When France collapsed, Franklin Roosevelt and his administration pushed for aid to Britain.
But there was also a Presidential election to think of. The Republicans nominated a dark horse candidate who agreed with the need to aid the British and was a surprisingly adept campaigner.
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Playlist:
Fanfare
Opening War Theme
Symphony No. 5 in C minor
Composed in 1808 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Public domain.
Performed by the Davis High School Symphony Orchestra. Public domain recording. Source.
Closing War Theme
Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.
Another great episode. The 1940 U.S. Presidential Election is historic in so many ways. I think that it is a good thing that
Franklin Delano Roosevelt decided to run for a third term. At that point in history, I think that it probably would have been somewhat difficult to find someone with the leadership and political/foreign policy experience to do as well of a job as Franklin Roosevelt as president. That is assuming that in an alternate version of history that FDR lost a 3rd Term in 1940. I like FDR’S campaign slogan “Better a Third Termer than a Third Rater.” It is interesting to think what might have happened if Willkie had won the presidency instead of FDR. I have recently been reading a book “1940: FDR, Willkie, Lindbergh, Hitler – The Election Amid the Storm” by Susan Dunn. The book expands on a lot of the events that you mentioned in the episode. Thanks again for another great episode. I look forward to you continuing to cover World War II.
I think Willkie would have worked out all right, but as you say, the war makes Roosevelt’s experience all the more important. The American public seemed to think the same way. The polling data showed that Willkie ran a lot better when respondents were told to assume America would not enter the war. When they were told to assume America would, Roosevelt ran a lot better.