The Election of 1944
I've begun reading David Jordan's new book FDR, Dewey and the Election of 1944, and it made me wonder how someone from any party could ever win four elections in a row, especially someone who was suffering from polio and exhausted from having to battle a great depression and a world war. Early in the book (which is where I am), Jordan references a poll taken by the father of polling George Gallup in 1943 that suggested that if the war was over by the time the election came, the Republican candidate would command a strong lead, but if the war was still raging on, FDR would win. That seemed like a strange dynamic, so I'm looking forward to reading more and trying to better understand the times.
Roosevelt was a popular at the time for his handling of the war, so he faced little formal opposition from within his party. Although a growing number of the party's conservatives - especially in the South - were increasingly skeptical of Roosevelt's economic and social policies, few of them dared to publicly oppose Roosevelt, and he was renominated easily.
Although they could not stop FDR from winning the nomination, the obvious physical decline in the President's appearance, as well as rumors of secret health problems, led many delegates and party leaders to strongly oppose Henry A. Wallace, who was FDR's second Vice President. The conservatives in the Democratic party regarded Wallace as being too left-wing to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. They considered Wallace to be a flake. Wallace's had strange spiritual beliefs and a controversial Russian spiritual guru named Nicholas Roerich. Numerous party leaders privately told Roosevelt that they would fight Wallace's renomination, and they proposed Missouri Senator Harry S. Truman, a moderate who had become well-known as the chairman of a Senate wartime investigating committee, as FDR's new running-mate. Roosevelt, personally liked Wallace and knew little about Truman, but he reluctantly agreed to accept Truman as his new running mate to preserve party unity. The fight over the vice presidential nomination proved significant, as FDR's declining health led to his death in April 1945, and Truman became the nation's 33rd President instead of Wallace.
For the Republicans, the frontrunners for their nomination appeared to be Wendell Willkie, the party's 1940 candidate, Senator Robert Taft of Ohio, the leader of the party's conservatives, New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, the leader of the party's powerful, 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.
Taft surprised everyone by announcing that he was not a candidate and that he was supporting fellow conservative, Governor John W. Bricker of Ohio. Many GOP conservatives favored General MacArthur, but MacArthur's chances were hamstrung by the fact that he was leading Allied forces against Japan. At the 1944 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Dewey was nominated on the first ballot. In a bid to maintain party unity, Dewey, a moderate, chose the conservative Bricker as his running mate and Bricker was nominated by acclamation.
The Republicans campaigned against the New Deal. They proposed smaller government and a less-regulated economy. They also made an issue of Roosevelt's health. To quiet rumors of his poor health, Roosevelt insisted on making a vigorous campaign swing in October, and rode in an open car through city streets.
A key point of the campaign occurred when Roosevelt, speaking to a meeting of labor union leaders, gave a speech carried on national radio in which he ridiculed Republican claims that his administration was corrupt and wasteful with tax money. He called a GOP claim that he had sent a US Navy warship to pick up his Scottish Terrier Fala in Alaska nonsense, noting that "Fala was furious" at such rumors. The speech was met with loud laughter and applause from the labor leaders. In response, 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.
American battlefield successes in Europe and the Pacific during the campaign, such as the liberation of Paris in August 1944 and the successful Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines in October 1944, greatly elevated Roosevelt's stature and his electability.
In the election held November 7, 1944, 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 votes to Dewey's 22,017,929. Dewey had done better against Roosevelt than any of FDR's previous three Republican opponents. He also beat Roosevelt in FDR's hometown of Hyde Park, New York, as well as in Truman's hometown of Independence, Missouri. Dewey would again be the Republican presidential nominee in 1948 and would again lose, but by a much smaller margin.
The 1944 Presidential election was the last time both major-party nominees were from the same state.
Roosevelt was a popular at the time for his handling of the war, so he faced little formal opposition from within his party. Although a growing number of the party's conservatives - especially in the South - were increasingly skeptical of Roosevelt's economic and social policies, few of them dared to publicly oppose Roosevelt, and he was renominated easily.
Although they could not stop FDR from winning the nomination, the obvious physical decline in the President's appearance, as well as rumors of secret health problems, led many delegates and party leaders to strongly oppose Henry A. Wallace, who was FDR's second Vice President. The conservatives in the Democratic party regarded Wallace as being too left-wing to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. They considered Wallace to be a flake. Wallace's had strange spiritual beliefs and a controversial Russian spiritual guru named Nicholas Roerich. Numerous party leaders privately told Roosevelt that they would fight Wallace's renomination, and they proposed Missouri Senator Harry S. Truman, a moderate who had become well-known as the chairman of a Senate wartime investigating committee, as FDR's new running-mate. Roosevelt, personally liked Wallace and knew little about Truman, but he reluctantly agreed to accept Truman as his new running mate to preserve party unity. The fight over the vice presidential nomination proved significant, as FDR's declining health led to his death in April 1945, and Truman became the nation's 33rd President instead of Wallace.
For the Republicans, the frontrunners for their nomination appeared to be Wendell Willkie, the party's 1940 candidate, Senator Robert Taft of Ohio, the leader of the party's conservatives, New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, the leader of the party's powerful, 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.
Taft surprised everyone by announcing that he was not a candidate and that he was supporting fellow conservative, Governor John W. Bricker of Ohio. Many GOP conservatives favored General MacArthur, but MacArthur's chances were hamstrung by the fact that he was leading Allied forces against Japan. At the 1944 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Dewey was nominated on the first ballot. In a bid to maintain party unity, Dewey, a moderate, chose the conservative Bricker as his running mate and Bricker was nominated by acclamation.
The Republicans campaigned against the New Deal. They proposed smaller government and a less-regulated economy. They also made an issue of Roosevelt's health. To quiet rumors of his poor health, Roosevelt insisted on making a vigorous campaign swing in October, and rode in an open car through city streets.
A key point of the campaign occurred when Roosevelt, speaking to a meeting of labor union leaders, gave a speech carried on national radio in which he ridiculed Republican claims that his administration was corrupt and wasteful with tax money. He called a GOP claim that he had sent a US Navy warship to pick up his Scottish Terrier Fala in Alaska nonsense, noting that "Fala was furious" at such rumors. The speech was met with loud laughter and applause from the labor leaders. In response, 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.
American battlefield successes in Europe and the Pacific during the campaign, such as the liberation of Paris in August 1944 and the successful Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines in October 1944, greatly elevated Roosevelt's stature and his electability.
In the election held November 7, 1944, 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 votes to Dewey's 22,017,929. Dewey had done better against Roosevelt than any of FDR's previous three Republican opponents. He also beat Roosevelt in FDR's hometown of Hyde Park, New York, as well as in Truman's hometown of Independence, Missouri. Dewey would again be the Republican presidential nominee in 1948 and would again lose, but by a much smaller margin.
The 1944 Presidential election was the last time both major-party nominees were from the same state.