1900, he stayed overnight at the Willkies
a major factor in his race against Roosevelt, and Willkie home, and the Democratic candidate for president bealso backed the president on a peacetime draft. Both men came the rst political hero for the boy who would later
1

2
seek that oce.[5]
By the time Willkie reached age 14 and Elwood High
School, his parents were concerned about a lack of discipline and a slight stoop, and sent him to Culver Military Academy for a summer in an attempt to correct
both. Willkie began to shine as a student at high school,
inspired by his English teacher; one classmate said that
Philip Pat Bing xed that boy up. He started preaching
to Wendell to get to work and that kid went to town.[6]
Faced with a set of athletic brothersEdward became an
Olympic wrestlerWillkie joined the football team but
had little success; he enjoyed the debate team more, but
was several times disciplined for arguing with teachers.
He was class president during his nal year, and president
of the most prominent fraternity, but resigned from the
latter when a sorority blackballed his girlfriend, Gwyneth
Harry, as the daughter of immigrants.[6]
During Willkies summer vacations from high school, he
worked, often far from home. In 1909, aged 17, his
journey took him from Aberdeen, South Dakota, where
he rose from dishwasher to co-owner of a ophouse, to
Yellowstone National Park, where he was red after losing control of the horses drawing a tourist stagecoach.
Back in Elwood, Herman Willkie was representing striking workers at the local tin plate factory, and in August
he journeyed with Wendell to Chicago in an attempt to
get liberal attorney Clarence Darrow to take over the
representation. They found Darrow willing, but at too
high a price for the union to meet; Darrow told Wendell
Willkie, there is nothing unethical in being adequately
compensated for advocating a cause in which you deeply
believe.[7]

2 LAWYER AND EXECUTIVE (191939)

of war against Germany. An army clerk transposed his
rst two names; with Willkie unwilling to invest the time
to have the bureaucracy correct it, he kept his name as
Wendell Lewis Willkie. Commissioned as a rst lieutenant, Willkie was sent for artillery training, meaning he
did not embark for France until September 1918. In January of that year, he married Edith Wilk, a librarian from
Rushville, Indiana; the couple had one son, Philip. The
war ended before Willkie reached the front, and he spent
his time defending soldiers who had slipped away for time
in Paris against orders. He was recommended for promotion to captain, but was discharged in early 1919 before
the paperwork went through.[2][12]

2 Lawyer and executive (191939)

2.1 Akron attorney and activist

Discharged from the army, Willkie returned to Elwood.

He considered a run for Congress as a Democrat, but was
advised that the district was so Republican he would be
unlikely to keep the seat even if he could win it, and his
chances might be better in a more urban area. Herman
Willkie wanted Wendell and Robert to rejoin the family law rm, but Henrietta was opposed, feeling that opportunities in Elwood were too limited for her sons. She
got her way, and in May 1919 Wendell Willkie successfully applied for a job with the Firestone Tire and Rubber
Company in Akron, Ohio as head of the legal oce that
advised workers on wills and other personal matters. He
was soon bored there, and on the advice of his wife, he
left for a law rm despite an oer from Harvey Firestone
After graduation from Elwood High in January 1910,
[8] to double his salary. Firestone told the departing lawyer
Willkie enrolled at Indiana University in Bloomington.
that he would never amount to anything because he was a
There, he became a student rebel, chewing tobacco, readDemocrat.[13]
ing Marx, and petitioning the faculty to add a course
on socialism to the curriculum.[9] He also involved him- Willkie became active in the Akron Democratic Party,
self in campus politics, successfully managing the cam- becoming prominent enough while still with Firestone
paign of future Indiana governor Paul McNutt for stu- to introduce the Democratic presidential nominee, Ohio
dent oce, but when Willkie ran himself, he was de- Governor James M. Cox, when he came to town during
feated. He graduated in June 1913, and to earn money for the 1920 campaign. He was a delegate to the 1924 Demolaw school, he taught high school history in Coeyville, cratic National Convention, and supported New York
Kansas, coaching debaters and several sports teams. In Governor Al Smith through the record 103 ballots, when
November 1914, he left his job there for one as a lab assis- the nomination fell to former West Virginia congressman
tant in Puerto Rico arranged by his brother Fred. Wendell John W. Davis. More important to Willkie, though, was
Willkie saw workers being badly abused; the experience a ght against the Ku Klux Klan, which had become powerful in much of the nation and in the Democratic Party,
deepened his commitment to social justice.[10]
but he and other delegates were unsuccessful in their atWillkie enrolled at Indiana School of Law in late 1915.
tempt to include a plank in the party platform condemnHe was a top student, and graduated with high honing the Klan. He also backed a proposed plank in support
ors in 1916. At the commencement ceremony, with
of the League of Nations that ultimately failed. In 1925,
the state supreme court present, he gave a provocative
Willkie led a successful eort to oust Klan members on
speech criticizing his school. The faculty withheld his dethe Akron school board.[14]
[11]
gree, but granted it after two days of intense debate.
Willkie joined his parents law rm, but volunteered for After leaving Firestone in 1920, Willkie joined leading
the United States Army on April 2, 1917, the day Presi- Akron law rm Mather & Nesbitt, which represented sevdent Woodrow Wilson asked Congress for a declaration eral local public utilities. Although he quickly gained
a reputation as a leading trial lawyer, he was especially

2.3

TVA battle

noted for presenting utility cases before the Ohio Public Utilities Commission. In 1925, he became president
of the Akron Bar Association. One of Willkies clients,
Ohio Power & Light, was owned by New York-based
Commonwealth & Southern Corporation (C&S), whose
chairman, B.C. Cobb, noticed him. Cobb wrote to the senior partner of Willkies rm, I think he is a comer and
we should keep an eye on him.[15] In 1929, Cobb offered Willkie a salary of $36,000 to be corporate counsel
to C&S, a job which would involve a move to New York,
and Willkie accepted.[15]

2.2

Commonwealth & Southern executive

Wendell and Edith Willkie moved to New York in October 1929, only weeks before the Wall Street Crash of
1929, and found an apartment overlooking Central Park.
Initially intimidated by the size and anonymity of the big
city, Wendell Willkie soon learned to love it. He attended
the Broadway theatre, and read through ten newspapers
each day.[16] Willkie and his wife had little in common,
and grew apart through the 1930s.[17] He acquired a social
life, and met Irita Van Doren, the book review editor of
the New York Herald Tribune who became a friend, and
later his lover.[2] Cultured, brilliant and well connected,
Van Doren introduced him to new books, new ideas, and
new circles of friends. Unlike Van Doren, Willkie was
indiscreet about their relationship, and their aair was
well known to the reporters covering him during his 1940
presidential campaign. None of them printed a word.[18]

3
tion on the fourth ballot. Willkie, although disappointed,
backed Roosevelt, and donated $150 to his successful
campaign.[20]

2.3 TVA battle

Soon after taking oce, President Roosevelt proposed legislation creating the Tennessee Valley Authority
(TVA), a government agency with far-reaching inuence
that promised to bring ood control and cheap electricity to the impoverished Tennessee Valley. However, the
TVA would compete with existing private power companies in the area, including C&S subsidiaries. Willkie
appeared before the House Military Aairs Committee
on April 14, 1933. He approved of the ideas for development of the Tennessee Valley, but felt that the government role should be limited to selling power generated by
dams. Although the House of Representatives passed a
bill limiting the TVAs powers, the Senate took the opposite stance, and the latter position prevailed.[21][22]

