October Surprises: FDR vs. Thomas Dewey (1944)
In 1944, the second world war was in its fifth year. It appeared to be drawing to a close and had turned in the Allies favor, but before the June 6th D-Day Normandy Landing, this wasn't quite so clear. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was coming to the end of his third term and the strain that the presidency and the war had taken on his health was showing.
In the previous election, the issue had been been whether or not Roosevelt should break longstanding tradition and run for a third term. That ship had sailed by 1944, by which time Roosevelt was very popular. The decision of whether or not he would seek a fourth term in office was really up to him. He encountered virtually no opposition for his party's nomination, and the real contest at the 1944 Democratic Convention that year was who would the party choose for the number two spot on the ticket. Democrats had lost trust in Vice-President Henry Wallace, who was seen as too far left and too eccentric. Missouri Senator Harry Truman, who had been the Chairman of a senate committee investigating wartime fraud, was chosen to replace Wallace.
As 1944 began, the frontrunners for the Republican nomination appeared to be Wendell Willkie, the party's 1940 nominee, Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio, the leader of the party's conservative wing, New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, the leader of the party's moderate eastern establishment, General Douglas MacArthur, then serving as an Allied commander in the Pacific theater of the war, and former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen, then serving as a U.S. naval officer in the Pacific. Taft surprised many by announcing that he would not seek the nomination. He threw his support behind fellow conservative, Governor John W. Bricker of Ohio. Willkie withdraw as a candidate after performing poorly in the primaries. He died suddenly in early October 1944, without endorsing anyone for president. At the 1944 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, Dewey was nominated for president on the first ballot and he chose the conservative Bricker as his running mate.
In the general election the Republicans campaigned against the New Deal. They advocated for a smaller government and a less-regulated economy, arguing that the end of the war was in sight. Roosevelt's continuing popularity seemed to be an obstacle to victory for the GOP. To counter this, the Republicans made an issue out of FDR's poor health. FDR was looking very run down and rumors of his poor health were spreading. His weight loss and haggard appearance was apparent to all, both within his party and among his opponents. His hands shook so badly that Harry Truman recalled that Roosevelt was unable to make his own coffee. FDR’s physician, Ross McIntire, led efforts to a cover-up FDR’s illnesses from the voting public. To avoid being seen in public, Roosevelt made great use of radio. While preparing to oversee a military exercise at San Diego’s Camp Pendleton in July 1944, FDR had a seizure. This happened just as the Democratic National Convention was taking place. Roosevelt delivered his acceptance speech to the convention over the radio and only a handful of his closest aides knew about his seizure.
To silence doubters on this issue and surprise his critics, Roosevelt insisted on making a vigorous campaign swing in October. He rode in an open car through city streets, including one memorable address on a very rainy night in New York City. A special ramp was constructed for Roosevelt's car to drive up so that he didn't have to get out of the vehicle to speak.
One of his most memorable speeches during the campaign was made by Roosevelt to a group of labor union leaders. The speech was carried on national radio. In the speech he ridiculed Republican claims that his administration was corrupt and wasteful with tax money. He lampooned a Republican claim that he had sent a US Navy warship to pick up his Scottish Terrier Fala in Alaska, telling his audience. "Fala was furious" at such rumors. His audience reacted with loud laughter and applause.
Dewey gave a blistering partisan speech in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, a few days later on national radio, in which he accused Roosevelt of being "indispensable" to corrupt big-city Democratic organizations and American Communists. However, this was ineffective, as American battlefield successes in Europe and the Pacific during the campaign translated into support for Roosevelt. The liberation of Paris in August 1944 and the successful Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines in October 1944, made Roosevelt unbeatable.
Throughout the campaign, Roosevelt led Dewey in all the polls by varying margins and the Roosevelt campaign always seemed to find a way to distract voters from any suggestion that Roosevelt was in too poor health to be president, or that he had served for too long. On election day, FDR won a comfortable victory over his Republican challenger. Roosevelt won 36 states for 432 electoral votes, while Dewey won 12 states and 99 electoral votes. In the popular vote Roosevelt won 25,612,916 (53.4%) votes to Dewey's 22,017,929 (45.9%)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated as president for the fourth and final time on January 20, 1945, just 10 days before his 63rd birthday. Less than three months later, he was dead.
