Wendell Willkie
Encyclopedia
Wendell Lewis Willkie (ˈwɛndl̩ ˈluɨs ˈwɪlki; February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was a corporate lawyer in the United States and a dark horse
who became the Republican Party
nominee for the president in 1940
. A member of the liberal wing of the GOP, he crusaded against those domestic policies of the New Deal
that he thought were inefficient and anti-business. Willkie, an internationalist, needed the votes of the large isolationist element, so he waffled on the bitterly debated issue of America's role in World War II, losing support from both sides. His opponent Franklin D. Roosevelt
won the 1940 election with 55% of the popular vote and 85% of the electoral vote.
Afterward, Roosevelt found Willkie to be compatible politically with his plans and brought him aboard as an informal ambassador-at-large. Willkie criss-crossed the globe on the former army bomber The Gulliver, bringing home a vision of "One World" freed from imperialism and colonialism. "One World" was Willkie's travelogue of his travels and meetings of the then-Allies heads of state, as well as ordinary citizens and soldiers in regions such as Russia and Iran. His liberalism lost him supporters in the GOP and he dropped out of the 1944 race, then died of a heart attack. He never held political office.
, the son of Herman Willkie (a German
immigrant from Aschersleben
whose family name was originally spelled "Willcke") and Henrietta Trisch. His parents were lawyers in Elwood, and Henrietta was one of the first women to be admitted to the bar in Indiana. He was named Lewis Wendell Willkie, but at home and among friends in Elwood he was called by his middle name, Wendell.
Willkie attended Elwood High School. In 1913, he earned a BA
from Indiana University
, where he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi
fraternity. After teaching history for one year at the high school in Coffeyville, Kansas
, he returned to IU and entered the School of Law
, earning an LLB in 1916.
In 1917, when the U.S. entered World War I
, Willkie enlisted in the Army. An Army clerical error transposed his first and middle names, but Willkie did not correct it as he preferred the new version, thereafter giving his name as Wendell Lewis Willkie. He was commissioned as a First Lieutenant
and trained as an artillery officer. He arrived in France just as the fighting ended. As a lawyer, Willkie was sent to American headquarters in Paris to assist in court-martial cases.
After returning to the U.S., Willkie went to work for the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company
in Akron, Ohio
as a corporate lawyer. He became active in the Akron Democratic Party organization, and was a delegate to the 1924 Democratic National Convention
. In 1919, Willkie married Edith Wilk (no relation), a librarian from Rushville, Indiana
. They had one son, Philip.
holding company
, which provided electrical power to customers in eleven states. He became company president in 1933. Willkie was a delegate to the 1932 Democratic National Convention
. He initially backed former Cleveland mayor and Secretary of War Newton D. Baker
for the presidential nomination, but when Franklin Roosevelt was chosen, Willkie supported him and contributed money to his campaign.
(TVA), a government agency with far-reaching influence that promised to bring flood control
and cheap electricity to the poor Tennessee Valley
. 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. Willkie's argument was that government-controlled organizations (such as the TVA) had unfair advantages, in that they did not have to make a profit and could thus charge cheaper rates than private corporations needed to levy in order to operate at a profit. 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 Military Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives
. He testified that the TVA supplanting Commonwealth & Southern could threaten $400 million in investors' equity, which convinced the House to limit the TVA's ability to build transmission lines that would compete with existing private utility companies.
Roosevelt, however, persuaded the Senate to remove those restrictions and the resulting law gave the TVA extremely broad powers. Because the government-run TVA could borrow unlimited funds at low interest rates, Willkie's Commonwealth & Southern was unable to compete, and C & S had to sell its 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; 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 debated the merits of the private-enterprise system with Robert H. Jackson
. Jackson was Roosevelt's Solicitor General and a possible 1940 Democratic presidential candidate. Most observers felt that Willkie won the debate, and many liberal Republicans began — for the first time — to view him as a possible presidential candidate.
was conducted against the backdrop of World War II
. Although the United States was still neutral, the nation — and especially the Republican Party — was deeply divided between isolationists
, who felt the nation should avoid any steps that could lead America into the war, and interventionists
, who felt that America's survival depended upon helping the Allies
defeat Nazi Germany
. 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 New York. These three men had campaigned vigorously, but only 300 of the 1,000 convention delegates were pledged to a candidate before the convention. This left an opening for a dark horse
candidate to emerge.
Willkie seemed an unlikely candidate as he was a former Democrat and a Wall Street industrialist who had never before run for public office. He had backing from some media magnates: Ogden Reid of the New York Herald Tribune
, Roy W. Howard of the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain, and John and Gardner Cowles, publishers of the Minneapolis Star and Tribune
, the Des Moines Register
, and Look magazine
. Willkie's supporters established a national grassroots network, but his support was thin. His efforts were helped by Eugenie Mary Ladenburg Davie
who became an active member of the Republican Party and was the head of the Woman’s Auxiliary during Willkie’s campaign to unseat Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940. A May 8 Gallup poll showed Dewey at 67% support among Republicans, followed by Vandenberg and Taft, with Willkie at a mere 3%.
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." However, Willkie's greatest support came from the party's internationalist wing, which wanted the U.S. to provide all the aid possible to the Allies forces short of a formal declaration of war. Willkie consistently spoke of the need to aid Britain against Germany in 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 and dictatorship at home, the German blitzkrieg that quickly defeated France shook public opinion. Sympathy for the embattled British was mounting. In mid-June, little over one week before the convention opened, Gallup reported that Willkie had surged to second place with 17%, and that Dewey was slipping. Willkie stumped the country, seeking the support of liberal and east coast Republicans worried by German victories.