At C&S, Willkie rose rapidly under the eye of Cobb, impressing his superiors. Much of his work was outside
New York City; Willkie was brought in to help try important cases or aid in the preparation of major legal briefs.
Cobb, a pioneer in the electricity transmission business,
had presided over the 1929 merger of 165 utilities that
made C&S the largest electric utility holding company in Willkie (right) and David E. Lilienthal
the country. He promoted Willkie over 50 junior executives, designating the younger man as his successor. In Negotiations took place through the remainder of 1933
January 1933, Willkie became president of C&S.[19]
for C&S to sell assets, including a transmission line, to
Willkie maintained his interest in politics, and was a dele- allow the TVA to distribute energy to retail customers,
gate to the 1932 Democratic National Convention. Since leading to an agreement on January 4, 1934.[21] TVA
the incumbent Republican president, Herbert Hoover, head David Lilienthal was impressed by Willkie, who
was widely blamed for the Depression that had followed left him somewhat overwhelmed and pretty badly
the stock market crash, the nominee would have a good scared.[23] C&S agreed to sell some of its properties in
chance of becoming president. The major candidates part of the Tennessee Valley, and the government agreed
were Smith (the 1928 nominee), Smiths successor as that the TVA would not compete with C&S in many arNew Yorks governor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Speaker of eas. In October 1934, holders of securities issued by a
the House John Nance Garner, and former Secretary of C&S subsidiary led suit to block the transfer. Willkie
War Newton D. Baker sought the nomination. Willkie angrily denied that he had prompted the lawsuit, though
backed Baker, and was an assistant oor manager for his plaintis counsel proved later to have been paid by the
campaign. With a two-thirds majority needed to gain Edison Electric Institute, of which Willkie was a board
the Democratic presidential nomination, Willkie and oth- member. Willkie warned that New York capital might
ers tried to deadlock the convention in the hope that it avoid Tennessee if the TVA experiment continued, and
would turn to Baker. Roosevelt was willing to swing when Roosevelt gave a speech in praise of the agency, ishis votes to Baker in the event of a stalemate, but this sued a statement rebutting him. By 1934, Willkie had
did not occur, as Governor Roosevelt gained the nomina- become the spokesman for the private electric power

4
industry.[24]
Amid this tension, Willkie and Roosevelt met for the rst
time, at the White House on December 13, 1934. The
meeting was outwardly cordial, but each man told his own
version of what occurred: the president boasted of having
outtalked Willkie, while the executive sent a soon-to-befamous telegram to his wife: "CHARM OVERRATED ... I
DIDNT TELL HIM WHAT YOU THINK OF HIM"[24] Roosevelt decided that the utility holding companies had to
be broken up, and he stated this in his 1935 State of the
Union address and met with Willkie later in January to
inform him of his intent.[25] In the meantime, the companies did their best to sabotage the TVA; farmers were
told by corporate representatives that lines from the new
Norris Dam could not carry enough power to make a
light bulb glow, and the company ran spite lines that
might not even carry power in an eort to invoke the noncompete agreement over broad areas.[26]

3 1940 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

panies an injunction against the TVA, and negotiations
broke o by Roosevelts order as the litigation continued. Willkie took his case to the people, writing columns
for major publications, and proposing terms for an agreement that The New York Times described as sensible and
realistic.[29] He received favorable press, and many invitations to speak.[30]
The January 1938 Supreme Court ruling in Alabama
Power Co. v. Ickes, resolving the 1934 case, and the lifting of the injunction by an appeals court, sent the parties
back to the negotiating table.[31] Willkie kept the public
pressure on: like most corporate executives, he had not
spoken out against Roosevelts New Deal policies, but in
January stated in a radio debate that anti-utility policies
were depressing share prices, making it hard to attract investment that would help America to recover. For several years now, we have been listening to a bedtime story,
telling us that the men who hold oce in Washington are,
by their very positions, endowed with a special virtue.[32]
The Saturday Evening Post dubbed Willkie the man who
talked back.[32]
Willkie and Lilienthal negotiated for a year, with Willkie
wanting $88 million for C&Ss properties in and around
the Tennessee Valley, and the TVA oering $55 million. After a nal, January 1939, legal defeat for C&S
in the Supreme Court, the pace of the talks quickened,
and on February 1, 1939, C&S sold the assets to the TVA
for $78.6 million. Securities and Exchange Commission
chairman William O. Douglas deemed that Willkie had
outsmarted Lilienthal. Though defeated in the courts,
Willkie had gained national stature for driving a hard bargain for his shareholders,[33] and he was seen by some as
a potential presidential candidate in 1940.[32]

Willkie testies before a congressional committee, 1939

Through 1935, as the breakup legislation wound through

Congress, and litigation through the courts, Willkie was
the industrys chief spokesman and lobbyist. When the
Senate narrowly passed a bill for the breakup, Willkie
made a series of speeches asking the public to oppose
the legislation, and a storm of letters to congressmen
followed. After the House of Representatives defeated
the breakup clause, an investigation proved that many of
these communications were funded by the electric companies, signed with names taken from the telephone book,
though Willkie was not implicated. Amid public anger,
Roosevelt forced Congress to pass a bill requiring the
breakup to take place within three years.[27]
In September 1936, Roosevelt and Willkie met again
at the White House, and a truce followed as both sides
waited to see if Roosevelt would be re-elected over the
Republican, Kansas Governor Alf Landon. Willkie, who
voted for Landon, expected a narrow victory for the Republican, but Roosevelt won an overwhelming landslide
as Landon won only Maine and Vermont.[28] In December, a federal district court judge granted the C&S com-

3 1940 presidential election

Main article: United States presidential election, 1940

3.1 Dark horse candidate

The 1940 presidential campaign was conducted against
the backdrop of World War II. Although the United States
remained neutral, the nationand especially the Republican Partywas deeply divided between isolationists,
who felt the nation should avoid any steps that could lead
America into the war, and interventionists, who felt that
Americas survival depended upon helping the Allies defeat Nazi Germany. The three leading candidates for
the 1940 Republican nomination were all isolationists to
varying degrees: Senators Robert A. Taft of Ohio and
Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan, and Thomas E. Dewey,
the young (38), gangbusting Manhattan District Attorney. Roosevelts popularity had declined since the
1936 landslide, but many still hoped he would run for

3.1

Dark horse candidate

an unprecedented third term. He had long contemplated

one, but made no announcement. Roosevelts decisionmaking on this point is uncertain: as late as April 1940,
he may have been thinking of retirement. If he stepped
aside, possible candidates included Vice President Garner, Secretary of State Cordell Hull and Postmaster General James A. Farley.[34]

Willkie on the cover of Time magazine, July 31, 1939

On the assumption that Roosevelt would not seek a third

term, Willkie had been spoken of as a possible Democratic presidential candidate as early as 1937, but he
raised his stock considerably when on January 3, 1938, he
debated Assistant Attorney General Robert H. Jackson on
the radio show, Town Meeting of the Air. With the topic
of the debate being the cooperation between the public
and private sectors, Willkie came across as a businessman
with a heart, while Jackson appeared to be dull. A stream
of positive press mentions for Willkie continued through
1938 and into 1939, culminating with a favorable cover
story in Time magazine in July 1939.[35] Willkie was initially dismissive of the many letters which he received
urging him to run for president, but he soon changed his
mind. Van Doren thought that Willkie could be president,
and she worked to persuade her contacts. After hosting the Willkies for a weekend, Fortune magazine managing editor Russell Davenport became convinced that
Wendell Willkie had presidential timber; he devoted the
magazines April 1940 issue to Willkie, and later served
as his campaign manager. In that issue, Willkie wrote
an article, We The People: A Foundation for a Political Platform for Recovery, urging both major parties
to omit anti-business policies from their party platforms,

