| Republican Party nominee Wendell Willkie (February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) parades through Elwood, Indiana, his hometown, during the 1940 United States Presidential campaign. Willkie was opposing Democratic candidate, incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945) who was running for a 3rd term. As the only interventionist Republican candidate, he was nominated at a deadlocked convention. A lawyer and utility company executive, Willkie was, at the time, the only major-party nominee for president without prior experience in either the government or military. Roosevelt had been surprised by the outcome of the Republican convention, having expected to oppose a conservative isolationist. The polls showed Willkie behind by only 6 points, and the president expected this to be a more difficult race than he had faced in his defeats of Hoover and Landon. Willkie formally accepted the nomination at Elwood on August 17 before a crowd of at least 150,000, the largest political gathering in American history to that point. It was an extremely hot day, and Willkie, who tried to read his speech from a typed manuscript without enlargement, failed to ignite the crowd. Willkie remained in the area for weeks to cement his national reputation as a middle American, distinguishing himself from the “old money” New Yorker Roosevelt. Willkie concluded his campaign on November 2 with a large rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Polls showed him 4 points behind Roosevelt, but with a trend towards the Republicans. Many pundits expected a tight race. On Election Day, November 5, 1940, the returns were initially encouraging, but quickly turned against Willkie. By 1100 Hours, radio commentators were reporting that Roosevelt had won a 3rd term. Willkie received 45 percent of the popular vote to Roosevelt’s 55 percent. The president received 27.2 1,000,000 votes to Willkie’s 22.3 1,000,000, and won 449 to 82 in the Electoral College. Willkie won 10 states to the president’s 38 though he did better than Hoover and Landon had against Roosevelt. Willkie’s popular vote total of 22,348,480 set a record for a Republican not broken until Eisenhower in 1952. The photograph juxtaposes the real Willkie with printed headshots affixed to the town’s streetlights, emphasizing the difference between the dignified picture of the presidential candidate and the fiery performance of the actual man. Photo by John D. Collins (1908 – 1963). | |
| Image Filename | wwii2132.jpg |
| Image Size | 406.29 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1800 x 1382 |
| Photographer | John D. Collins |
| Photographer Title | Estate of John D. Collins |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | August 17, 1940 |
| Location | |
| City | Elwood |
| State or Province | Indiana |
| Country | United States |
| Archive | Princeton University |
| Record Number | 2011-171 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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