Lord Strange: *snickers* Trust me, Willkie is not going to let the British Empire survive if he can help it.
ArchdukePaul: Wendell Willkie is one of my favorite historical figures. I mean, this man should have his picture in the dictionary next to the word "bipartisan". He was not afraid to make enemies in order to do the right thing. He was ahead of his time in promoting the idea of a world community spearheaded by the United States. He was also a strong advocate of civil rights. I can't wait to speculate on what a Willkie Administration might look like.
Thank you for your complements. On the question of what an Willkie Administration will do, there are three things that makes Willkie different from Roosevelt. First, Willkie was somewhat more hawkish about getting the United States into World War Two than Roosevelt, who preferred a gradual approach. Second, although Willkie supports the New Deal, cutting back spending will be in order. It won't be like "Advantages Without Obligations", where Alf M. Landon basically killed the New Deal. Third, whereas Roosevelt was hesitant about supporting civil rights in order to not offend Southern Democrats, Willkie just didn't care what they thought.
Incognitia: Getting Willkie to 283 electoral votes was the easy part. I merely adopted the calculations provided by How Close Were Presidential Elections? (and threw in Massachusetts for added measure). It was working out the popular votes that proved to be much trickier. I spent an hour or so playing around with the numbers until I got to the point where the popular votes between Willkie and Roosevelt were razor thin. I wanted Willkie to narrowly win the election when it came to actual votes.
Yes, Mr. Cromwell was the original reciever of that famous line.
El Pip: Yes. I like to think of this AAR as being a second-order counterfactual. It means that after a major change in history, a familiar pattern of history reasserts itself.
No. I don't think that will happen, but it would be funny if he did. :rofl:
There will certainly be earlier American support for the Allies. However, the Democrats will not give Willkie an political headache. Instead, he will be fighting his own party.
trekaddict: Given that Willkie used to be a Democrat, that might just be a waste of time for him.
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Willkie Assumes the Presidency
The world awoke on November 6th with the history-making news that the United States had elected a new President. In Germany, Willkie’s victory was seen as a major blow. The Nazis were naturally concerned about his “peace through strength” platform. Across the English Channel, the British were anxious to see how far the new President would go to help them. Meanwhile in the United States, the Democratic Party felt awkward about the outcome. It was almost as if they were exchanging one Democratic President with another – one who wore a Republican coat instead. As for the Republican Party, they continued to remain split into two camps. There were those who thought Willkie’s leadership would move the party into a better direction and there were those who saw the President-elect as a dangerous man who would overthrow the conservative status quo. Far from uniting the party, Willkie’s victory ironically deepened the fissure within the G.O.P.
Two days after the election, Willkie paid a visit to Elwood. He found the town to be beside itself with pure excitement. After all, their favorite son was on his way to the White House. Everyone was out on the streets, celebrating and honoring the President-elect. Standing on the steps of Town Hall, a deeply moved Willkie thanked his fellow Hoosiers for their warm hospitality and support and promised to “return to this great town whenever I need a break from the choking atmosphere of Washington.”
At the exact same time Willkie was being worshipped in Elwood, Roosevelt returned to the White House from Hyde Park. Ever since conceding the election, the President kept a low profile. With the whole nation buzzing over the outcome and what the future might hold, he wanted to take the opportunity to take a step back and carefully consider his endgame. Unlike Hoover, FDR gracefully accepted his loss and had no bitterness towards the man who would replace him in a few months. “You know, he’s a very good fellow,” he told Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, “He has lots of talent.” Waiting for Roosevelt in his office was a message from Churchill:
“I did not think it right for me as a Foreigner to express my opinion upon American politics while the Election was on, but now I feel you will not mind my saying that I am disappointed by the result. I think the judgment rendered by the people of the United States, while free, is not correct. I do not hesitate to say that the better man did not win. However, things are afoot which will be remembered as long as the English language is spoken in any quarter of the globe. I shall take Mr. Willkie into my confidence and share with him the same insights I have shared with you. I pray for his success now that these great burdens have been cast upon him. I must avow my faith that the lights by which we steer will bring us all safely to anchor.”
After leaving Elwood, Willkie set about laying the foundation for his upcoming administration. He already had a few names in mind. Republican Governors Harold Stassen of Minnesota and Raymond E. Baldwin of Connecticut (who credited Willkie’s win in the Constitution State for his narrow re-election to a second term) were both promised cabinet positions as a reward for their support during the convention and subsequent campaign. In addition, 1936 Republican Presidential candidate Alf M. Landon of Kansas and Republican Senator Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan were invited to join the new administration. Willkie especially sought Vandenberg – one of the leaders of the Conservative wing – out in order to strike an ideological balance.