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 convention opened in an atmosphere of great excitement and national stress; this is believed to have boosted Willkie's chances even further.
Hundreds of thousands telegrams urging support for Willkie poured in, many from "Willkie Clubs" that had sprung up across the country. Millions more citizens signed petitions circulating throughout the country. At the convention, Governor Harold Stassen
of Minnesota, the keynote speaker, announced for Willkie and became his official floor manager. 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 delegates were selected not by primaries but by party organizations in each state, and as political veterans, they had a keen sense of how fast public opinion was changing. This change was also reflected in a later poll taken by Gallup but not reported till after the convention: Willkie had pulled ahead among Republican voters by 44% to only 29% for the collapsing Dewey.
Dewey led the first ballot, but was far short of a majority; Taft was second, and Willkie was a surprisingly strong third. On the second and third ballots Dewey's support dwindled, as his delegates went to either Taft or Willkie, with most favoring Willkie. Meanwhile, Willkie's supporters in the galleries chanted "We Want Willkie" over and over. On the fourth ballot Willkie surged into first place, with Taft close behind; other candidates began to drop out in favor of the two frontrunners. As the delegates belonging to "favorite son
" candidates were released by their original candidates, Willkie steadily gained more of them than Taft. 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.
Willkie left the selection of the candidate for Vice President to convention chairman Joseph W. Martin, Jr., who suggested Senate Minority Leader Charles L. McNary
of Oregon
. Despite the fact that McNary had spearheaded a "Stop Willkie" campaign late in the balloting, Willkie selected McNary, who was nominated by acclamation. Willkie asked Martin to take on the task of Republican National Committee
chairman, a post that Martin held simultaneously with his House leadership role from 1940–1942. Martin found the party without adequate finances after Willkie's defeat and unable to raise needed funds for the 1942 congressional elections.
Convention chairman Joe Martin went to Elwood, Indiana, to inform Willkie officially of the nomination, as was then the custom. In giving his acceptance speech, Willkie used a full text of the speech which was typewritten with double spacing in ordinary pica type, whereas experienced politicians used triple space in large letters as notes for giving speeches. Martin writes in his memoirs, "As I feared, Willkie had difficulty reading the speech from the small type. His performance was flat. Then the crowning blunder came at the end of the speech when the Willkie clubs, without my knowledge, piped in an appeal for funds to the tremendous radio audience. If ever such an appeal was out of place, it was in a high-minded notification ceremony. . . .
. Roosevelt's attempt to break the "two-term" tradition established by George Washington
was also a focus of Willkie's criticism; the republican candidate accused Roosevelt of thinking himself indispensable and wanting to institute "one-man rule." He said FDR had "weakened rather than strengthened democracy throughout the world."
Willkie relied heavily on radio to broadcast his message to the people. Joe Martin writes that he could "hardly find enough money to buy him all the time he wanted on the networks."
However, these first two themes did not catch 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 waffled and 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 U.S. into the European war against Germany. With this claim, his campaign attracted isolationists and managed to regain some of its momentum.
Late in the campaign the Republicans obtained letters written by Henry A. Wallace
, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, to Russian mystic Nicholas Roerich
, who had invented an eclectic religion based on Tibetan Buddhism
. Wallace addressed Roerich as "Dear Guru
", signed his name as "G" for Galahad
— a name Roerich assigned Wallace in his religion — and showed his complete adherence to Roerich's doctrines. Democratic leaders feared that if the letters were published, Wallace's exotic religious beliefs would alienate many voters. Republicans did plan to publish the Wallace letters, but the Democrats threatened to release information about Willkie's rumored extramarital affair with writer Irita Van Doren
, resulting in a stalemate.
Eleanor Roosevelt
's biographer and very close personal friend Joseph Lash wrote "The anti-Roosevelt underground campaign in 1940 was venomous, and (Democratic National Chairman) 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." However, the abuse went both ways, as historian William Manchester
noted: "above all, he [Willkie] should never have been subjected to the accusation of Henry Wallace, FDR's new vice-presidential candidate, that Willkie was the Nazis' choice."
in 1936, and ran strong in the rural Midwest, taking 57% of the farm vote. Roosevelt, meanwhile, carried every city in the nation with a population of more than 400,000, except for Cincinnati. Willkie was the only major-party nominee for President who never held major elected or appointive office or high military rank.
to found Freedom House
. On July 23, 1941, he urged unlimited aid to Britain. As Roosevelt's personal representative, he traveled to Britain and the Middle East
in late 1941, and to the Soviet Union and China in 1942.
In 1943, Willkie published One World
, a book for popular audiences which recounted his world travels on the Gulliver and urged that America accept some form of "world government
" after the war. One World was a best-seller that marked his transformation into a major spokesman for internationalism and made him a controversial figure within the Roosevelt administration and among his Republican colleagues, but it helped move public opinion from isolationism to internationalism. Its publication also extended Willkie's contacts with the world of literary critics and film executives.
(NAACP) in 1942, one of the most prominent politicians to do so up to that time. When a violent race riot broke out in Detroit
on June 20, 1943, Willkie went on national radio to criticize Republicans and Democrats for ignoring "the Negro question." He said, "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. 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 in the movies.
