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EspañolUNITED STATES PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, 1944
(Redirected from U.S. presidential election, 1944)
The 'United States presidential election of 1944' took place while the United States was preoccupied with fighting World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) had been in office longer than any other president, but remained popular. Unlike 1940, there was little doubt that Roosevelt would run for another term as the Democratic candidate. His Republican opponent in 1944 was New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey. Dewey made an energetic campaign, but there was little doubt, in the midst of a world war, that FDR would win a record fourth term.
Roosevelt was a popular, war-time incumbent and faced little formal opposition. Although a growing number of the party's conservatives - especially in the South - were increasingly skeptical of Roosevelt's economic and social policies, few of them dared to publicly oppose Roosevelt, and he was renominated easily.
The balloting went thusly:
★ President Franklin Roosevelt 1086
★ Harry F. Byrd 87
★ James A. Farley 1
Although the party's conservatives could not stop FDR from winning the nomination, the obvious physical decline in the President's appearance, as well as rumors of private health problems - led many delegates and party leaders to strongly oppose Henry Wallace. Wallace, who was FDR's second Vice-President, was regarded by most conservatives as being too left-wing and personally eccentric to be second in line to the Presidency. Numerous party leaders privately told Roosevelt that they would fight Wallace's renomination, and they proposed Missouri Senator Harry Truman, a moderate who had become well-known as the chairman of a Senate wartime investigating committee, as FDR's new running mate. Roosevelt, who personally liked Wallace and knew little about Truman, reluctantly agreed to accept Truman as his running mate. Even so, many liberal delegates refused to abandon Wallace, and they cast their votes for him on the first ballot. However, enough large Northern, Midwestern, and Southern states supported Truman to give him the victory on the second ballot.
The balloting (source: Richard C. Bain & Judith H. Parris, ''Convention Decisions and Voting Records'' (Washington DC: The Brookings Institution, 1973), pp. 266-267.
President Roosevelt was making a trip to the South Pacific in order to discuss military strategy with General Douglas MacArthur, and thus didn't attend the convention. This was the last time that a presidential nominee failed to attend a national convention during the 20th century.
Republican Candidates
★ Riley A. Bender, businessman from Illinois
★ John W. Bricker, Governor of Ohio
★ Thomas E. Dewey, Governor of New York and candidate for the 1940 nomination
★ Douglas MacArthur, 4-star General and Commander of Allied Forces in the South-West Pacific from Wisconsin
★ Harold E. Stassen, former Governor of Minnesota
★ Robert A. Taft, U.S. senator and candidate for the 1940 nomination from Ohio
★ Wendell L. Willkie, businessman and 1940 presidential nominee from Indiana
As 1944 began the frontrunners for the Republican nomination appeared to be Wendell Willkie, the party's 1940 candidate; Senator Robert Taft of Ohio, the leader of the party's conservatives; and New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, who had risen to national fame as the prosecutor of numerous mafia figures, most notably Lucky Luciano, the organized-crime boss of New York City. However, Taft surprised many by announcing that he was not a candidate; instead he voiced his support for fellow Ohio Senator John Bricker, another conservative. In the key Wisconsin primary Dewey crushed both Willkie and General Douglas MacArthur, thus forcing Willkie to withdraw as a candidate. At the 1944 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Dewey easily overcame the candidacy of Bricker and was nominated on the first ballot. Dewey then chose Bricker as his running mate; Bricker was nominated by acclamation.
The Republicans campaigned against the New Deal, seeking a smaller government and less-regulated economy as the end of the war seemed in sight. Nonetheless Roosevelt's continuing popularity was the main theme of the campaign. To quiet rumors of his poor health, Roosevelt insisted on making a vigorous campaign swing in October, and rode in an open car through city streets. A high point of the campaign occurred when Roosevelt, speaking to a meeting of labor union leaders, gave a speech carried on national radio in which he ridiculed Republican claims that his administration was corrupt and wasteful with tax money. He particularly ridiculed a GOP claim that he had sent a US Navy warship to pick up his Scottish terrier Fala in Alaska, noting that "Fala was furious" at such rumors. The speech was met with loud laughter and applause from the labor leaders. In response, Dewey gave a blistering partisan speech in Oklahoma City a few days later on national radio, in which he accused Roosevelt of being "indispensable" to corrupt big-city Democratic organizations and American Communists; he also referred to members of FDR's cabinet as a "motley crew". However, American battlefield successes in Europe and the Pacific during the campaign, such as the liberation of Paris in August 1944 and the successful Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines in October 1944, made Roosevelt unbeatable.
