Wendell Willkie

Politician

1892 – 1944

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Who was Wendell Willkie?

Wendell Lewis Willkie was a corporate lawyer in the United States and a dark horse who became the Republican Party nominee for president in 1940. A member of the liberal wing of the party, 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. Following his journeys, Willkie wrote One World; a bestselling account of his travels and meetings with the Allied 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 several months later died of a heart attack. He never held political office.

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Born
Feb 18, 1892
Elwood
Also known as
  • Wendell L. Willkie
Spouses
Children
Religion
  • Anglicanism
  • Episcopal Church
Nationality
  • United States of America
Profession
Education
  • Indiana University Bloomington
Lived in
  • Indiana
  • Akron
  • Manhattan
Died
Oct 8, 1944
New York City

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

Citation

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