, the wife of Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek
supposedly seduced Willkie. The bizarre part was that it was part of her plot to use China's wealth to help him become President in 1944. Cowles' main evidence was that both Willkie and Soong suddenly went missing during a dinner party. Cowles said Soong later 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." Apart from Cowles' recollections, no corroborating evidence has ever turned up, and Cowles himself reported none of this in his newspapers.
, as his campaign headquarters. His progressive views gained little support due to the rightward shift of the party, and to Republican resentment over Willkie's close collaboration with Roosevelt.
Willkie was considered a favorite in the Wisconsin
primary, but finished a distant fourth, behind General Douglas MacArthur
, Dewey, and Stassen, with only 4.6%. Following this crushing loss Willkie withdrew from the race.
By the time of his sudden death in October 1944, Willkie had not endorsed either Dewey or Roosevelt. He had begun working with the new Liberal Party of New York
to launch a new national party, but his death ended that movement.
LLP.
to New York City by train
. While crossing Ohio he experienced the first of an estimated more than 20 heart attacks
. Although other passengers implored him to get off the train at Pittsburgh and go to a hospital, he refused. He wanted to get home and be seen by his own doctor. He reached New York
alive but died after two days in a hospital, on October 8, 1944, age 52.
Willkie's 1940 running mate, McNary, had died six months earlier. This was the only occasion where both members of a major party Presidential ticket died during the term for which they sought election.
Eleanor Roosevelt, in her My Day
column for October 12, 1944, eulogized Willkie as a "man of courage... (whose) outspoken opinions on race relations were among his great contributions to the thinking of the world... 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
. 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.
Willkie's name was prominently mentioned by keynote speaker and Democratic Senator Zell Miller
at the 2004 Republican National Convention
. 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. Miller spoke of Willkie saying,
negatively and blasted the senator for being critical of President George W. Bush
's foreign policy by claiming Willkie refused to criticize FDR on foreign policy during a time of war.
State of the Union
, a 1945 play by Howard Lindsay
and Russell Crouse, about a fictional Republican presidential candidate, was reportedly loosely inspired by Willkie and his alleged mistress Irita Van Doren. (It was made into a movie
in 1948.)
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.
A large dorm complex at Indiana University Bloomington
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.
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. When Bugs realizes what the gremlin is, he timidly asks, "Could that have been a [whispering] gremlin?" In a Yiddish 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 Scandinavia
n accent. This sound bite, broadcast on nationwide radio, enjoyed a brief vogue as a humorous catchphrase.
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. The short story 'Trips' by Robert Silverberg
is another alternative history example of the same scenario.
The Liberty ship
SS Wendell L. Willkie was named for him. It was laid down November 8, 1944, just one month after his death, commissioned December 9, and served with the United States Maritime Commission
until scrapped in 1970.
Willkie was honored by the United States Postal Service
with a 75¢ Great Americans series
postage stamp
.
Dark horse
Dark horse is a term used to describe a little-known person or thing that emerges to prominence, especially in a competition of some sort.-Origin:The term began as horse racing parlance...
who became the Republican Party
History of the United States Republican Party
The United States Republican Party is the second oldest currently existing political party in the United States after its great rival, the Democratic Party. It emerged in 1854 to combat the Kansas Nebraska Act which threatened to extend slavery into the territories, and to promote more vigorous...
nominee for the president in 1940
United States presidential election, 1940
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. Incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt , a Democrat, broke with tradition and ran for a third term, which became a major issue...
. A member of the liberal wing of the GOP, he crusaded against those domestic policies of the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
that he thought were inefficient and anti-business. Willkie, an internationalist, needed the votes of the large isolationist element, so he waffled on the bitterly debated issue of America's role in World War II, losing support from both sides. His opponent Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
won the 1940 election with 55% of the popular vote and 85% of the electoral vote.
Afterward, Roosevelt found Willkie to be compatible politically with his plans and brought him aboard as an informal ambassador-at-large. Willkie criss-crossed the globe on the former army bomber The Gulliver, bringing home a vision of "One World" freed from imperialism and colonialism. "One World" was Willkie's travelogue of his travels and meetings of the then-Allies heads of state, as well as ordinary citizens and soldiers in regions such as Russia and Iran. His liberalism lost him supporters in the GOP and he dropped out of the 1944 race, then died of a heart attack. He never held political office.
Education and early career
He was born in Elwood, IndianaElwood, Indiana
- Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there were 9,737 people, 3,845 households, and 2,660 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,743.1 people per square mile . There were 4,179 housing units at an average density of 1,177.3 per square mile...
, the son of Herman Willkie (a German
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
immigrant from Aschersleben
Aschersleben
Aschersleben is a town in the Salzlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approx. 22 km east of Quedlinburg, and 45 km northwest of Halle .-Pre-20th century:...
whose family name was originally spelled "Willcke") and Henrietta Trisch. His parents were lawyers in Elwood, and Henrietta was one of the first women to be admitted to the bar in Indiana. He was named Lewis Wendell Willkie, but at home and among friends in Elwood he was called by his middle name, Wendell.
Willkie attended Elwood High School. In 1913, he earned a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from Indiana University
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...
, where he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi , often just called Beta, is a social collegiate fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, USA, where it is part of the Miami Triad which includes Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Chi. It has over 138 active chapters and colonies in the United States and Canada...
fraternity. After teaching history for one year at the high school in Coffeyville, Kansas
Coffeyville, Kansas
Coffeyville is a city situated along the Verdigris River in the southeastern part of Montgomery County, located in Southeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,295...