In the election on November 7, 1944, Roosevelt scored a comfortable victory over Dewey. Roosevelt took 36 states for 432 electoral votes, while Dewey won 12 states and 99 electoral votes (266 were needed to win). In the popular vote Roosevelt won 25,612,916 votes to Dewey's 22,017,929. Dewey did better against Roosevelt than any of FDR's four Republican opponents, and he did have the personal satisfaction of beating Roosevelt in FDR's hometown of Hyde Park, New York, and of winning Truman's hometown of Independence, Missouri. Dewey would again be the Republican presidential nominee in 1948 and would again lose.
The 1944 Presidential race was the last time both major-party nominees were from New York. This could happen again in 2008 if Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton are the major-party nominees.
'Source (Popular Vote):'
'Source (Electoral Vote):'
★ Cantril, Hadley and Mildred Strunk, eds.; ''Public Opinion, 1935-1946'' (1951), massive compilation of many public opinion polls from USA
Gallup, George Horace, ed. ''The Gallup Poll; Public Opinion, 1935-1971'' 3 vol (1972) esp vol 1; summarizes results of each poll as reported to newspapers
★ The 1944 election would be the last election in which a Democratic presidential candidate carried every state in the South.
★ The 1944 election was the first since Grover Cleveland's re-election in 1892 in which the bellwether state of Ohio backed a losing candidate.
★ President of the United States
★ United States Senate elections, 1944
★ Homefront-United States-World War II
★ ''Hell-Bent for Election'', animated Roosevelt campaign film
★ 1944 popular vote by counties
The 'United States presidential election of 1944' took place while the United States was preoccupied with fighting World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) had been in office longer than any other president, but remained popular. Unlike 1940, there was little doubt that Roosevelt would run for another term as the Democratic candidate. His Republican opponent in 1944 was New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey. Dewey made an energetic campaign, but there was little doubt, in the midst of a world war, that FDR would win a record fourth term.
| Contents |
| Nominations |
| Democratic Party Nomination |
| Republican Party Nomination |
| General election |
| The Fall Campaign |
| Results |
| Results by state |
| Further reading |
| Miscellanea |
| See also |
| External links |
| Navigation |
Nominations
Democratic Party Nomination
Roosevelt was a popular, war-time incumbent and faced little formal opposition. Although a growing number of the party's conservatives - especially in the South - were increasingly skeptical of Roosevelt's economic and social policies, few of them dared to publicly oppose Roosevelt, and he was renominated easily.
The balloting went thusly:
★ President Franklin Roosevelt 1086
★ Harry F. Byrd 87
★ James A. Farley 1
Although the party's conservatives could not stop FDR from winning the nomination, the obvious physical decline in the President's appearance, as well as rumors of private health problems - led many delegates and party leaders to strongly oppose Henry Wallace. Wallace, who was FDR's second Vice-President, was regarded by most conservatives as being too left-wing and personally eccentric to be second in line to the Presidency. Numerous party leaders privately told Roosevelt that they would fight Wallace's renomination, and they proposed Missouri Senator Harry Truman, a moderate who had become well-known as the chairman of a Senate wartime investigating committee, as FDR's new running mate. Roosevelt, who personally liked Wallace and knew little about Truman, reluctantly agreed to accept Truman as his running mate. Even so, many liberal delegates refused to abandon Wallace, and they cast their votes for him on the first ballot. However, enough large Northern, Midwestern, and Southern states supported Truman to give him the victory on the second ballot.
The balloting (source: Richard C. Bain & Judith H. Parris, ''Convention Decisions and Voting Records'' (Washington DC: The Brookings Institution, 1973), pp. 266-267.
| ballot | 1 | 2 (before shifts) | 2 (after shifts) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harry S. Truman MO | 319.5 | 477.5 | 1,031 |
| Henry A. Wallace IA | 429.5 | 473 | 105 |
| John H. Bankhead II AL | 98 | 23.5 | 0 |
| Scott W. Lucas IL | 61 | 58 | 0 |
| Alben W. Barkley KY | 49.5 | 40 | 6 |
| J. Melville Broughton NC | 43 | 30 | 0 |
| Paul V. McNutt IN | 31 | 28 | 1 |
| Prentice Cooper TN | 26 | 26 | 26 |
| Scattering | 118.5 | 20 | 7 |
President Roosevelt was making a trip to the South Pacific in order to discuss military strategy with General Douglas MacArthur, and thus didn't attend the convention. This was the last time that a presidential nominee failed to attend a national convention during the 20th century.
