Wendell Willkie

Wendell Lewis Willkie (February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was a lawyer, born in Elwood, Indiana, the only native of Indiana to be nominated as the presidential candidate for a national party, having never held any sort of high elected office. In 1940 he was the Republican nominee for the 1940 presidential election. Willkie lost the election to Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Political life

After fighting in World War I, Willkie moved to Akron, Ohio and soon gained status in the local Democratic Party. In college he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity. In 1929, Willkie became a legal counsel for the New York-based Commonwealth & Southern Corporation, the country's largest electric utility holding company. He rose through the ranks of the company, and became president in 1933. He had been an active campaigner at the 1932 Democratic National Convention, and might have seemed an unlikely candidate to challenge either Roosevelt or one of the president's favorite New Deal programs. He initally backed former Cleveland mayor, Newton D. Baker, in 1932, but once FDR captured the nomination, Willkie supported him and contributed to his campaign.

Related Topics:
World War I - Akron - Ohio - Democratic Party - 1929 - New York - Commonwealth & Southern Corporation - Electric utility - Holding company - 1933 - 1932 Democratic National Convention - Cleveland - Newton D. Baker - 1932

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Soon after the election, Roosevelt proposed legislation creating the Tennessee Valley Authority, an organization with far-reaching influence that promised to bring flood control and cheap electricity to the extremely poor Tennessee Valley. However, this organization would compete with existing power companies in the area, including Commonwealh & Southern. This prompted Willkie to become an active critic of the New Deal, especially the TVA. Willkie had stated publicly since 1930 that it would be unconstitutional for the federal government to enter the utility business, and now this was quickly becoming reality. In April of 1933, Willkie testified against the TVA legislation before the House of Representatives. His testimony compelled the House to limit the TVA's ability to build transmission lines that would compete with existing utility companies (including C & S). However, FDR got the Senate to remove those restrictions and the resulting law gave the TVA extremely broad power. Because the government-run TVA could borrow unlimited funds at low interest rates, C & S was unable to compete, and Willkie was forced to sell C & S to the TVA in 1939 for $78.6 million.

Related Topics:
Tennessee Valley Authority - Flood control - Electricity - Tennessee Valley - New Deal - 1930 - House of Representatives - 1939

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Willkie formally switched parties in 1939 on a platform of opposition to Roosevelt's New Deal. Willkie campaigned against the New Deal and the government's lack of military preparedness. During the election, Roosevelt preempted the military issue by expanding military contracts and instituting a military draft. Willkie supported a military draft but then reversed his approach and accused FDR of warmongering. On election day Roosevelt received 27 million votes to Willkie's 22 million, and in the U.S. Electoral College, Roosevelt defeated Willkie 449 to 82.

Related Topics:
New Deal - Election day - U.S. Electoral College

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After the election, Willkie became one of Roosevelt's most unlikely allies. To the chagrin of many in his party, Willkie called for greater national support for controversial Roosevelt initiatives such as the Lend-Lease Act and embarked on a new campaign to awaken America from its isolationist slumber. On July 23, 1941, he urged unlimited aid to the United Kingdom in its struggle against Nazi Germany. That same year he traveled to Britain and the Middle East as Roosevelt's personal representative, and in 1942 visited the USSR and China in the same capacity. In 1943, Willkie wrote One World, a plea for international peacekeeping after the war. Extremely popular, millions of copies of the book sold. The book further reduced the appeal of isolationism in the U.S. Also in 1943, together with Eleanor Roosevelt and other Americans concerned about the mounting threats to peace and democracy, Willkie helped to establish Freedom House.

Related Topics:
Lend-Lease Act - July 23 - 1941 - United Kingdom - Nazi - Germany - Middle East - 1942 - USSR - China - 1943 - One World - Isolationism - Eleanor Roosevelt - Freedom House

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In the 1944 presidential election Willkie once again sought the Republican nomination, choosing his wife's hometown, Rushville, Indiana, as his campaign headquarters. But his liberal progressive views gained little support due to the rightward shift of the Republican Party. Willkie did not support the eventual 1944 Republican nominee, Thomas Dewey. Willkie began working with the new Liberal Party of New York to launch a new national party, but his unexpected death ended that movement.

Related Topics:
1944 presidential election - Rushville, Indiana - Thomas Dewey - Liberal Party of New York

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After surviving several heart attacks, Willkie finally succumbed, dying on October 8, 1944 at age fifty-two. Shortly before Willkie died, he told a friend, that if he could write his own epitaph and had to choose between "here lies a president" or "here lies one who contributed to saving freedom," he would prefer the latter. Eleanor Roosevelt in her October 12, 1944 My Day column eulogized Willkie as a "man of courage.... (whose) outspoken opinions on race relations were among his great contributions to the thinking of the world." She concluded, "Americans tend to forget the names of the men who lost their bid for the presidency. Willkie proved the exception to this rule." (1)

Related Topics:
Heart attacks - October 8 - 1944 - Eleanor Roosevelt - October 12 - My Day

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Willkie is buried in East Hill Cemetery, Rushville Indiana.

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