, he returned to IU and entered the School of Law
Indiana University Maurer School of Law
The Indiana University Maurer School of Law is located on the flagship campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. The law school is one of two law schools operated by the Indiana University system, the other being the Indiana University McKinney School of Law...
, earning an LLB in 1916.
In 1917, when the U.S. entered World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Willkie enlisted in the Army. An Army clerical error transposed his first and middle names, but Willkie did not correct it as he preferred the new version, thereafter giving his name as Wendell Lewis Willkie. He was commissioned as a First Lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
and trained as an artillery officer. He arrived in France just as the fighting ended. As a lawyer, Willkie was sent to American headquarters in Paris to assist in court-martial cases.
After returning to the U.S., Willkie went to work for the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company
The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is an American tire company founded by Harvey Firestone in 1900 to supply pneumatic tires for wagons, buggies, and other forms of wheeled transportation common in the era. Firestone soon saw the huge potential for marketing tires for automobiles. The company...
in Akron, Ohio
Akron, Ohio
Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
as a corporate lawyer. He became active in the Akron Democratic Party organization, and was a delegate to the 1924 Democratic National Convention
1924 Democratic National Convention
The 1924 Democratic National Convention, also called the Klanbake, held at the Madison Square Garden in New York City from June 24 to July 9, took a record 103 ballots to nominate a presidential candidate. It was the longest continuously running convention in United States political history...
. In 1919, Willkie married Edith Wilk (no relation), a librarian from Rushville, Indiana
Rushville, Indiana
Rushville is a city in Rushville Township, Rush County, Indiana, United States. The population was 6,341 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Rush County. It was the campaign headquarters for Wendell Willkie's 1940 presidential campaign against Franklin D. Roosevelt. Willkie is buried...
. 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 utilityElectric utility
An electric utility is a company that engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. The electrical utility industry is a major provider of energy in most countries. It is indispensable to factories, commercial establishments,...
holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
, which provided electrical power to customers in eleven states. He became company president in 1933. Willkie was a delegate to the 1932 Democratic National Convention
1932 Democratic National Convention
The 1932 Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois from June 27 - July 2, 1932. The convention resulted in the nomination of Governor Franklin Roosevelt of New York for President and Speaker of the House John Nance Garner of Texas for Vice-President...
. He initially backed former Cleveland mayor and Secretary of War Newton D. Baker
Newton D. Baker
Newton Diehl Baker, Jr. was an American politician who belonged to the Democratic Party. He served as the 37th mayor of Cleveland, Ohio from 1912 to 1915 and as U.S. Secretary of War from 1916 to 1921.-Early years:...
for the presidential nomination, but when Franklin Roosevelt was chosen, Willkie supported him and contributed money to his campaign.
Fights TVA
In 1933, Roosevelt proposed legislation creating the Tennessee Valley AuthorityTennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
(TVA), a government agency with far-reaching influence that promised to bring flood control
Flood control
In communications, flood control is a feature of many communication protocols designed to prevent overwhelming of a destination receiver. Such controls can be implemented either in software or in hardware, and will often request that the message be resent after the receiver has finished...
and cheap electricity to the poor Tennessee Valley
Tennessee Valley
The Tennessee Valley is the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and is largely within the U.S. state of Tennessee. It stretches from southwest Kentucky to northwest Georgia and from northeast Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina...
. 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
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
agencies that directly competed with private corporations. Willkie's argument was that government-controlled organizations (such as the TVA) had unfair advantages, in that they did not have to make a profit and could thus charge cheaper rates than private corporations needed to levy in order to operate at a profit. 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 Military Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
. He testified that the TVA supplanting Commonwealth & Southern could threaten $400 million in investors' equity, which convinced the House to limit the TVA's ability to build transmission lines that would compete with existing private utility companies.
Roosevelt, however, persuaded the Senate to remove those restrictions and the resulting law gave the TVA extremely broad powers. Because the government-run TVA could borrow unlimited funds at low interest rates, Willkie's Commonwealth & Southern was unable to compete, and C & S had to sell its 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; 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 debated the merits of the private-enterprise system with Robert H. Jackson
Robert H. Jackson
Robert Houghwout Jackson was United States Attorney General and an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court . He was also the chief United States prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials...
. Jackson was Roosevelt's Solicitor General and a possible 1940 Democratic presidential candidate. Most observers felt that Willkie won the debate, and many liberal Republicans began — for the first time — to view him as a possible presidential candidate.
Republican nomination
The 1940 presidential campaignUnited States presidential election, 1940
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. Incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt , a Democrat, broke with tradition and ran for a third term, which became a major issue...
was conducted against the backdrop of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Although the United States was still neutral, the nation — and especially the Republican Party — was deeply divided between isolationists
Isolationism
Isolationism is the policy or doctrine of isolating one's country from the affairs of other nations by declining to enter into alliances, foreign economic commitments, international agreements, etc., seeking to devote the entire efforts of one's country to its own advancement and remain at peace by...
, who felt the nation should avoid any steps that could lead America into the war, and interventionists
Interventionism (politics)
Interventionism is a term for a policy of non-defensive activity undertaken by a nation-state, or other geo-political jurisdiction of a lesser or greater nature, to manipulate an economy or society...