Republican Party Nomination
Republican Candidates
★ Riley A. Bender, businessman from Illinois
★ John W. Bricker, Governor of Ohio
★ Thomas E. Dewey, Governor of New York and candidate for the 1940 nomination
★ Douglas MacArthur, 4-star General and Commander of Allied Forces in the South-West Pacific from Wisconsin
★ Harold E. Stassen, former Governor of Minnesota
★ Robert A. Taft, U.S. senator and candidate for the 1940 nomination from Ohio
★ Wendell L. Willkie, businessman and 1940 presidential nominee from Indiana
As 1944 began the frontrunners for the Republican nomination appeared to be Wendell Willkie, the party's 1940 candidate; Senator Robert Taft of Ohio, the leader of the party's conservatives; and New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, who had risen to national fame as the prosecutor of numerous mafia figures, most notably Lucky Luciano, the organized-crime boss of New York City. However, Taft surprised many by announcing that he was not a candidate; instead he voiced his support for fellow Ohio Senator John Bricker, another conservative. In the key Wisconsin primary Dewey crushed both Willkie and General Douglas MacArthur, thus forcing Willkie to withdraw as a candidate. At the 1944 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Dewey easily overcame the candidacy of Bricker and was nominated on the first ballot. Dewey then chose Bricker as his running mate; Bricker was nominated by acclamation.
General election
The Fall Campaign
The Republicans campaigned against the New Deal, seeking a smaller government and less-regulated economy as the end of the war seemed in sight. Nonetheless Roosevelt's continuing popularity was the main theme of the campaign. To quiet rumors of his poor health, Roosevelt insisted on making a vigorous campaign swing in October, and rode in an open car through city streets. A high point of the campaign occurred when Roosevelt, speaking to a meeting of labor union leaders, gave a speech carried on national radio in which he ridiculed Republican claims that his administration was corrupt and wasteful with tax money. He particularly ridiculed a GOP claim that he had sent a US Navy warship to pick up his Scottish terrier Fala in Alaska, noting that "Fala was furious" at such rumors. The speech was met with loud laughter and applause from the labor leaders. In response, Dewey gave a blistering partisan speech in Oklahoma City a few days later on national radio, in which he accused Roosevelt of being "indispensable" to corrupt big-city Democratic organizations and American Communists; he also referred to members of FDR's cabinet as a "motley crew". However, American battlefield successes in Europe and the Pacific during the campaign, such as the liberation of Paris in August 1944 and the successful Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines in October 1944, made Roosevelt unbeatable.
In the election on November 7, 1944, Roosevelt scored a comfortable victory over Dewey. Roosevelt took 36 states for 432 electoral votes, while Dewey won 12 states and 99 electoral votes (266 were needed to win). In the popular vote Roosevelt won 25,612,916 votes to Dewey's 22,017,929. Dewey did better against Roosevelt than any of FDR's four Republican opponents, and he did have the personal satisfaction of beating Roosevelt in FDR's hometown of Hyde Park, New York, and of winning Truman's hometown of Independence, Missouri. Dewey would again be the Republican presidential nominee in 1948 and would again lose.
The 1944 Presidential race was the last time both major-party nominees were from New York. This could happen again in 2008 if Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton are the major-party nominees.