On November 11th, the President-elect traveled to the White House for his first meeting with the lame duck. Upon shaking hands, it became clear that the bitter campaign rivalry between them was gone. The two men took an immediate liking to each other and quickly became friends. Over the next few months, Roosevelt and Willkie met several times for both formal meetings and informal get-togethers. As a result, the Roosevelt-Willkie transition period became virtually seamless; a striking far cry from the cold indifference which had marked the Hoover-Roosevelt transition period eight years earlier. On foreign policy, they shared the same aim: supporting the United Kingdom and preparing the United States for the spectra of war. On domestic policy, they differed. Willkie warned FDR that he intended to roll back the New Deal, but that he would also keep certain programs - like Social Security.
Four days later, Willkie lunched with the only living former President at the Waldorf Towers in New York City. Although he was among those who viewed Willkie as a Democrat who had somehow high jacked the Republican Party, Hoover was nonetheless intrigued when his presence was requested. While munching in Hoover’s suite, the President-elect asked the former President if he would be willing to serve as his personal envoy. Hoover remained quiet as Willkie told him that “we must continue to help the fighting men of Britain to preserve that rim of freedom which is gradually shrinking and which, if we permit it to continue to shrink, will shrink to the edge of our own shores.” He reminded Hoover that “you are still highly regarded in Europe for your exceptional humanitarian work there. To me, you are the perfect person to go to Britain and see first hand exactly what they need to withstand the Nazi threat. This is your golden opportunity to once again perform great deeds for the world.”
Although he was a staunch isolationist, Hoover couldn’t resist the appeals to his vanity. It was also a good way to start rehabilitating his shattered image at home. He thereby agreed to visit the United Kingdom as Willkie’s envoy in January 1941.
Meanwhile, Roosevelt kept himself busy. With his Presidency set to expire on January 20th, 1941, he didn’t want to simply sit back and take it easy. Instead, he would go out the same way he came in: doing as much as possible. In late 1940, the situation in the United Kingdom was reaching a critical point. Approaching bankruptcy, the British government could no longer afford the cash-and-carry policy. Churchill described the crisis in an urgent message:
“The moment approaches when we shall no longer be able to pay cash for shipping and other supplies. While we will do our utmost, and shrink from no proper sacrifice to make payments across the Exchange, I believe you will agree that it would be wrong in principle and mutually disadvantageous in effect, if at the height of this struggle, Great Britain were to be divested of all salvable assets, so that after the victory was won with our blood, civilization saved, and the time gained for the United States to be fully armed against all eventualities, we should stand stripped to the bone. Such a course would not be in the moral or the economic interests of either of our countries.”
Roosevelt knew he had to do something – or at least get the ball rolling – to rectify the problem. In early December, he took the financial issue with him on a relaxing Caribbean cruise. While fishing, he casually described to Harry L. Hopkins a thought brewing in his mind. What if the United States lent the United Kingdom whatever it needed now and was repaid by them later? This concept was one FDR would spend the remainder of his time in office decisively pursuing.
Upon his return to the White House, Roosevelt called Willkie and told him about his brainstorm. Since implementing this lend-now-pay-later proposal would carry over into the Willkie Administration, FDR wanted his successor to be kept in the loop. Willkie called the idea “fantastic” and said he would see it through. Indeed, Willkie was already planning to make expanding military aid to the United Kingdom a major part of his first inaugural address. With the President-elect pledging to continue the effort, the incumbent officially launched the effort on December 17th. Meeting with the press, Roosevelt rolled out what would become known as “Lend-Lease”:
“Suppose my neighbor's home catches fire, and I have a length of garden hose 400 or 500 feet away. If he can take my garden hose and connect it up with his hydrant, I may help him to put out his fire. Now, what do I do? I don't say to him before that operation, ‘Neighbor, my garden hose cost me $15; you have to pay me $15 for it.’ What is the transaction that goes on? I don't want $15 - I want my garden hose back after the fire is over. If it goes through the fire all right, intact, without any damage to it, he gives it back to me and thanks me very much for the use of it. But suppose it gets smashed up - holes in it - during the fire; we don't have to have too much formality about it, but I say to him, ‘I was glad to lend you that hose; I see I can't use it any more, it's all smashed up.’ He says, ‘How many feet of it were there?’ I tell him, ‘There were 150 feet of it.’ He says, ‘All right, I will replace it.’ Now, if I get a nice garden hose back, I am in pretty good shape.”