, who felt that America's survival depended upon helping the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
defeat Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. The three leading candidates for the 1940 Republican nomination were Senators Robert Taft
Robert Taft
Robert Alphonso Taft , of the Taft political family of Cincinnati, was a Republican United States Senator and a prominent conservative statesman...
of Ohio and Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan, and Thomas E. Dewey
Thomas Dewey
Thomas Edmund Dewey was the 47th Governor of New York . In 1944 and 1948, he was the Republican candidate for President, but lost both times. He led the liberal faction of the Republican Party, in which he fought conservative Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft...
, the "gangbusting" District Attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
from New York. These three men had campaigned vigorously, but only 300 of the 1,000 convention delegates were pledged to a candidate before the convention. This left an opening for a dark horse
Dark horse
Dark horse is a term used to describe a little-known person or thing that emerges to prominence, especially in a competition of some sort.-Origin:The term began as horse racing parlance...
candidate to emerge.
Willkie seemed an unlikely candidate as he was a former Democrat and a Wall Street industrialist who had never before run for public office. He had backing from some media magnates: Ogden Reid of the New York Herald Tribune
New York Herald Tribune
The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
, Roy W. Howard of the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain, and John and Gardner Cowles, publishers of the Minneapolis Star and Tribune
Star Tribune
The Star Tribune is the largest newspaper in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is published seven days each week in an edition for the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. A statewide version is also available across Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota. The...
, the Des Moines Register
Des Moines Register
The Des Moines Register is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa, in the United States. A separate edition of the Register is sold throughout much of Iowa.-History:...
, and Look magazine
Look (American magazine)
Look was a bi-weekly, general-interest magazine published in Des Moines, Iowa from 1937 to 1971, with more of an emphasis on photographs than articles...
. Willkie's supporters established a national grassroots network, but his support was thin. His efforts were helped by Eugenie Mary Ladenburg Davie
Eugenie Mary Ladenburg Davie
Eugenie Mary "May" Ladenburg Davie was a noted Republican activist in New York and a director of the controversial Pioneer Fund at the end of her life. She was second wife to influential lawyer Preston Davie.-Political activism:...
who became an active member of the Republican Party and was the head of the Woman’s Auxiliary during Willkie’s campaign to unseat Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940. A May 8 Gallup poll showed Dewey at 67% support among Republicans, followed by Vandenberg and Taft, with Willkie at a mere 3%.
While Taft stressed that America needed to prevent the New Deal from using the international crisis to extend socialism and dictatorship at home, the German blitzkrieg that quickly defeated France shook public opinion. Sympathy for the embattled British was mounting. In mid-June, little over one week before the convention opened, Gallup reported that Willkie had surged to second place with 17%, and that Dewey was slipping. Willkie stumped the country, seeking the support of liberal and east coast Republicans worried by German victories.
Republican convention
As the convention opened in Philadelphia on June 24, Gallup reported that in a poll taken a few days earlier, Willkie had moved up to 29%, Dewey had slipped 5% to 47%, and Taft, Vandenberg, and former President HooverHerbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
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 convention opened in an atmosphere of great excitement and national stress; this is believed to have boosted Willkie's chances even further.
Hundreds of thousands telegrams urging support for Willkie poured in, many from "Willkie Clubs" that had sprung up across the country. Millions more citizens signed petitions circulating throughout the country. At the convention, Governor Harold Stassen
Harold Stassen
Harold Edward Stassen was the 25th Governor of Minnesota from 1939 to 1943. After service in World War II, from 1948 to 1953 he was president of the University of Pennsylvania...
of Minnesota, the keynote speaker, announced for Willkie and became his official floor manager. 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 delegates were selected not by primaries but by party organizations in each state, and as political veterans, they had a keen sense of how fast public opinion was changing. This change was also reflected in a later poll taken by Gallup but not reported till after the convention: Willkie had pulled ahead among Republican voters by 44% to only 29% for the collapsing Dewey.
Dewey led the first ballot, but was far short of a majority; Taft was second, and Willkie was a surprisingly strong third. On the second and third ballots Dewey's support dwindled, as his delegates went to either Taft or Willkie, with most favoring Willkie. Meanwhile, Willkie's supporters in the galleries chanted "We Want Willkie" over and over. On the fourth ballot Willkie surged into first place, with Taft close behind; other candidates began to drop out in favor of the two frontrunners. As the delegates belonging to "favorite son
Favorite son
A favorite son is a political term.*At the quadrennial American national political party conventions, a state delegation sometimes nominates and votes for a candidate from the state, or less often from the state's region, who is not a viable candidate...
" candidates were released by their original candidates, Willkie steadily gained more of them than Taft. 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.
Willkie left the selection of the candidate for Vice President to convention chairman Joseph W. Martin, Jr., who suggested Senate Minority Leader Charles L. McNary
Charles L. McNary
Charles Linza McNary was a United States Republican politician from Oregon. He served in the Senate from 1917 to 1944, and was Senate Minority Leader from 1933 to 1944. In the Senate, McNary helped to pass legislation that led to the construction of Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, and worked...
of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. Despite the fact that McNary had spearheaded a "Stop Willkie" campaign late in the balloting, Willkie selected McNary, who was nominated by acclamation. Willkie asked Martin to take on the task of Republican National Committee
Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...
chairman, a post that Martin held simultaneously with his House leadership role from 1940–1942. Martin found the party without adequate finances after Willkie's defeat and unable to raise needed funds for the 1942 congressional elections.