Results
'Source (Popular Vote):'
'Source (Electoral Vote):'
Results by state
| Franklin Roosevelt Democratic | Thomas Dewey Republican | Other | State Total | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | electoral votes | # | % | electoral votes | # | % | electoral votes | # | % | electoral votes | # | |||||
| Alabama | 11 | 198,918 | 81.3 | 11 | 44,540 | 18.2 | - | 1,285 | 0.5 | - | 244,743 | AL | ||||
| Arizona | 4 | 80,926 | 58.8 | 4 | 56,287 | 40.9 | - | 421 | 0.3 | - | 137,634 | AZ | ||||
| Arkansas | 9 | 148,965 | 70.0 | 9 | 63,551 | 29.8 | - | 438 | 0.2 | - | 212,954 | AR | ||||
| California | 25 | 1,988,564 | 56.5 | 25 | 1,512,965 | 43.0 | - | 19,346 | 0.6 | - | 3,520,875 | CA | ||||
| Colorado | 6 | 234,331 | 46.4 | - | 268,731 | 53.2 | 6 | 1,977 | 0.4 | - | 505,039 | CO | ||||
| Connecticut | 8 | 435,146 | 52.3 | 8 | 390,527 | 46.9 | - | 6,317 | 0.8 | - | 831,990 | CT | ||||
| Delaware | 3 | 68,166 | 54.4 | 3 | 56,747 | 45.2 | - | 448 | 0.4 | - | 125,361 | DE | ||||
| Florida | 8 | 339,377 | 70.3 | 8 | 143,215 | 29.7 | - | ''not on ballot'' | 482,592 | FL | ||||||
| Georgia | 12 | 268,187 | 81.7 | 12 | 59,880 | 18.3 | - | 42 | 0.0 | - | 328,109 | GA | ||||
| Idaho | 4 | 107,399 | 51.6 | 4 | 100,137 | 48.1 | - | 785 | 0.4 | - | 208,321 | ID | ||||
| Illinois | 28 | 2,079,479 | 51.5 | 28 | 1,939,314 | 48.1 | - | 17,268 | 0.4 | - | 4,036,031 | IL | ||||
| Indiana | 13 | 781,403 | 46.7 | - | 875,891 | 52.4 | 13 | 14,797 | 0.9 | - | 1,672,091 | IN | ||||
| Iowa | 10 | 499,876 | 47.5 | - | 547,267 | 52.0 | 10 | 5,456 | 0.5 | - | 1,052,599 | IA | ||||
| Kansas | 8 | 287,458 | 39.2 | - | 442,096 | 60.3 | 8 | 4,222 | 0.6 | - | 733,776 | KS | ||||
| Kentucky | 11 | 472,589 | 54.5 | 11 | 392,448 | 45.2 | - | 2,884 | 0.3 | - | 867,921 | KY | ||||
| Louisiana | 10 | 281,564 | 80.6 | 10 | 67,750 | 19.4 | - | 69 | 0.0 | - | 349,383 | LA | ||||
| Maine | 5 | 140,631 | 47.5 | - | 155,434 | 52.4 | 5 | 335 | 0.1 | - | 296,400 | ME | ||||
| Maryland | 8 | 315,490 | 51.9 | 8 | 292,949 | 48.2 | - | ''not on ballot'' | 608,439 | MD | ||||||
| Massachusetts | 16 | 1,035,296 | 52.8 | 16 | 921,350 | 47.0 | - | 4,019 | 0.2 | - | 1,960,665 | MA | ||||
| Michigan | 19 | 1,106,899 | 50.2 | 19 | 1,084,423 | 49.2 | - | 13,901 | 0.6 | - | 2,205,223 | MI | ||||
| Minnesota | 11 | 589,864 | 52.4 | 11 | 527,416 | 46.9 | - | 8,249 | 0.7 | - | 1,125,529 | MN | ||||
| Mississippi | 9 | 168,479 | 93.6 | 9 | 11,601 | 6.4 | - | ''not on ballot'' | 180,080 | MS | ||||||
| Missouri | 15 | 807,804 | 51.4 | 15 | 761,524 | 48.4 | - | 3,146 | 0.2 | - | 1,572,474 | MO | ||||
| Montana | 4 | 112,556 | 54.3 | 4 | 93,163 | 44.9 | - | 1,636 | 0.8 | - | 207,355 | MT | ||||
| Nebraska | 6 | 233,246 | 41.4 | - | 329,880 | 58.9 | 6 | ''not on ballot'' | 563,126 | NE | ||||||
| Nevada | 3 | 29,623 | 54.6 | 3 | 24,611 | 45.4 | - | ''not on ballot'' | 54,234 | NV | ||||||
| New Hampshire | 4 | 119,663 | 52.1 | 4 | 109,916 | 47.9 | - | 46 | 0.0 | - | 229,625 | NH | ||||
| New Jersey | 16 | 987,874 | 50.3 | 16 | 961,335 | 49.0 | - | 14,552 | 0.7 | - | 1,963,761 | NJ | ||||
