Wendell Willkie
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Wendell Lewis Willkie was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 Republican nominee for president. Willkie appealed to many convention delegates as the Republican field's only interventionist: although the U.S. remained neutral prior to Pearl Harbor, he favored greater U.S. involvement in World War II to support Britain and other Allies. His Democratic opponent, incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt, won the 1940 election with about 55% of the popular vote and took the electoral college vote by a wide margin.
Willkie (right) and David E. Lilienthal
Willkie testifying before a congressional committee, 1939
Willkie on the cover of Time magazine, July 31, 1939
From March 12 to May 17, 1940, voters of the Republican Party chose delegates to nominate a candidate for president at the 1940 Republican National Convention. The nominee was selected at the convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from June 24–28, 1940.
Image: Robert Taft 1939 stands at microphone (cropped)
Image: Wendell Willkie
(From left to right) Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio, Manhattan District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey, and Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg of Michigan at a 1939 Gridiron Dinner. The three men were considered leading candidates for the Republican nomination through 1940.