Convention chairman Joe Martin went to Elwood, Indiana, to inform Willkie officially of the nomination, as was then the custom. In giving his acceptance speech, Willkie used a full text of the speech which was typewritten with double spacing in ordinary pica type, whereas experienced politicians used triple space in large letters as notes for giving speeches. Martin writes in his memoirs, "As I feared, Willkie had difficulty reading the speech from the small type. His performance was flat. Then the crowning blunder came at the end of the speech when the Willkie clubs, without my knowledge, piped in an appeal for funds to the tremendous radio audience. If ever such an appeal was out of place, it was in a high-minded notification ceremony. . . .
General election
Willkie centered his presidential campaign about three major themes: the alleged inefficiency and corruption of 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. 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 DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. Roosevelt's attempt to break the "two-term" tradition established by George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
was also a focus of Willkie's criticism; the republican candidate accused Roosevelt of thinking himself indispensable and wanting to institute "one-man rule." He said FDR had "weakened rather than strengthened democracy throughout the world."
Willkie relied heavily on radio to broadcast his message to the people. Joe Martin writes that he could "hardly find enough money to buy him all the time he wanted on the networks."
However, these first two themes did not catch 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 waffled and 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 U.S. into the European war against Germany. With this claim, his campaign attracted isolationists and managed to regain some of its momentum.
Late in the campaign the Republicans obtained letters written by Henry A. Wallace
Henry A. Wallace
Henry Agard Wallace was the 33rd Vice President of the United States , the Secretary of Agriculture , and the Secretary of Commerce . In the 1948 presidential election, Wallace was the nominee of the Progressive Party.-Early life:Henry A...
, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, to Russian mystic Nicholas Roerich
Nicholas Roerich
Nicholas Roerich, also known as Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh , was a Russian mystic, painter, philosopher, scientist, writer, traveler, and public figure. A prolific artist, he created thousands of paintings and about 30 literary works...
, who had invented an eclectic religion based on Tibetan Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
. Wallace addressed Roerich as "Dear Guru
Guru
A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
", signed his name as "G" for Galahad
Galahad
Sir Galahad |Round Table]] and one of the three achievers of the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend. He is the illegitimate son of Lancelot and Elaine of Corbenic, and is renowned for his gallantry and purity. Emerging quite late in the medieval Arthurian tradition, he is perhaps the knightly...
— a name Roerich assigned Wallace in his religion — and showed his complete adherence to Roerich's doctrines. Democratic leaders feared that if the letters were published, Wallace's exotic religious beliefs would alienate many voters. Republicans did plan to publish the Wallace letters, but the Democrats threatened to release information about Willkie's rumored extramarital affair with writer Irita Van Doren
Irita Bradford Van Doren
Irita Bradford Van Doren was an American literary figure and editor of the New York Herald Tribune book review for 37 years....
, resulting in a stalemate.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
's biographer and very close personal friend Joseph Lash wrote "The anti-Roosevelt underground campaign in 1940 was venomous, and (Democratic National Chairman) 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." However, the abuse went both ways, as historian William Manchester
William Manchester
William Raymond Manchester was an American author, biographer, and historian from Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, notable as the bestselling author of 18 books that have been translated into over 20 languages...
noted: "above all, he [Willkie] should never have been subjected to the accusation of Henry Wallace, FDR's new vice-presidential candidate, that Willkie was the Nazis' choice."
Defeat
Willkie received 22.3 million votes (more than any previous Republican candidate), but was outpolled by Roosevelt with 27.3 million. Roosevelt won the electoral vote to 449 to 82. Willkie carried ten states: Maine, Vermont, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado. However, Willkie did draw 5.8 million votes more than Alf LandonAlf Landon
Alfred Mossman "Alf" Landon was an American Republican politician, who served as the 26th Governor of Kansas from 1933–1937. He was best known for being the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States, defeated in a landslide by Franklin D...
in 1936, and ran strong in the rural Midwest, taking 57% of the farm vote. Roosevelt, meanwhile, carried every city in the nation with a population of more than 400,000, except for Cincinnati. Willkie was the only major-party nominee for President who never held major elected or appointive office or high military rank.
Post-election life
After the election, Willkie became a fervent internationalist and an unlikely ally of Roosevelt. To the chagrin of many Republicans, Willkie spoke out for controversial Roosevelt initiatives such as Lend-Lease, and campaigned against isolationism. In 1941, Willkie joined with Eleanor RooseveltEleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
to found Freedom House
Freedom House
Freedom House is an international non-governmental organization based in Washington, D.C. that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights...
. On July 23, 1941, he urged unlimited aid to Britain. As Roosevelt's personal representative, he traveled to Britain and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
in late 1941, and to the Soviet Union and China in 1942.
In 1943, Willkie published One World
One World (book)
One World is a travelogue written by Wendell Willkie and originally published in 1943. It is a document of his world travels and meetings with many of the then-Allies heads of state as well as ordinary citizens and soldiers in locales such as El Alamein, Russia, and Iran. Willkie also discusses...
, a book for popular audiences which recounted his world travels on the Gulliver and urged that America accept some form of "world government
World government
World government is the notion of a single common political authority for all of humanity. Its modern conception is rooted in European history, particularly in the philosophy of ancient Greece, in the political formation of the Roman Empire, and in the subsequent struggle between secular authority,...
" after the war. One World was a best-seller that marked his transformation into a major spokesman for internationalism and made him a controversial figure within the Roosevelt administration and among his Republican colleagues, but it helped move public opinion from isolationism to internationalism. Its publication also extended Willkie's contacts with the world of literary critics and film executives.