| New Mexico | 3 | 81,389 | 53.4 | 3 | 70,688 | 46.4 | - | 148 | 0.1 | - | 152,225 | NM | ||||
| New York | 47 | 3,304,238 | 52.3 | 47 | 2,987,647 | 47.3 | - | 24,905 | 0.4 | - | 6,316,790 | NY | ||||
| North Carolina | 14 | 527,399 | 66.7 | 14 | 263,155 | 33.3 | - | ''not on ballot'' | 790,554 | NC | ||||||
| North Dakota | 4 | 100,144 | 45.5 | - | 118,535 | 53.8 | 4 | 1,492 | 0.7 | - | 220,171 | ND | ||||
| Ohio | 25 | 1,570,763 | 49.8 | - | 1,582,293 | 50.2 | 25 | ''not on ballot'' | 3,153,056 | OH | ||||||
| Oklahoma | 10 | 401,549 | 55.6 | 10 | 319,424 | 44.2 | - | 1,663 | 0.2 | - | 722,636 | OK | ||||
| Oregon | 6 | 248,635 | 51.8 | 6 | 225,365 | 46.9 | - | 6,147 | 1.3 | - | 480,147 | OR | ||||
| Pennsylvania | 35 | 1,940,479 | 51.1 | 35 | 1,835,054 | 48.4 | - | 19,260 | 0.5 | - | 3,794,793 | PA | ||||
| Rhode Island | 4 | 175,356 | 58.6 | 4 | 123,487 | 41.3 | - | 433 | 0.1 | - | 299,276 | RI | ||||
| South Carolina | 8 | 90,601 | 87.6 | 8 | 4,610 | 4.5 | - | 8,164 | 7.9 | - | 103,375 | SC | ||||
| South Dakota | 4 | 96,711 | 41.7 | - | 135,365 | 58.3 | 4 | ''not on ballot'' | 232,076 | SD | ||||||
| Tennessee | 12 | 308,707 | 60.5 | 12 | 200,311 | 39.2 | - | 1,674 | 0.3 | - | 510,692 | TN | ||||
| Texas | 23 | 821,605 | 71.4 | 23 | 191,425 | 16.6 | - | 137,301 | 11.9 | - | 1,150,331 | TX | ||||
| Utah | 4 | 150,088 | 60.9 | 4 | 97,891 | 39.4 | - | 340 | 0.1 | - | 248,319 | UT | ||||
| Vermont | 3 | 53,820 | 42.9 | - | 71,527 | 57.1 | 3 | 14 | 0.0 | - | 125,361 | VT | ||||
| Virginia | 11 | 242,276 | 62.4 | 11 | 145,243 | 37.4 | - | 966 | 0.3 | - | 388,485 | VA | ||||
| Washington | 8 | 486,774 | 56.8 | 8 | 361,689 | 42.2 | - | 7,865 | 0.9 | - | 856,328 | WA | ||||
| West Virginia | 8 | 392,777 | 54.9 | 8 | 322,819 | 45.1 | - | ''not on ballot'' | 715,596 | WV | ||||||
| Wisconsin | 12 | 650,413 | 48.6 | - | 674,532 | 50.4 | 12 | 14,207 | 1.1 | - | 1,339,152 | WI | ||||
| Wyoming | 3 | 49,419 | 48.8 | - | 51,921 | 51.2 | 3 | ''not on ballot'' | 101,340 | WY | ||||||
| TOTALS: | 531 | 25,612,916 | 53.4 | 432 | 22,017,929 | 45.9 | 99 | 346,218 | 0.7 | - | 47,977,063 | |||||
| TO WIN: | 266 | |||||||||||||||
Further reading
★ Cantril, Hadley and Mildred Strunk, eds.; ''Public Opinion, 1935-1946'' (1951), massive compilation of many public opinion polls from USA
Gallup, George Horace, ed. ''The Gallup Poll; Public Opinion, 1935-1971'' 3 vol (1972) esp vol 1; summarizes results of each poll as reported to newspapers
Miscellanea
★ The 1944 election would be the last election in which a Democratic presidential candidate carried every state in the South.
★ The 1944 election was the first since Grover Cleveland's re-election in 1892 in which the bellwether state of Ohio backed a losing candidate.
See also
★ President of the United States
★ United States Senate elections, 1944
★ Homefront-United States-World War II
★ ''Hell-Bent for Election'', animated Roosevelt campaign film
External links
★ 1944 popular vote by counties
Navigation
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