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The 1940 United States presidential election was the 39th quadrennial United States presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 5, 1940. The major issue which was discussed throughout the campaign was the outbreak of World War 2 in Europe. Republican Robert A. Taft would narrowly defeat Vice President John Nance Garner, seeing the Republican Party retake the Presidency for the first time since the start of the Great Depression. A new party lead by Iowa farmer and local politician Henry A. Wallace would form. The Progressive Union party would be a broad alliance between several left-wing parties as well as members of the Progressive wings of the Democratic and Republican Parties. Despite not winning any electoral votes, the Progressive Union would deliver the best election result for a 3rd party since the 1924 Presidential Election.
Course of the election[]
Democratic Nomination[]
Going into the 1940 Democratic Convention, Vice President John Nance Garner remained the favorite to receive the Democratic nomination as Al Smith still remained relatively popular among the Democratic Party, even if his approval rating among the American people more broadly had begun to falter. Despite being the favorite for the nomination, John Nance Garner would receive a challenge for the nomination by businessman and dark horse candidate Wendell Willkie of New York. Despite this challenge, Garner would secure the Presidential nomination during the second ballot. He would choose Maryland Senator Millard Tydings as his running mate.
| Nominee | Running Mate |
|---|---|
| John Nance Garner
|
Millard Tydings
|
Republican Nomination[]
With the outbreak of World War 2 in Europe, two factions would arise within the Republican Party; isolationists and interventionists. Isolationists preferred the United States stay out of the conflict in Europe while interventionists wanted greater American involvement in the conflict. The race would ultimately come down between isolationist Robert A. Taft and interventionist Harold Stassen. In a close and contenious Convention, Taft would arise as the nominee by the 6th ballot, with isolationist supporters of Vandenburg eventually throwing their support behind him. The Vice Presidential selection ballot would select party leader Joseph W. Martin Jr. of Massachusetts as Taft's running mate, even as Taft and Martin remained at odds on interventionism and economic policy. Despite the internal conflicts, the Republican Party remained energetic throughout the 1940 election as they hoped to regain the White House for the first time in nearly a decade.
| Nominee | Running Mate |
|---|---|
| Robert A. Taft
|
Joseph W. Martin Jr.
|
Progressive Union, Formation + Nomination[]
In both the 1932 and 1936 elections, there existed disatisfcation among American progressives who felt that the pro-business conservative factions had taken over both parties and that there was a need for a third party to represent the interests of the American working class. However, the progressive vote was split amongst a bunch of different parties, including the progressive wings of the Democratic and Republican parties. The Progressive Union would officially be formed on June 28th, 1937 at the conclusion of the Philadelphia Convention. The Progressive Union would be founded as a merger between the Socialist Party, the Farmer–Labor Party, the Progressive Party, and progressive members of the Democratic and Republican parties.
In the leadup to the 1940 election, the Progressive Party convention would see several candidates fight for the nomination. Throughout much of late 1939, Smedley Butler remained the frontrunner. However, Butler's death in June of 1941 would come as a shock to the party. With Smedley gone, the nomination became contentious. By the 5th ballot, the nomination come down to Henry A. Wallace of Iowa and former Socialist Party nominee Norman Thomas of New York. By the 6th ballot, a compromise would be reached with Henry A. Wallace as the presidential nominee and Norman Thomas as the vice presidential nominee.
| Nominee | Running Mate |
|---|---|
| Henry A. Wallace
|
Norman Thomas
|
Robert Taft delivering a speech in 1940
General Election[]
World War 2 and potential United States involvement in World War 2 would dominate the political discussion throughout the 1940 election. The Taft campaign criticized the actions of Al Smith for putting the United States on the path of war. The Taft campaign also criticized the Smith administration and Democratic Party for prolonging the Great Depression through supposed excessive government intervention through government corporations. Taft's campaign used the slogan of "Prosperity at Home, Prosperity Abroad" to refer to the policy tenants of the Taft campaign. "Propsperity at home" meaning free market economic policies with the goal of boosting the wellbeing of the American people and gross domestic product. "Prosperity abroad" refers to Taft's isolationist foreign policy, believing that staying neutral in the second world war would product US trade interests abroad, bringing American prosperity abroad in the process as well.
The Garner campaign had criticized Taft for being weak on foreign policy and being supposedly friendly with the fascist nations of Europe. Democratic-aligned newspapers and politicians would spread rumors that fascist interest groups and foreign money were influencing the Taft campaign through direct donations. The Garner campaign also used Garner's experience as Vice President to boost his credentials and contrast it against the comparatively inexperienced Robert Taft, who had only entered the Senate one year prior.
While the Democratic and Republican Parties would attack one another, the Progressive Union largely went ignored by both parties as it was believed that it would underperform as most third parties did. The Progressive Union capitalized on the silence from the Democratic and Republican parties by campaigning in rural and urban communities. Wallace would travel the country by train to deliver speeches in working class neighborhoods. It was this grassroots campaign which was believed to have lead the Progressive Union overperforming in the popular vote.
Outcome[]
In a close election, Senator Taft would defeat Vice President Garner with 291 electoral votes to Garner's 240 electoral votes. The popular vote would also remain relatively close, with Taft beating Garner in the popular vote a little under 2 million votes. Contemporary political scientists contributed Taft's victory to be largely because of American anxiety and fear over war spreading to the United States. Even as American approval of Germany and Japan remained negative, isolationist sentiment remained relatively popular among the electorate, who positively received Taft's isolationist campaign message. The Progressive Union would deliver the best perfomance of a third party since Robert M. La Follette's Progressive Party in the 1924 Presidential Election.
See also:[]
Sources cited:[]
- “1940 Presidential Election Interactive Map.” 270toWin.com, www.270towin.com/1940_Election/interactive_map. Accessed 8 Jan. 2022.
- “1940 Republican Convention in Philadelphia.” Www.ushistory.org, www.ushistory.org/gop/convention_1940.htm. Accessed 8 Jan. 2022.
- “1940 Republican National Convention.” Wikipedia, 22 Nov. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940_Republican_National_Convention. Accessed 8 Jan. 2022.
- “The American Presidential Election of 1940.” Www.youtube.com, www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8ef36N3TgA. Accessed 8 Jan. 2022.