Civil rights activist
Willkie spoke often of the need to uplift blacks and addressed a convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored PeopleNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
(NAACP) in 1942, one of the most prominent politicians to do so up to that time. When a violent race riot broke out in Detroit
Detroit Race Riot (1943)
The Detroit Race Riot broke out in Detroit, Michigan in June 1943 and lasted for three days before Federal troops restored order. The rioting between blacks and whites began on Belle Isle on 20 June 1943 and continued until 22 June, killing 34, wounding 433, and destroying property valued at $2...
on June 20, 1943, Willkie went on national radio to criticize Republicans and Democrats for ignoring "the Negro question." He said, "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. It is essential that we eliminate it at home as well as abroad." During this time, Willkie also worked with Walter White
Walter Francis White
Walter Francis White was a civil rights activist who led the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for almost a quarter of a century and directed a broad program of legal challenges to segregation and disfranchisement. He was also a journalist, novelist, and essayist...
, executive secretary of the NAACP, to try to convince Hollywood to change its portrayal of blacks in the movies.
Alleged relations with Soong May-ling
According to recollections by publisher Gardner Cowles, Willkie's visit to China involved a bizarre episode as Soong May-lingSoong May-ling
Soong May-ling or Soong Mei-ling, also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek or Madame Chiang was a First Lady of the Republic of China , the wife of Generalissimo and President Chiang Kai-shek. She was a politician and painter...
, the wife of Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
supposedly seduced Willkie. The bizarre part was that it was part of her plot to use China's wealth to help him become President in 1944. Cowles' main evidence was that both Willkie and Soong suddenly went missing during a dinner party. Cowles said Soong later 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." Apart from Cowles' recollections, no corroborating evidence has ever turned up, and Cowles himself reported none of this in his newspapers.
1944 Republican primaries
In the 1944 presidential election Willkie again sought the Republican nomination, choosing his wife's hometown, Rushville, IndianaRushville, Indiana
Rushville is a city in Rushville Township, Rush County, Indiana, United States. The population was 6,341 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Rush County. It was the campaign headquarters for Wendell Willkie's 1940 presidential campaign against Franklin D. Roosevelt. Willkie is buried...
, as his campaign headquarters. His progressive views gained little support due to the rightward shift of the party, and to Republican resentment over Willkie's close collaboration with Roosevelt.
Willkie was considered a favorite in the Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
primary, but finished a distant fourth, behind General Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
, Dewey, and Stassen, with only 4.6%. Following this crushing loss Willkie withdrew from the race.
By the time of his sudden death in October 1944, Willkie had not endorsed either Dewey or Roosevelt. He had begun working with the new Liberal Party of New York
Liberal Party of New York
The Liberal Party of New York is a minor American political party that has been active only in the state of New York. Its platform supports a standard set of social liberal policies: it supports right to abortion, increased spending on education, and universal health care.As of 2007, the Liberal...
to launch a new national party, but his death ended that movement.
Business
In April 1941, Willkie joined the law firm of Miller, Boston, and Owen in New York City, and shortly thereafter the firm changed its name to Willkie, Owen, Otis, Farr, and Gallagher. It is now Willkie Farr & GallagherWillkie Farr & Gallagher
Founded in 1888, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP is an international law firm with eight offices in six countries . The firm has cultivated a strong corporate practice focused on investment funds, bankruptcy and intellectual property...
LLP.
Death
Rather than fly, Wendell Willkie chose to travel from IndianapolisIndianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
to New York City by train
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
. While crossing Ohio he experienced the first of an estimated more than 20 heart attacks
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
. Although other passengers implored him to get off the train at Pittsburgh and go to a hospital, he refused. He wanted to get home and be seen by his own doctor. He reached New York
Pennsylvania Station (New York City)
Pennsylvania Station—commonly known as Penn Station—is the major intercity train station and a major commuter rail hub in New York City. It is one of the busiest rail stations in the world, and a hub for inbound and outbound railroad traffic in New York City. The New York City Subway system also...
alive but died after two days in a hospital, on October 8, 1944, age 52.
Willkie's 1940 running mate, McNary, had died six months earlier. This was the only occasion where both members of a major party Presidential ticket died during the term for which they sought election.
Eleanor Roosevelt, in her My Day
My Day
My Day was a newspaper column that was written by first lady Eleanor Roosevelt six days a week from 1935 to 1962. In her column, she discussed issues such as race, women, and key events . This column allowed Mrs. Roosevelt to spread her ideas and thoughts to millions of Americans and give them a...
column for October 12, 1944, eulogized Willkie as a "man of courage... (whose) outspoken opinions on race relations were among his great contributions to the thinking of the world... 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, Indiana
Rushville is a city in Rushville Township, Rush County, Indiana, United States. The population was 6,341 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Rush County. It was the campaign headquarters for Wendell Willkie's 1940 presidential campaign against Franklin D. Roosevelt. Willkie is buried...
. 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
Zell Miller
Zell Bryan Miller is an American politician from the US state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as Lieutenant Governor from 1975 to 1991, 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as United States Senator from 2000 to 2005....
at the 2004 Republican National Convention
2004 Republican National Convention
The 2004 Republican National Convention, the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States, took place from August 30 to September 2, 2004 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York...
. 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. Miller spoke of Willkie saying,
"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."Miller compared John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
negatively and blasted the senator for being critical of President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
's foreign policy by claiming Willkie refused to criticize FDR on foreign policy during a time of war.
