Gilpin Historical Society
By David Forsyth, PhD
As 1940 began, the great political question was whether or not President Franklin D. Roosevelt would seek a third term with a probable world war on the horizon. Lawyer and business executive Wendell Willkie was frequently mention as a possible successor if FDR retired, but unlike most people, Willkie, who was a registered Democrat, believed that the president would seek a third term. Willkie decided the only way he had a chance at the presidency was through the Republican Party. After changing his party registration in late 1939, Willkie announced that he would accept the Republican nomination if it was offered to him. Willkie and his supporters worked hard behind the scenes at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia in June 1940 to secure the nomination, after which he returned to New York to begin his campaign.
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