5
protect individual rights, and oppose foreign aggression
while supporting world trade. This piece won him applause and supporters from the press.[36]
Willkie never had any doubt that Roosevelt would run
for a third term, and that his route to the White House
would have to be through the Republican Party.[37] In late
1939 he changed his party registration from Democratic
to Republican, and early in 1940 he announced that he
would accept the Republican nomination if it were offered to him.[38] He blamed his allegiance shift on the
Roosevelt policies that he deemed anti-business.[39] He
had voted for Landon in 1936, he said, and he felt that
the Democrats no longer represented the values which he
advocated. As he later characterized it, I did not leave
my party. My party left me.[40]
The start of the war in September 1939 alarmed many
Americans, but the majority thought the U.S. should not
get involved. Willkie spoke often about the threat to
America and the need to aid Britain and other Allies.
Willkie biographer Steve Neal wrote that the war transformed Willkie from a big-business critic of the New
Deal into a champion of freedom. And it gave his candidacy new purpose.[41] Despite the chatter about Willkie,
there were many who were skeptical about his chances
should he seek the nomination.[42] Kenneth F. Simpson,
Republican National Committeeman from New York,
initially thought the idea of a Willkie run to be silly.[42]
Indiana Senator James Watson stated that he did not mind
if the town whore joined the church, but she should not
lead the choir the rst week.[2] Willkie did not enter the
Republican primaries, placing his hope in a deadlocked
convention. His campaign was composed mostly of political amateurs. New York lawyer Orem Root, Jr. (grandnephew of former Secretary of State Elihu Root) formed
a network of local Willkie Clubs, which attracted a large
membership among Republicans discontented with their
leadership and seeking a new gure who might beat Roosevelt. He especially appealed to liberal, Eastern Establishment Republicans who saw none of the declared candidates to their liking. His rumpled suits, country-style
haircut, and Indiana twang carried reminders of ordinary
midwesterners, something which led to some mocking as
the eorts to nominate him became more obvious: Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes mocked Willkie by saying
that he was a simple, barefoot Wall Street lawyer.[2][43]
Alice Roosevelt Longworth stated that the Willkie campaign came from the grass roots of ten thousand country
clubs.[44]
Although Willkie entered no primaries, this did not
greatly disadvantage him because most of them were
beauty contests serving only to show voter preferences
and not to elect delegates. The primaries were governed
by a complex set of unwritten rules about who would enter
which primary and Taft ran only in his native Ohio, where
Dewey did not enter his name. Most delegates pledged to
support a candidate who had no strong attachment: what
was important to most Republicans was to eld a nominee

3 1940 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

who could beat Roosevelt. The run-up to the June convention in Philadelphia coincided with Hitlers advance
into Western Europe, and delegates had second thoughts
about running an isolationist, let alone a young one without national experience such as Dewey. Willkie, who had
spoken out against isolationism, and who was a successful executive, was an attractive possibility. Willkie made
speeches widely, including one in a tour of New England
that paid o with promises of support, though delegates
might rst support a favorite son candidate for a ballot
or two. Important converts to Willkies cause included
Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen and Massachusetts
Governor Leverett Saltonstall.[45] The move to Willkie
was reected in polls; he went from 3 to 29 percent in
the seven weeks before the convention, while Dewey, the
frontrunner, fell from 67 to 47 percent.[46]

3.2

Convention

For further information on the procedures of American

political conventions, see United States presidential
nominating convention.
The 1940 Republican National Convention opened at the
Philadelphia Civic Center[lower-alpha 1] on June 24, 1940.
As the delegates assembled, they discussed the war, the
candidates, and Roosevelts appointment of two Republican interventionists to his cabinet four days before the
convention. Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War under
President Taft and Secretary of State under Hoover, was
restored to the Secretary of War position, and Landons
1936 running mate, Frank Knox, was appointed Navy
Secretary. The cabinet appointments divided the Republicans, who accused Roosevelt of dirty politics.[47]

Campaign pin

Willkie arrived by train in Philadelphia on June 22,

two days before the convention, and he immediately attracted attention by walking from 30th Street Station to
his hotel, answering questions from reporters and anyone else who could get close enough to be heard. Dewey,
Vandenberg and Taft had large public headquarters, but
Willkies campaign was run from clandestine rooms at
the Benjamin Franklin Hotel. Roots Willkie Clubs and
other supporters bombarded the delegates with telegrams
urging support for their candidate, to the annoyance of
some. Key convention ocials were Willkie supporters;
these included House Minority Leader Joe Martin, Massachusetts favorite son and permanent chairman of the
convention. When the head of the Committee on Arrangements, Ralph Williams (deemed likely to support
Taft) died just before the convention, he was succeeded
by the vice chairman, Sam Pryor, a rm Willkie backer.
This placed a Willkie supporter in charge of tickets for
the public galleries.[48]
The opening night of the convention saw the keynote
speech by Governor Stassen;[lower-alpha 2] he subsequently
announced his support for Willkie and became one of
the candidates oor managers. The second night featured a speech by the only living former president, Herbert Hoover, who hoped to stampede the convention to a
third nomination.[49] His address went almost unheard in
the hall because of problems with the sound system. In
the meantime, the Dewey campaign, faced with the German announcement that with France taken, Hitlers forces
would sail on Britain, did its best to stem the ow of delegates to Willkie. Negotiations among Dewey, Taft, and
Vandenberg came to nothing because none of them was
willing to accept anything less than the presidential nomination. A blaze of publicity followed Willkie wherever
he went, as he caucused with delegates and appeared at
press conferences with supporters, including the entire
Connecticut delegation. A strong minority of African
Americans still supported the Republicans, and Willkie
met with a group of them, urging those delegates to visit
him in the White House in 1941.[50][51]
Indiana Congressman Charles Halleck gave the nominating speech for Willkie on the evening of June 26, arguing
that Willkies recent conversion to the Republican Party
was no reason not to nominate him, is the Republican
Party a closed corporation? Do you have to be born into
it?"[52] When Halleck mentioned Willkies name, there
were initially boos from some delegates, but they were
quickly drowned out by those in the public balconies,
who thunderously chanted, We want Willkie!".[53] Pryor
delegations had cut ticket allocations to delegations that
were not for Willkie, and they distributed thousands of
standing room passes to Willkie partisans. The vocal support for Willkie among spectators led to complaints that
other campaigns had been shorted in the distribution of
tickets,[54] but it provided one of the conventions most
dramatic moments.[53]
Dewey had predicted that he would have 400 of the 501
votes needed in order to nominate Willkie on the rst

3.3

General election campaign

ballot[55] and he kept nothing in reserve so that he might

show momentum in future ballots. When delegates rst
balloted on the afternoon of June 27, he had only 360
to 189 for Taft, 105 for Willkie, and 76 for Vandenberg. On the second ballot, Dewey began to slip, falling
to 338 to Tafts 203 and 171 for Willkie.[56] The losses
greatly damaged Deweys campaign, because other than
the trivial losses suered in the early rounds of balloting
by Warren G. Harding in 1920, no Republican candidate
had ever lost support from the previous ballot and won the
nomination.[57] Dewey came under pressure from his advisors to withdraw during the dinner break that followed
the second ballot, and when the convention resumed to
chants of We want Willkie!" from the packed galleries,
Dewey continued to slip as the convention became a twohorse race between Taft and Willkie. Listening by radio
from his hotel room, Willkie refused to make a deal to get
support from Taft delegates in exchange for making the
Ohioan his running mate, and became convinced that he
would lose on the fth ballot. Dewey had planned to go
to the convention and withdraw, hoping to stop Willkie
by endorsing Taft, but by the time he decided this, the
fth ballot was about to begin and he could not get to the
Civic Center in time. Willkie led with 429 delegates after
the fth ballot, while Taft held 377 and Dewey held only
57. The large states whose votes still were not committed
to one of the two leaders were Pennsylvania (Governor
Arthur James was the favorite son) and Michigan, most
of whose delegates stayed with Senator Vandenberg. Although Willkie had refrained from making deals up to this
point, to get Michigan, he agreed to allow the Republican
organization there to pick that states federal judges. The
sixth ballot, held at 12:20 am on June 28, saw Taft, then
Willkie take the lead. As those in the gallery continued to
call for Willkie, Vandenberg released his delegates, most
of whom went to Willkie. Pennsylvania also broke for
him, making Willkie the Republican nominee for president on a vote that was made unanimous.[58]

7
porter, but scuttled those plans after his advisors and Republican ocials felt that a New York-Connecticut ticket
would not give sucient geographic balance. They urged
Willkie to select the Senate Minority Leader, Oregon's
Charles McNary. A lawyer, advocate of public power,
and farmer, McNary was popular and respected in the
West. Willkie agreed, and got Baldwin to withdraw as
others persuaded McNary, who had called Willkie a tool
of Wall Street after arriving in Philadelphia.[59] The convention dutifully nominated McNary. Before departing
Philadelphia, Willkie went to the Civic Center to appear
before the delegates who had chosen him, becoming the
rst Republican nominee to speak to the convention after
gaining its endorsement:
Democracy and our way of life is facing
the most crucial test it has ever faced in all its
long history; and we here are not Republicans,
alone, but Americans, to dedicate ourselves to
the democratic way of life in the United States
because here stands the last rm, untouched
foothold of freedom in all the world.[60]

3.3 General election campaign

Wendell Willkie receives ocial notication of the Republican

presidential nomination at a ceremony in Elwood, Indiana, August 17, 1940.