State of the Union
State of the Union (play)
State of the Union is a play by American playwrights Russel Crouse and Howard Lindsay about a fictional Republican presidential candidate. The play premiered on November 14, 1945 at the Hudson Theatre on Broadway, ran for 765 performances, and closed on September 13, 1947...
, a 1945 play by Howard Lindsay
Howard Lindsay
Howard Lindsay was an American theatrical producer, playwright, librettist, director and actor. He is best known for his writing work as part of the collaboration of Lindsay and Crouse, and for his performance, with his wife Dorothy Stickney, in the long-running play Life with...
and Russell Crouse, about a fictional Republican presidential candidate, was reportedly loosely inspired by Willkie and his alleged mistress Irita Van Doren. (It was made into a movie
State of the Union (film)
State of the Union is a 1948 film adaptation written by Myles Connolly and Anthony Veiller of the Russel Crouse, Howard Lindsay play of the same name. Directed by Frank Capra and starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, the film is Capra's first and only project for MGM Pictures...
in 1948.)
Willkie was also featured as a character in Philip Roth
Philip Roth
Philip Milton Roth is an American novelist. He gained fame with the 1959 novella Goodbye, Columbus, an irreverent and humorous portrait of Jewish-American life that earned him a National Book Award...
's counterfactual history novel, The Plot Against America
The Plot Against America
The Plot Against America is a novel by Philip Roth published in 2004. It is an alternate history in which Franklin Delano Roosevelt is defeated in the presidential election of 1940 by Charles Lindbergh.-Plot introduction:...
, in which Willkie opposes Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
in the 1940 presidential election.
A large dorm complex at Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...
is named after him, and for several decades was home to the Willkie Co-op, an experimental housing cooperative
Housing cooperative
A housing cooperative is a legal entity—usually a corporation—that owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings. Each shareholder in the legal entity is granted the right to occupy one housing unit, sometimes subject to an occupancy agreement, which is similar to a lease. ...
that emphasized student operation of dormitory service.
In a humorous reference in the Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...
animated cartoon
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
Falling Hare
Falling Hare
Falling Hare is a 1943 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Robert Clampett, starring Bugs Bunny. The title is another play on words. The word "hair" and "hare". As "falling hair" refers to impending baldness, while in this cartoon's climax, the title turns out to be descriptive of Bugs' situation....
, Bugs is pestered by a gremlin
Gremlin
A gremlin is an imaginary creature commonly depicted as mischievous and mechanically oriented, with a specific interest in aircraft. Gremlins' mischievous natures are similar to those of English folkloric imps, while their inclination to damage or dismantle machinery is more...
while trying to fly a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
bomber. When Bugs realizes what the gremlin is, he timidly asks, "Could that have been a [whispering] gremlin?" In a Yiddish 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 Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n accent. This sound bite, broadcast on nationwide radio, enjoyed a brief vogue as a humorous catchphrase.
In an alternative history novel by S. M. Stirling
S. M. Stirling
Stephen Michael Stirling is a French-born Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy author. Stirling is probably best known for his Draka series of alternate history novels and the more recent time travel/alternate history Nantucket series and Emberverse series.-Personal:Stirling was born on...
, Marching Through Georgia
Marching Through Georgia (novel)
Marching Through Georgia is the first of four books of S.M. Stirling's alternate history series, The Domination.The novel also attempts to educate the reader on the background of the Domination. Government, military, social structures, and the historical development of the Draka are all outlined...
, it is mentioned that Roosevelt retired after his second term and Willkie became his successor as President. The short story 'Trips' by Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg
Robert Silverberg is an American author, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple nominee of the Hugo Award and a winner of the Nebula Award.-Early years:...
is another alternative history example of the same scenario.
The Liberty ship
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
SS Wendell L. Willkie was named for him. It was laid down November 8, 1944, just one month after his death, commissioned December 9, and served with the United States Maritime Commission
United States Maritime Commission
The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and replaced the U.S. Shipping Board which had existed since World War I...
until scrapped in 1970.
Willkie was honored by the United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
with a 75¢ Great Americans series
Great Americans series
The Great Americans series is a set of definitive stamps issued by the United States Postal Service, starting on December 27, 1980 with the 19¢ stamp depicting Sequoyah, and continuing through 2002, the final stamp being the 78¢ Alice Paul self-adhesive stamp. The series, noted for its simplicity...
postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
.
Publications
Willkie was the author of two books:- One WorldOne World (book)One World is a travelogue written by Wendell Willkie and originally published in 1943. It is a document of his world travels and meetings with many of the then-Allies heads of state as well as ordinary citizens and soldiers in locales such as El Alamein, Russia, and Iran. Willkie also discusses...
(1943) - An American Program (1944)
Electoral history
Wendell Willkie electoral history |
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1940 Republican presidential primaries
1940 Republican National Convention 1940 Republican National Convention The 1940 Republican National Convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from June 24 to June 28, 1940. It nominated Wendell Willkie of Indiana for President and Senator Charles McNary of Oregon for Vice-President.... (Presidential tally): First ballot:
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United States presidential election, 1940 United States presidential election, 1940 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. Incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt , a Democrat, broke with tradition and ran for a third term, which became a major issue... :
1944 Republican presidential primaries United States presidential election, 1944 The United States presidential election of 1944 took place while the United States was preoccupied with fighting World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had been in office longer than any other president, but remained popular. Unlike 1940, there was little doubt that Roosevelt would run for... :
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Further reading
- Madison, James H. "Willkie, Wendell Lewis"; American National Biography Online (2000).