United States Presidential Election, 1940 (Abraham Lincoln Born in the 20th Century)

The United States presidential election of 1940 was the 39th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1940. The election was fought in the shadow of World War II in Europe, as the United States was emerging from the Great Depression. Incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Democratic candidate, broke with tradition and ran for a third term (just like Theodore Roosevelt in the 1908 election), which became a major issue.

The surprise Republican candidate was maverick businessman Wendell Willkie, a dark horse who crusaded against Roosevelt's perceived failure to end the Depression and his supposed eagerness for war.

John Nance Garner the then incumbent Vice President was a Texas conservative who had turned against Roosevelt in his second term because of his liberal economic and social policies. He ran against the incumbent Roosevelt during the Democratic primaries but lossed and then decided to run as an independent.