After the convention, Willkie returned to New York.

When he went to the movies, he received a standing ovation, as he did when he went to see the play Life With
Father. He resigned from C&S on July 8, 1940, condent that even if he lost his presidential bid, he would not
lack for work.[61] He had Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman John Hamilton dismissed on the advice of some of his advisors, who felt that Hamilton was
too conservative and isolationist, though the former chairman was given the post of executive director with partial
responsibility for the Willkie campaign. Congressman
Martin became RNC chair. At a time when little campaigning was done until after Labor Day, Willkie left on a
ve-week working vacation to The Broadmoor, a resort in
Colorado Springs, but found neither peace nor privacy.[62]

Roosevelt had been surprised by the outcome of the Republican convention, having expected to oppose a conWillkie (right) with running mate Charles McNary
servative isolationist. The polls showed that Willkie was
behind Roosevelt by only six points, and the president exWillkie had oered the vice presidential nomination to pected this to be a more dicult race than he had faced
Connecticut Governor Raymond Baldwin, a key sup- in his defeats of Hoover and Landon. Roosevelt felt that

8
Willkies nomination would remove the war issue from
the campaign.[63] Roosevelt was nominated by the Democratic convention in Chicago in July, though he stated that
because of the world crisis, he would not actively campaign, leaving that to surrogates.[64] The fact that both
major-party presidential candidates favored intervention
frustrated isolationists, who considered wooing Charles
Lindbergh as a third party candidate.[65]
Willkie formally accepted the nomination at Elwood on
August 17 before a crowd of at least 150,000, the largest
political gathering in the history of the United States up
to that point. It was an extremely hot day, and Willkie,
who tried to read his speech from a typed manuscript
without enlargement, failed to ignite the crowd. He remained in Rushville, where he owned farmland, over
the next month, trying to become more associated with
his native state than with Wall Street. He gave interviews to reporters there, and his rm support of Roosevelts aid to the Allies led Congressman Martin and
Senator McNary to support a peacetime draft despite
the strident objections of many Republicans and some
Democrats. Roosevelt contacted Willkie through intermediaries in order to ensure him that the Republican
candidate would not make a political issue out of the
Destroyers for Bases Agreement; Willkie was supportive
of the transfer, though he felt that Congress should act,
and he opposed Roosevelt sending armaments to Britain
by executive order.[66]

3 1940 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Willkie for failing to be honest with the American people, America will never be ready for any war until she
makes her mind up there is going to be a war.[67] (italics
in original) Despite his pledge not to campaign, Roosevelt
made inspection tours to military installations, well covered by the press. The president did not mention Willkie
by name, seeking to avoid giving the Republican any publicity. According to Susan Dunn in her book in the 1940
campaign, this forced Willkie to box against a phantom opponent and carry on a one-sided partisan debate
... Even in Willkies speeches, Roosevelt occupied center stage.[68] Willkie promised to keep New Deal social
welfare programs intact , to expand Social Security, and
to provide full employment, a job for everyone: I pledge
a new world.[69]
On September 12, Willkie began a whistle-stop tour by
train, and between then and November 2, he reached
31 of the 48 states. He did not visit the Solid South,
though he spoke in Texas, hoping to win it as Hoover had
in 1928. Willkie lled the Los Angeles Coliseum with
70,000 middle-class supporters, but reporters saw few
working-class people at his rallies, and he cancelled some
appearances at auto plants in the Midwest. Other people
in working-class areas booed the candidate, held up signs
in support of Roosevelt, or pelted his motorcade with
overripe fruit.[70] Although Edith Willkie accompanied
her husband on his tour (he had little time for contact with
Van Doren), she disliked the media attention and did not
give interviews, completing the campaign without ever
giving a speech. On one occasion, she looked at her husband and stated, Politics makes strange bedfellows.[71]
The Democrats knew of Willkies aair with Van Doren,
but the Republicans had letters from Henry A. Wallace,
the Democratic vice presidential nominee, to his former
guru, Russian mystic Nicholas Roerich, and neither issue
became a factor in the campaign.[72]

With polls released on October 6 showing Roosevelt well

ahead, Willkie began to sound an isolationist theme,
accusing Roosevelt of being a warmonger. Many of
Willkies speeches up to that point had focussed on domestic issues, but he had been advised by Martin, Hamilton, and other advisors that the war was the issue the
voters really cared about. Willkie began to argue that
Roosevelt would not keep the U.S. out of war, but that
he would. He was given room to make this argument
by the United Kingdom's increasing success in the Battle
of Britain, because it was clear that a German invasion
was not imminent. The polls showed voters responding positively to this new tack, and Willkie kept on this
course for the remainder of the campaign. Roosevelt reacted by scheduling ve speeches for the nal days, in
which he proposed to rebut Willkies falsications.[73]
Willkie for President poster
The president stated, I have said again and again and
again that your boys are not going to be sent into any
Conservatives and isolationists had little enthusiasm for foreign wars.[74] Willkie was prone to ad lib remarks,
the Willkie campaign, and the moderates wanted to see which sometimes led to gaes: addressing steelworkers,
stronger positions on progressive issues and foreign pol- he pledged to appoint a new Secretary of Labor, and it
icy. Publisher Henry Luce decried both Roosevelt and

4.1

Visit to the United Kingdom

will not be a woman either.[74] This allusion to Secretary

Frances Perkins, the only woman to hold a cabinet position in American history up to that point, did not aid him
among female voters.[74]
8
4
5

4
3

11
11

22

12

NH 4
VT 3

9
11

3
23

29 14 26

15

11

36
8

11

9
10

47

19

11
13
8

11 12

5
MA 17
RI 4
CT 8
NJ 16
DE 3
MD 8

Roosevelt
Willkie
7

The results of the election. Those states taken by Willkie in red.

Willkie concluded his campaign on November 2 with a

large rally at New Yorks Madison Square Garden. Polls
showed him four points behind Roosevelt, but with a
trend towards the Republicans. Many pundits expected
a tight race. On Election Day, November 5, 1940, the
early returns were encouraging, but they quickly turned
against Willkie.[75] By 11 pm, radio commentators were
reporting that Roosevelt had won a third term. Willkie
received 45 percent of the popular vote to Roosevelts 55
percent.[2] The president received 27.2 million votes to
Willkies 22.3 million, and won 449 to 82 in the Electoral
College.[76] Willkie won 10 states to the presidents 38
though he did better than Hoover and Landon had against
Roosevelt. Willkies popular vote total of 22,348,480 set
a record for a Republican not broken until Eisenhower in
1952.[77]
The endorsement of CIO head John L. Lewis probably gave Willkie Michigan, and he gained ground in the
suburbs and rural areas, but Roosevelt consolidated his
1936 coalition of working-class Americans, minorities,
and Southerners to take the election.[78] On the evening of
November 11, Willkie gave a nationwide radio address,
urging those who had voted for him not to oppose Roosevelt on all issues, but to give support where it was called
for.[79] In late November, Willkie interrupted a Florida
vacation for a speech he concluded by oering a toast to
the health and happiness of the President of the United
States"; Roosevelt conded to his son James: I'm happy
I've won, but I'm sorry Wendell lost.[80]

4
4.1

Activist and statesman (194043)

Visit to the United Kingdom

Although defeated in the election, Willkie had become a

major gure on the public scene, and at age 48, he was
deemed likely to remain one for years to come. Landon had received some 6,000 letters commiserating with

Roosevelt asked Willkie to serve as his informal envoy in Britain.