When Churchill learned of Lend-Lease, he told Parliament that it was “the most unsordid act in the history of any nation.” Opposing Lend-Lease, Senator Taft observed that “lending war equipment is a good deal like lending chewing gum. You don’t want it back.” Undeterred by the isolationist reaction, Roosevelt then presented Lend-Lease directly to the American people. On December 29th, in his sixteenth and final fireside chat, Roosevelt appealed to the nation to stand behind expanding material support to the United Kingdom.
“Our defense efforts must not be blocked by those who fear the future consequences of surplus plant capacity. The possible consequences of failure of our defense efforts now are much more to be feared.
And after the present needs of our defense are past, a proper handling of the country's peacetime needs will require all of the new productive capacity -- if not still more.
No pessimistic policy about the future of America shall delay the immediate expansion of those industries essential to defense. We need them.
I want to make it clear that it is the purpose of the nation to build now with all possible speed every machine, every arsenal, and every factory that we need to manufacture our defense material. We have the men -- the skill -- the wealth -- and above all, the will.
I am confident that if and when production of consumer or luxury goods in certain industries requires the use of machines and raw materials that are essential for defense purposes, then such production must yield, and will gladly yield, to our primary and compelling purpose.
So I appeal to the owners of plants -- to the managers -- to the workers -- to our own Government employees -- to put every ounce of effort into producing these munitions swiftly and without stint. With this appeal I give you the pledge that all of us who are officers of your Government will devote ourselves to the same whole-hearted extent to the great task that lies ahead.
As planes and ships and guns and shells are produced, your Government, with its defense experts, can then determine how best to use them to defend this hemisphere. The decision as to how much shall be sent abroad and how much shall remain at home must be made on the basis of our overall military necessities.
We must be the great arsenal of democracy. For us this is an emergency as serious as war itself. We must apply ourselves to our task with the same resolution, the same sense of urgency, the same spirit of patriotism and sacrifice as we would show were we at war.
We have furnished the British great material support and we will furnish far more in the future. There will be no ‘bottlenecks’ in our determination to aid Great Britain. No dictator, no combination of dictators, will weaken that determination by threats of how they will construe that determination.”
With the Gallup Poll showing sixty-eight percent of Americans in favor of Lend-Lease, Roosevelt felt confident it would get enacted. However, he couldn’t help but worry about his successor. Lend-Lease would be the first major test of Willkie’s Presidency. In order to get it passed, Willkie would have to fight nearly the entire leadership of his own party. Even some members of the incoming administration were voicing their opposition to Lend-Lease. To improve his friend's odds in the battle ahead, FDR went to Capitol Hill to rally Congressional support. On January 6th, 1941, with fourteen days left until the inauguration, he addressed a joint session of Congress for the final time. Roosevelt reminded Congress that “by an impressive expression of the public will and without regard to partisanship, we are committed to all-inclusive national defense.” He made a strong pitch for Lend-Lease, describing the need to send to the Democracies in peril a united message that “we Americans are vitally concerned in your defense of freedom. We are putting forth our energies, our resources, and our organizing powers to give you the strength to regain and maintain a free world. We shall send you, in ever-increasing numbers, ships, planes, tanks, guns. This is our purpose and our pledge.”
The President concluded his “farewell” address by painting his vision of a world guided by a set of fundamental principles known as the “Four Freedoms”:
“In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear—which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world.
That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.
To that new order we oppose the greater conception—the moral order. A good society is able to face schemes of world domination and foreign revolutions alike without fear.
Since the beginning of our American history, we have been engaged in change—in a perpetual peaceful revolution—a revolution which goes on steadily, quietly adjusting itself to changing conditions—without the oppression of society or the quick-lime in the ditch. The world order which we seek is the cooperation of free countries, working together in a friendly, civilized society.
This nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and hearts of its millions of free men and women; and its faith in freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them. Our strength is our unity of purpose. To that high concept there can be no end save victory.”