In the previous election, the issue had been been whether or not Roosevelt should break longstanding tradition and run for a third term. That ship had sailed by 1944, by which time Roosevelt was very popular. The decision of whether or not he would seek a fourth term in office was really up to him. He encountered virtually no opposition for his party's nomination, and the real contest at the 1944 Democratic Convention that year was who would the party choose for the number two spot on the ticket. Democrats had lost trust in Vice-President Henry Wallace, who was seen as too far left and too eccentric. Missouri Senator Harry Truman, who had been the Chairman of a senate committee investigating wartime fraud, was chosen to replace Wallace.
As 1944 began, the frontrunners for the Republican nomination appeared to be Wendell Willkie, the party's 1940 nominee, Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio, the leader of the party's conservative wing, New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, the leader of the party's moderate eastern establishment, General Douglas MacArthur, then serving as an Allied commander in the Pacific theater of the war, and former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen, then serving as a U.S. naval officer in the Pacific. Taft surprised many by announcing that he would not seek the nomination. He threw his support behind fellow conservative, Governor John W. Bricker of Ohio. Willkie withdraw as a candidate after performing poorly in the primaries. He died suddenly in early October 1944, without endorsing anyone for president. At the 1944 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, Dewey was nominated for president on the first ballot and he chose the conservative Bricker as his running mate.
In the general election the Republicans campaigned against the New Deal. They advocated for a smaller government and a less-regulated economy, arguing that the end of the war was in sight. Roosevelt's continuing popularity seemed to be an obstacle to victory for the GOP. To counter this, the Republicans made an issue out of FDR's poor health. FDR was looking very run down and rumors of his poor health were spreading. His weight loss and haggard appearance was apparent to all, both within his party and among his opponents. His hands shook so badly that Harry Truman recalled that Roosevelt was unable to make his own coffee. FDR’s physician, Ross McIntire, led efforts to a cover-up FDR’s illnesses from the voting public. To avoid being seen in public, Roosevelt made great use of radio. While preparing to oversee a military exercise at San Diego’s Camp Pendleton in July 1944, FDR had a seizure. This happened just as the Democratic National Convention was taking place. Roosevelt delivered his acceptance speech to the convention over the radio and only a handful of his closest aides knew about his seizure.
To silence doubters on this issue and surprise his critics, Roosevelt insisted on making a vigorous campaign swing in October. He rode in an open car through city streets, including one memorable address on a very rainy night in New York City. A special ramp was constructed for Roosevelt's car to drive up so that he didn't have to get out of the vehicle to speak.
One of his most memorable speeches during the campaign was made by Roosevelt to a group of labor union leaders. The speech was carried on national radio. In the speech he ridiculed Republican claims that his administration was corrupt and wasteful with tax money. He lampooned a Republican claim that he had sent a US Navy warship to pick up his Scottish Terrier Fala in Alaska, telling his audience. "Fala was furious" at such rumors. His audience reacted with loud laughter and applause.
Dewey gave a blistering partisan speech in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, a few days later on national radio, in which he accused Roosevelt of being "indispensable" to corrupt big-city Democratic organizations and American Communists. However, this was ineffective, as American battlefield successes in Europe and the Pacific during the campaign translated into support for Roosevelt. The liberation of Paris in August 1944 and the successful Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines in October 1944, made Roosevelt unbeatable.
Throughout the campaign, Roosevelt led Dewey in all the polls by varying margins and the Roosevelt campaign always seemed to find a way to distract voters from any suggestion that Roosevelt was in too poor health to be president, or that he had served for too long. On election day, FDR won a comfortable victory over his Republican challenger. Roosevelt won 36 states for 432 electoral votes, while Dewey won 12 states and 99 electoral votes. In the popular vote Roosevelt won 25,612,916 (53.4%) votes to Dewey's 22,017,929 (45.9%)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated as president for the fourth and final time on January 20, 1945, just 10 days before his 63rd birthday. Less than three months later, he was dead.