him in his defeat; Willkie received over 100,000. Financially independent, he was in no hurry to decide among
the many oers of employment from top law rms and
major corporations.[81] He resumed his aair with Van
Doren.[82]
While on vacation, Willkie decided that his next cause
should be military aid to embattled Britain,[83] and he announced his support of the presidents Lend-Lease program on January 13, 1941.[84] Lend-Lease was highly unpopular in the Republican Party, and Willkies announcement created a restorm, with Landon and Taft decrying
his actions. Former RNC chairman Hamilton wrote that
of the almost 200 Republican members of the House and
Senate, Willkie couldn't dig up ten friends if his life depended on it.[85]
Roosevelt, both appreciating Willkies talents, and seeking to divide and conquer his opposition, had been
mulling over ways in which his former opponent might
be of use. The presidents onetime advisor, Justice Felix
Frankfurter, had suggested to Van Doren on New Years
Eve that Willkie should travel across the Atlantic in order
to demonstrate bipartisan support of Britain.[84] Willkie
had already been planning a visit in support of Britain.
Roosevelt believed that the visit of the nominal head
of the opposition party would be far more eective in
demonstrating American support than sending one of his
advisors.[86]
Willkie visited the president at the White House for the
rst time as an ally on January 19, 1941, the evening
before Roosevelts third swearing-in. The president
asked Willkie to be his informal personal representative to Britain, and Willkie accepted.[86] Eleanor Roosevelt recorded in her diary that family members and

10
White House sta had found excuses in order to observe
Willkie, and she would have done so herself had she been
aware of the visit while it was happening. Roosevelt urged
Willkie to see W. Averell Harriman and Harry Hopkins,
both in London on missions from Roosevelt, and he gave
his former rival a letter to be hand-delivered to the British
prime minister, Winston Churchill. At this time it was
not routine for politicians to travel abroad; McNary, with
considerable inuence in foreign aairs, had never left
North America. Thus, there was much public attention
during Willkies mission. He departed from New York
Municipal Field for London on January 22.[87]

ACTIVIST AND STATESMAN (194043)

destroyed.[94] Congress took no further action.[95]

In late 1941, Willkie fought for the repeal of the

Neutrality Act. In September, Lindbergh accused
American Jews of agitating for war"; Willkie responded
by saying that the aviators speech was the most unAmerican made in my time.[96] Willkie lobbied Republican congressmen to repeal the act. The measure passed
Congress with the aid of Republican votes, though most
members of that party voted against it. Roosevelt invited Willkie to dedicate Mount Rushmore, but because
of other commitments, Willkie could not. Roosevelt also
sought to have Willkie join his administration, which the
Upon arrival, Willkie told the press, I want to do all Republican was reluctant to do, wishing to preserve his
I can to get the United States to give England the ut- independence of word and action.[97]
most aid possible in her struggle.[88] Willkie saw the
damage that Nazi bombing had inicted on Britain, visiting bombed-out sites in London, Birmingham, Coventry, 4.2 Wartime advocate
Manchester and Liverpool.[88] In London during the Blitz,
he walked the streets at night without helmet or gas mask
(until Churchill gave him some), visiting bomb shelters.
Churchill hosted Willkie at an ocial luncheon at 10
Downing Street and had him as a guest at Chequers. In
his writings, Churchill recalled a long talk with this most
able and forceful man.[89]
Although it was cut short by Roosevelts desire to have
him testify before Congress on Lend-Lease, Willkies
visit to Britain was deemed a triumph. Willkie also went
to Ireland, hoping to persuade amon de Valera to abandon neutrality, but his urging was unavailing. Willkie
left London for Washington on February 5; because of
the risk of being shot down by Nazi aircraft, the roundabout journey home took four days. He testied before
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on February 11, Willkie with Admiral Sir Henry Harwood, Alexandria, Egypt
and his support was key to the passage of Lend-Lease.[90]
Willkies Senate testimony made him the leading interventionist outside the government, with Lindbergh (who
had testied against Lend-Lease) the leading isolationist, and they debated in the pages of magazines.[91] Roosevelt weighed in, backing his former opponent in a radio address on March 29. The leader of the Republican
Party himselfMr. Wendell Willkiein word and in action is showing what patriotic Americans mean by rising
above partisanship and rallying to the common cause.[92]
That same month, a Gallup poll showed that 60 percent
of Americans believed that Willkie would have made a
good president.[92]
In April 1941, Willkie joined the New York law rm of
Miller, Boston, and Owen as a senior partner, with the
rm changing its name to Willkie, Owen, Otis, Farr, and
Gallagher.[93] Two months later, he agreed to represent
motion picture producers before a Senate subcommittee
which was investigating claims that Hollywood was producing pro-war propaganda. Willkie defended the rights
of the studios to make lms that reected their views,
and he warned, the rights of the individuals mean nothing if freedom of speech and freedom of the press are

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Willkie offered his full support to Roosevelt. Willkie was interested in the post of war production czar, but that position
went to Donald M. Nelson. Labor Secretary Perkins offered to have Willkie arbitrate between management and
labor in war industries, but Willkie declined after White
House ocials informed the press. In early 1942, Willkie
considered a run for Governor of New York. He later
stated that Roosevelt had been willing to endorse him,
but Willkie ultimately concluded that the Dewey forces
were too strong and a defeat might eliminate him from a
possible run for president in 1944. In July, Willkie proposed to Roosevelt that he go on another foreign mission,
and the following month Willkie announced that he would
be visiting the Soviet Union, China, and the Middle East.
Dewey wrote, I hear he is going to Russia before the
Republican [state] convention, so he will be where he belongs and I hope he stays there until Christmas.[98]
According to Dunn, Willkies mission was to be Roosevelts personal representative, demonstrating American unity, gathering information, and discussing with key
heads of state plans of the postwar future.[99] After leaving the U.S. on August 26, Willkies rst stop was North

4.3

Civil rights activist

Africa, where he met General Montgomery and toured

the front at El Alamein. In Beirut, he stayed with General
de Gaulle, leader of the Free French. In Jerusalem,
Willkie met with Jews and Arabs, told the British ruling Palestine that both peoples should be brought into
the government, and later wrote that the conict there
was so ancient, it was unrealistic to think it could be
solved by good will and simple honesty.[100] Willkie had
been moved to add the Soviet Union to his itinerary when
three Western reporters there urged him by telegram to
do so.[101] There, he met with Stalin, and on his return
advocated more liberal Lend-Lease terms for the USSR.
In China, Willkie was hosted by Chiang Kai-Shek and
was fascinated by Madame Chiang. Willkie was taken
to the front against the Japanese, and spoke out against
colonialism, in China and elsewhere. His statements were
reported widely in Britain, angering Churchill, who responded, We mean to hold our own. I have not become
the Kings First Minister in order to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire.[102]

11
the endorsements of the two largest African American
newspapers, the Pittsburgh Courier and Baltimore AfroAmerican. With Willkie running to the left of Roosevelt
on civil rights, Roosevelt feared that blacks would return to their traditional home in the Republican Party,
and made several prominent promotions or hirings of
African Americans. Roosevelt was successful in keeping
the majority of the black vote. Willkie, after the election,
promised to keep ghting for civil rights.[107]

Willkie warned Republicans that only a full commitment

to equal rights for minorities would woo African Americans back to the party, and criticized Roosevelt for yielding to Southern racists among the Democrats.[108] Willkie
addressed a convention of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1942,
one of the most prominent politicians to do so to that
point. He urged integration of the armed forces, and
when a violent race riot broke out in Detroit in June 1943,
went on national radio to criticize both parties for ignoring race issues.[109] When the movie hearings of 1941
We both came in amity,
ended without further action, Willkie had been made
Wartime allies of the KMT
chairman of the board of Twentieth-Century Fox.[95] In
While you were feted at the seat of honor
1943, he worked with Walter White, executive secretary
I was fettered in this penal horror.
of the NAACP, to try to convince Hollywood to give
Diplomatic aections may run hot and cold,
blacks better treatment in lm. Movie moguls promised
Such is the way of the world,
changes, and some lms featured blacks in major roles,
Or as the French say, C'est la vie,
but faced with objections from white Southerners, reAll waters ow down to the sea.
verted after Willkies death in 1944 to giving blacks
[109]
After his death,
Ho Chi Minh, On Reading of Wendell Willkies Recep- stereotyped roles, such as servants.
the NAACP named its headquarters the Wendell Willkie
tion in China
Memorial Building.[110]
While in the USSR, Willkie urged the opening of
a second front against the Germans; when reporters On November 9, 1942, soon after making his reports
asked Roosevelt about those comments, the president re- to Roosevelt and the American people, Willkie argued
sponded ippantly that he had read the headlines but had the case of Schneiderman v. United States before the
not considered the speculative comments worth the read- Supreme Court. William Schneiderman, secretary of the
ing. This angered Willkie, and on his return from his 49- California Communist Party, was a naturalized American
day trip, he confronted Roosevelt about it when making until the government revoked his citizenship, stating that
he had concealed his membership on his application for
his report at the White House.[103]
naturalization in 1927. Two lower federal courts upheld
On October 26, 1942, Willkie made a Report to the Peo- the denaturalization. Representing a communist, and in
ple, telling Americans about his trip in a radio speech wartime, did nothing to shore up Willkies diminishing
heard by about 36 million people. The following April, support in the Republican Party, but he wrote to a friend,
he published One World, a book Van Doren edited, in I am sure I am right in representing Schneiderman. Of
which he recounted his travels and urged that America all the times when civil liberties should be defended, it
join a worldwide organization after the war was success- is now.[111] Willkie in his argument quoted Lincoln and
fully concluded.[104] The book was an immediate best- Jeerson that the people could, if they deemed it necseller, selling a million copies in its rst month.[105] It was essary, remake the government, and stated that Marxs
especially inuential as Willkie was seen by many as hav- view of revolution was mild by comparison. In 1943, the
ing transcended partisan politics.[106]
Supreme Court ruled for Schneiderman, 53, restoring
his citizenship. Although he refrained from criticizing
Roosevelts internment of Japanese Americans, Willkie
4.3 Civil rights activist
in a speech stated that war was no excuse for depriving
groups of people of their rights.[112] He spoke out against
During his 1940 campaign, Willkie had pledged to in- those who blamed the Jews for the war, warning against
tegrate the civil service and armed forces, and proudly witch-hanging and mob-baiting.[113] For his activities,
pointed to what he deemed the strongest civil rights plank he received the American Hebrew Medal for 1942.[114]
in history in the Republican platform. He also promised
to end segregation in Washington, D.C. He gained

12

6 FINAL MONTHS AND DEATH

1944 campaign

Main article: United States presidential election, 1944

Willkie spent much of 1943 preparing for a second
presidential run, addressing Republican and nonpartisan
groups.[115] He did not meet with Roosevelt; with the
presidential election approaching and both men likely
candidates, continued association would be awkward.[116]
Although they diered with him on many issues, Republican leaders recognized Willkies appeal and had wanted
him to campaign for the party in the 1942 midterm elections, but he went around the world instead.[117] The
huge publicity received by the titular head of the Republican Party as an emissary for a Democratic president frustrated leading Republicans.[118] In spite of
this, the Republicans gained in both House and Senate,
though still remaining in the minority. Few Republican
members of Congress were by then willing to support
Willkie, and he dropped to second place behind General
Douglas MacArthur in polls of likely voters in the partys
1944 presidential primaries.[119] By 1943, even liberal
Democrats did not doubt Willkies progressive credentials. He spoke of appointing an African American to the
cabinet or the Supreme Court, and warned Californias
Republican committee that the New Deal was irreversible
and all they would get by opposing it was oblivion.[120]
Willkie made his candidacy clear in an interview with
Look magazine in early October 1943, arguing that a return to isolationism would lead the party to disaster. He
decided to enter several presidential primaries to demonstrate public support, and chose Wisconsin, with a primary on April 4, 1944, as the rst major test. Willkie
had not taken Wisconsins electoral votes in 1940, though
he had won all parts of the state but Milwaukee. His advisors feared the large German-American vote in Wisconsin, which had contributed to the state being rmly
isolationist until Pearl Harbor. None of the other major
candidatesDewey, Stassen, MacArthur and Ohio Governor John Brickerspoke in Wisconsin; MacArthur and
Stassen were on active duty and could not do so. Willkie
stated that if he did badly in Wisconsin, he would end his
campaign.[121][122]

elled 200 miles (320 km) through a blizzard to reach a

rally in the northern part of the state. Willkie attracted
large crowds in most places, and he told them the Republican party would fail unless it accepted the New Deal and
recognized the need for the U.S. to remain active in the
world after the war. The Democrats, he alleged, had been
too long in oce and did not have the vision needed for
the postwar world.[125] Willkies speech in Milwaukee attracted 4,000 to a hall that could hold 6,000, and he left
the state on the 29th for Nebraska, where he had also entered the primary. Once he was gone, Deweys backers,
including most of the Wisconsin Republican leadership,
ooded the state with billboard advertisements and radio
commercials.[126] On April 4, Dewey gained 17 of Wisconsins 24 delegates, Stassen 4, and MacArthur 3.[127]
Willkies delegates ran last in every district.[128] The following night, after giving his speech in Omaha, Willkie
addressed the crowd:
I quite deliberately entered the Wisconsin
primary to test whether the Republican voters
of that state would support me ... It is obvious
now that I cannot be nominated. I therefore
am asking my friends to desist from any activity toward that end and not to present my name
at the convention. I earnestly hope that the Republican convention will nominate a candidate
and write a platform that really represents the
views which I have advocated and which I believe are shared by millions of Americans. I
shall continue to work for these principles and
policies for which I have fought during the last
ve years.[129][130]

6 Final months and death

The New Hampshire primary had not taken on the significance it later would,[123] and Willkie won it on March 14,
taking six of eleven delegates. This was deemed a disappointment as he had spoken there many times since 1940,
and was expected to do better. In Wisconsin, Willkie
ran a slate of delegates led by future governor Vernon
W. Thomson, and devoted two weeks to campaigning
there. He was endorsed by most newspapers, but polls
Willkies home in Rushville, added to the National Register of
showed him well behind Dewey both in the state and Historic Places in 1993
nationwide.[124]
On March 16, his rst day of campaigning in Wisconsin, Defeated in his second bid for the White House, Willkie
Willkie made eight speeches, and the pace took a toll on announced he was returning to the practice of law, but his
his voice. The weather did not cooperate, and he trav- friends doubted he would be content there. Roosevelt was

13
anxious to dump Vice President Wallace from the ticket
in the presidents bid for a fourth term, and had an intermediary sound out Willkie about running in Wallaces
place. Willkie was reluctant even to respond, knowing
Roosevelt had made promises to potential running mates
he did not follow through on. There were further discussions between Willkie and the White House, of which
third parties were aware though the details are not known;
the vice presidential nomination went to Harry S Truman.
Willkie interested Roosevelt in a new liberal party to be
formed once peace came that would combine the left of
the two existing major parties, but Willkie broke o contact with the White House after there were leaks of this
to the press, as he felt that Roosevelt had used him for political gain. Roosevelt sent a letter expressing his regret
for the leak, but that too was printed in the papers, and
Willkie stated, I've been lied to for the last time.[131]
In spite of their breach, Roosevelt continued to try to conciliate Willkie. Roosevelts son Elliott later stated that
his father hoped to have Willkie be the rst Secretary
General of the United Nations, and the two men agreed
to meet later in the year.[132] Willkie had not been invited to speak at the 1944 Republican National Convention in Chicago that nominated Dewey for president, and
declined a pass as an honored guest.[133] Dewey hoped
to get Willkies endorsement, and sent his foreign policy advisor, John Foster Dulles, to see Willkie. The former candidate refused to be drawn, and he made no endorsement before he died. Willkie wrote two articles
for Colliers, one urging an internationalist foreign policy, and the other demanding advances in civil rights for
African Americans. He also explored becoming a newspaper publisher.[132]

form the public that Willkies condition had worsened and

that he was critically ill. The next morning, Willkie suffered one last attack which proved fatal. From the time
he checked into Lenox Hill Hospital, he was said to have
suered over a dozen heart attacks.[135]
Roosevelt released a statement applauding Willkies
tremendous courage which prompted him more than
once to stand alone ... In this hour of grave crisis the
nation loses a great citizen.[136] War Secretary Stimson oered burial in Arlington National Cemetery, but
Edith Willkie wanted her husband to be buried in his
native Indiana, at Rushville.[137] His casket was placed
in the center aisle of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian
Church; 60,000 people led by his casket, and 35,000
crowded around the church during the service, including
many blacksas, Eleanor Roosevelt noted in her column,
was tting. Wendell and Edith Willkie rest together in
Rushvilles East Hill Cemetery, the gravesite marked by
a cross, and a book carved in stone, designed by sculptor Malvina Homan, and inscribed with quotations from
One World.[137][138]:11

7 Legacy and remembrance

Willkie had long been careless of his health and diet,

smoking heavily, and rarely exercising.[134] His heavy
drinking had charmed the reporters in Philadelphia in
1940, but by 1944 it was becoming a problem.[2] In August 1944, Willkie felt weak while traveling by train to
his Rushville home. There, he suered a heart attack,
but had to be persuaded to see a doctor and refused to be
Plaque to Willkie outside the main branch of the New York Public
admitted to a hospital.[135]
Willkies condition only worsened as the weeks went on.
He went to New York by rail in mid-September, but on
the trip he was stricken again with a heart attack. Although his advisors told him to seek treatment and abandon the trip, Willkie pressed on. When he arrived in
New York, Willkie was in great pain and his press secretary called an ambulance to take him to Lenox Hill Hospital. He recovered to some extent, enough so that his
friends expected him to be discharged. He spent time
working on the galleys of his second book, An American Program, and planned future projects. On October 4,
Willkie caught a throat infection, which was treated with
penicillin. As he was recovering, Willkies now chronic
heart attacks struck again and he suered three more attacks on October 7. The hospital, which had been issuing
reassuring bulletins to the public, was now forced to in-

Library

Soon after the 1940 convention, Roosevelt described

Willkies nomination as a Godsend to our country, as
it ensured the presidential race would not turn on the
issue of aid to Britain.[139] Walter Lippmann believed
Willkies nomination to have been crucial to Britains survival, second only to the Battle of Britain, the sudden
rise and nomination of Willkie was the decisive event,
perhaps providential, which made it possible to rally the
free world when [Britain] was almost conquered. Under
any other leadership but his the Republican party in 1940
would have turned its back on Great Britain, causing all
who resisted Hitler to feel abandoned.[140] Charles Peters wrote that it is arguable that [Willkies] impact on
[the United States] and the world was greater than that of
most men who actually held the oce [of president]. At

14
a crucial moment in history, he stood for the right things
at the right time.[141] When Georgia Senator Zell Miller,
a Democrat, gave the keynote address at the 2004 Republican National Convention, he urged unity instead of
partisan strife in the War on Terror, and recalled Willkies
actions, He gave Roosevelt the critical support he needed
for a peacetime draft, an unpopular idea at the time. And
he made it clear that he would rather lose the election than
make national security a partisan campaign issue.[142]

REFERENCES

stomach.[150]
In 1992, the United States Postal Service marked the centennial of Willkies birth with a 75-cent stamp in the
Great Americans series.[151] Dunn concluded that Willkie
died as he had lived, an idealist, a humanitarianand a
lone wolf.[136] Willkies biographer, Neal, wrote of him,
Though he never became President, he had
won something much more important, a lasting
place in American history. Along with Henry
Clay, William Jennings Bryan, and Hubert
Humphrey, he was the also-ran who would be
long remembered. He was a born leader,
wrote historian Allan Nevins, and he stepped
to leadership at just the moment when the
world needed him.' Shortly before his death,
Willkie told a friend, If I could write my own
epitaph and if I had to choose between saying,
'Here lies an unimportant President,' or, 'Here
lies one who contributed to saving freedom at
a moment of great peril,' I would prefer the latter.' "[152]

Historian Hugh Ross argued that in gaining the nomination, Willkie gave exceptional promise of being a
winner. There were ample precedents from American
political history in which a minority party, queasy over
prospects for survival, bypassed professional leadership
to entrust its political fortunes to a man without political experience. In most of the previous instances, the
nomination had gone to a military man. In 1940, it went
to a businessman.[143] Richard Moe, in his book on the
1940 election, suggested that the nomination of Willkie
left long-lasting scars on the Republican Party, with conservatives angered by the success its Eastern Establishment wing; whatever else it did, Philadelphia gave birth
to the bitter proprietary division within the Republican
Party, one accentuated by ideology and geography, that
would dene the party for decades to come.[144] Among
8 Notes
those converted from isolationism by Willkies oratory,
and who worked intensely on the Willkie campaign in
Michigan, was Gerald R. Ford, who wrote many years Explanatory notes
later in his memoirs, I now realize that my participation
did not make much dierence at all to the political fate [1] At the time, more commonly known as Convention Hall
of Wendell Willkie. But it made a lot of dierence to
[2] Stassen was then deemed the Boy Wonder of the Repubme.[145]
Correspondent and author Warren Moscow wrote that
after 1940, Willkie helped Roosevelt, who was always
careful not to go too far in front of public opinion, as
a pace-setter with the Presidents blessing.[146] Willkies
global trip and the publication of One World increased
public support for the idea that the United States should
remain active internationally once the war was won, and
should not withdraw to a new isolationism.[147] Indiana
University president Herman B Wells noted that One
World has had such a profound inuence on the thinking
of Americans.[148] Zipp noted, He launched the most
successful and unprecedented challenge to conventional
nationalism in modern American history ... He urged
[Americans] to imagine and feel a new form of reciprocity with the world, one that millions of Americans
responded to with unprecedented urgency.[149]
His advocacy came at a cost to his standing in the Republican Party. According to Moscow, his appeal for
the party to be the party of the Loyal Opposition, supporting the President, was treason to the diehards; his
trip around the world marked him as a Presidential agent
seeking to inltrate the Republican Party.[116] This decline was accelerated as it became apparent that Willkie
was a liberal, standing to the left of Roosevelt and proposing even higher taxes than the president was willing to

lican Party; at age 33, he was constitutionally too young

to seek the presidency. Age would not in future restrain
him from running for president; he would seek the Republican nomination so many times and with so little hope of
winning that he became a national joke. See Peters, p. 75

9 References
[1] Ellsworth, Barnard (1966). Wendell Willkie, Fighter for
Freedom. University of Massachusetts. p. 8. ISBN
0870230883.
[2] Madison, James H. (February 2000l). Willkie, Wendell Lewis. American National Biography. Retrieved
November 5, 2015.
[3] Peters, p. 25.
[4] Neal, p. 2.
[5] Neal, p. 3.
[6] Neal, pp. 45.
[7] Neal, pp. 67.
[8] Neal, p. 7.
[9] Peters, pp. 2627.

15

[10] Neal, pp. 812.

[44] Neal, p. 99.

[11] Neal, p. 13.

[45] Ross, pp. 7998.

[12] Neal, pp. 1719.

[46] Peters, p. 51.

[13] Neal, pp. 1718.

[47] Peters, pp. 158162.

[14] Peters, p. 30.

[48] Moscow, pp. 6570.

[15] Peters, pp. 3031.

[49] Peters, p. 60.

[16] Neal, p. 25.

[50] Peters, pp. 7686.

[17] Neal, pp. 3739.

[51] Moscow, p. 93.

[18] Neal, pp. 3944.

[52] Peters, p. 94.

[19] Neal, pp. 2628.

[53] Neal, pp. 105107.

[20] Neal, p. 27.

[54] Peters, pp. 9697.

[21] Bennett, pp. 388390.

[55] Neal, p. 109.

[22] Neal, pp. 2829.

[56] Dunn, pp. 112113.

[23] Neal, p. 29.

[57] Neal, p. 110.

[24] Bennett, pp. 390391.

[58] Neal, pp. 109116.

[25] Neal, pp. 3031.

[59] Peters, pp. 110111.

[26] Bennett, pp. 391393.

[60] Neal, pp. 118121.

[27] Neal, pp. 3132.

[61] Peters, pp. 119121.

[28] Neal, p. 33.

[29] Neal, p. 34.
[30] Moe, p. 154.
[31] Bennett, p. 395.
[32] Shlaes, Amity (May 25, 2009). The man who talked
back. Forbes.

[62] Neal, pp. 126127.

[63] Moe, pp. 170171.
[64] Dunn, pp. 142, 189.
[65] Dunn, p. 150.
[66] Neal, pp. 132139.
[67] Dunn, pp. 164165.

[33] Neal, p. 36.

[68] Dunn, pp. 192193.

[34] Peters, pp. 1418, 123124.

[69] Neal, pp. 153154.

[35] Peters, pp. 2224.

[70] Dunn, pp. 193196.

[36] Zipp, p. 34.

[71] Neal, pp. 143144.

[37] Moe, pp. 154156.

[72] Neal, pp. 144145.

[38] Neal, pp. 5256.

[73] Moe, pp. 283287.

[39] One World or No World: The Vision of Wendell Willkie

(unsigned editorial)". Journal of Public Health Policy. 8
(2): 144. Summer 1987. JSTOR 3342196.

[74] Peters, p. 178.

[40] Le, Mark H. (1992). Strange Bedfellows: The Utility Magnate as Politician. In Madison, James H. Wendell Willkie: Hoosier Internationalist. Indiana University
Press. p. 24. ISBN 0-253-20689-8.

[76] Neal, pp. 175.

[41] Neal, pp. 5152.

[79] Moscow, pp. 293294.

[42] Neal, pp. 5254.

[80] Neal, pp. 179180.

[43] Moe, pp. 155157.

[81] Neal, pp. 181182.

[75] Neal, pp. 172175.

[77] Moe, p. 314.

[78] Neal, p. 177.

16

[82] Neal, pp. 192193.

[120] Neal, p. 288.

[83] Neal, p. 186.

[121] Snyder, pp. 3637.

[84] Moe, p. 322.

[122] Jordan, p. 85.

[85] Neal, pp. 188189.

[123] Jordan, p. 82.

[86] Dunn, p. 278.

[124] Neal, pp. 207209.

[87] Neal, pp. 191193.

[125] Snyder, pp. 3738.

[88] Dunn, p. 279.

[89] Neal, pp. 195196.
[90] Peters, pp. 191192.
[91] Neal, p. 211.
[92] Dunn, p. 289.

REFERENCES

[126] Jordan, pp. 8789.

[127] Jordan, pp. 9091.
[128] Snyder, p. 39.
[129] Snyder, pp. 3940.
[130] Jordan, p. 91.
[131] Neal, pp. 308318.

[93] Neal, pp. 210211.

[94] Dunn, pp. 297298.
[95] Sitko, p. 134.
[96] Neal, pp. 212213.
[97] Neal, pp. 214216.

[132] Neal, pp. 318320.

[133] Snyder, p. 40.
[134] Neal, p. 321.
[135] Neal, pp. 321323.
[136] Dunn, p. 317.

[98] Neal, pp. 217230.

[137] Neal, p. 323.

[99] Dunn, p. 314.

[138] Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological

Research Database (SHAARD)" (Searchable database).
Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic
Preservation and Archaeology. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
Note: This includes Glory-June Grei (September 2013).
National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: East Hill Cemetery (PDF). Retrieved June 1,
2016. and accompanying photographs.

[100] Neal, pp. 231241.

[101] Zipp, p. 488.
[102] Neal, pp. 242257.
[103] Neal, pp. 248, 253, 259260.
[104] Neal, pp. 260263.

[139] Peters, p. 171.

[105] Zipp, pp. 488489.

[140] Peters, p. 194.

[106] Zipp, p. 491.

[141] Peters, p. 195.

[107] Sitko, p. 133.

[142] Excerpt from keynote speech. The New York Times.

September 2, 2004.

[108] Sitko, pp. 139140.

[109] Neal, pp. 274276.
[110] Sitko, p. 129.
[111] Sitko, pp. 133135.

[143] Ross, p. 100.

[144] Moe, p. 169.
[145] Syers, pp. 127130.
[146] Moscow, pp. 206207.

[112] Neal, pp. 267273.

[113] Sitko, pp. 136137.
[114] Sitko, p. 137.
[115] Jordan, pp. 6061.
[116] Moscow, p. 208.

[147] Zipp, pp. 484485.

[148] Wells, Herman B (1992). Forward. In Madison, James
H. Wendell Willkie: Hoosier Internationalist. Indiana University Press. p. ix. ISBN 0-253-20689-8.
[149] Zipp, pp. 504505.
[150] Peters, pp. 204205.

[117] Snyder, p. 36.

[118] Jordan, p. 41.

[151] Wendell Willkie. Mystic Stamp Company. Retrieved

December 13, 2015.

[119] Snyder, pp. 3536.

[152] Neal, p. 324.

17

10

Bibliography

11 External links

Bennett, James D. (Winter 1969). Roosevelt,

Willkie, and the TVA. Tennessee Historical Quarterly. 28 (4): 388396. JSTOR 42623111.

Biography from the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site

Dunn, Susan (2013). 1940: FDR, Willkie, Lindbergh, Hitlerthe Election Amid the Storm. New
Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300-20574-9.

Wendell Lewis Willkie at Find a Grave

Jordan, David M. (2011). FDR, Dewey, and the

Election of 1944. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-00562-5.
Moe, Richard (2013). Roosevelts Second Act. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19998191-5.
Moscow, Warren (1968). Roosevelt & Willkie.
Englewood Clis, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. OCLC
441820.
Neal, Steve (1984). Dark Horse: A Biography of
Wendell Willkie. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
ISBN 0-385-18439-5.
Peters, Charles (2006). Five Days in Philadelphia:
The Amazing We Want Willkie Convention of 1940
and How It Freed FDR to Save the Western World.
New York: PublicAairs. ISBN 1-58648-450-8.
Ross, Hugh (June 1962). Was the nomination
of Wendell Willkie a political miracle?". Indiana
Magazine of History. 58 (2): 79100. JSTOR
27788982.
Sitko, Harvard (2010). Toward Freedom Land:
The Long Struggle for Racial Equality in America.
University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-1-28293765-9.(subscription required)
Snyder, Roland H. (Autumn 2004). Wisconsin
ends the political career of Wendell Willkie. The
Wisconsin Magazine of History. 88 (1): 3041.
JSTOR 4637111.
Syers, William A. (Winter 1990). The political
beginnings of Gerald R. Ford: Anti-bossism, internationalism, and the congressional campaign of
1948. Presidential Studies Quarterly. 20 (1): 127
142. JSTOR 20700119.
Zipp, Samuel (Fall 2014). When Wendell Willkie
went visiting: between interdependency and exceptionalism in the public feeling for One World".
American Literary History. 26 (3): 484510.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher website

Wendell Willkie, Presidential Contender from CSPAN's The Contenders

An Exhibit: Wendell Lewis Willkie The Lilly Library Bloomington, IN
Wendell Willkie: The Dark Horse, Indiana Historical Bureau

18

12

12

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12.1

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Postdlf, Desmay, JB82, Brw12, JackofOz, Buster2058, Xyzzyva, Peterklevy, JamesMLane, MaGioZal, Everyking, Leonard G., Sesel, Mu,
PFHLai, Kmweber, Blue387, Marcus2, Klemen Kocjancic, Acsenray, Grunt, D6, Larrybob, Rich Farmbrough, Guanabot, Cfailde, Bender235, Cuppysfriend, Zdv, Kwamikagami, Chairboy, RoyBoy, Mairi, Djd1219, Bobo192, JW1805, Merope, Zulitz, Craigy144, DLJessup, WikiParker, Phyllis1753, Hierarchypedia, Kaibabsquirrel, Joelfurr, Woohookitty, Bonus Onus, KevinOKeee, SDC, Youngamerican,
BD2412, David Levy, Kbdank71, Rjwilmsi, Rogerd, MZMcBride, FlaBot, Ground Zero, Nihiltres, Atrix20, Bgwhite, RussBot, ChrisP2K5,
Rjensen, DAJF, Homagetocatalonia, Black Regent, Closedmouth, 6a4fe8aa039615ebd9ddb83d6acf9a1dc1b684f7, Fram, John Broughton,
Philip Stevens, D Monack, SmackBot, World war two bu, Davepape, Wehwalt, Gnangarra, Eskimbot, Aivazovsky, Orser67, Ian Rose,
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