A few days later, on January 13th, Willkie held his first press conference since winning the election. The main purpose of the conference was to announce his cabinet picks. To prove that he really was a Republican, Willkie made sure his administration was G.O.P. heavy with a few Democrats thrown in for bipartisan measure. They included:
-Republican Senator Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan as Secretary of State
-Republican Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson of New York (Roosevelt holdover)
-1936 Republican Presidential candidate Alf M. Landon of Kansas as Secretary of the Treasury
-Democratic Attorney General Robert H. Jackson of New York (Roosevelt holdover)
-Republican Governor Harold Stassen of Minnesota as Postmaster General
-Republican Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox of Illinois (Roosevelt holdover)
-Republican Governor Raymond E. Baldwin of Connecticut as Secretary of the Interior
-Democratic Secretary of Agriculture Claude R. Wickard of Indiana (Roosevelt holdover)
-1920 Democratic Presidential candidate James M. Cox of Ohio as Secretary of Commerce
-Republican politician Fiorello H. La Guardia of New York as Secretary of Labor
Afterwards, he took questions from reporters. During the question and answer session, Willkie was asked about what he thought of Lend-Lease. Up until now, he had been quiet on the issue; indeed, the President-elect had mainly stayed in the background out of respect to the current President. Having been asked about Lend-Lease, Willkie answered in his typical, honest fashion. He agreed with the Vice President-elect that the Lend-Lease proposal granted wider presidential authority than he felt was necessary. He favored some minor revisions, including inserting an amendment underscoring Congress’s sole power to declare war. That being said, Willkie approved of Lend-Lease’s overall objective. “Under such dire circumstances,” he declared, “extraordinary steps must be taken. Democracy cannot hope to defend itself in any other way. Let us be clear that the United States is not a belligerent, and we hope she shall not be. Our problem, however, is not alone to keep America out of war, but to keep war out of America.” He also took the opportunity to issue a public warning that the “appeasers, isolationists, or lip-service friends of Britain will seek to sabotage the program of aid to Britain and her allies behind the screen of opposition to this bill.” In other words, Willkie would dig in his heels and stand up to the isolationists within his party in order to get Lend-Lease passed.
On January 19th, Hoover left for London on a high-publicized fact-finding mission; the same day, Wendell and his wife Edith were invited to dine with Franklin and his wife Eleanor at the White House. After all, it was customary for the outgoing First Family to dine with the incoming First Family at the Executive Mansion the night before the inauguration. After dinner, while Eleanor briefed Edith on what to expect as First Lady, Franklin and Wendell spent time alone in the Oval Office. Over drinks, the two men shared both laughter and serious talk. At one point, Roosevelt recommended and Willkie agreed to replace the controversial Joseph P. Kennedy with Hopkins as the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. “Poor Winston thinks everything is going to hell with you in office instead of me,” FDR explained. “He doesn’t really know you yet. Having Harry over there as our Ambassador should soothe anxious nerves.” At another point, FDR was asked what his plans were for the future. His response:
-Write and speak
-Spending time in his beloved Warm Springs, Georgia estate
-Pray that his successor doesn’t get impeached for doing the right thing for America
On that last point, Willkie complained, “Impeached? I am already getting impeached before I even take office tomorrow. My own party wants to lynch me for not following their idiotic and blind beliefs. You know what that SOB Taft is saying about me? He had the gall to publically declare that I am not a ‘real’ Republican President…whatever the hell that means…and therefore whatever I do in office will not reflect the true party. When I leave office, mark my words, I will personally give that son of a failure a black eye on my way out.”
The next morning, after attending a prayer service at St. John’s Episcopal Church (a precedent set by Roosevelt eight years earlier), Willkie and his entourage arrived at the White House for the big day. To make it easier for Roosevelt’s leg paralysis, arrangements were made to have Willkie hang out in the East Room while FDR was carefully loaded into the right seat of the presidential car. Once his friend was comfortably settled in, Willkie walked out onto the North Portico and – with photos and newsreels capturing the moment for prosperity – sat next to him. The motorcade then made its’ two-mile journey up Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol Building. Along the way, the two men made light conversation – a striking contrast from the dead silence of the Hoover-Roosevelt car during the last transition. Arriving at the Capitol, Charles McNary was sworn in first as the thirty-third Vice President of the United States (relieving John Nance Garner of a job he considered “not worth a bucket of warm piss”). Then at Noon, Willkie stood at the rostrum and was sworn in by Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes (this would be Hughes’ final Presidential inauguration) as the thirty-third President of the United States:
“I, Wendell Lewis Willkie, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God."
After shaking hands with people around him amid the United States Marine Band’s stirring rendition of “Hail to the Chief”, forty-eight-year-old Willkie proceeded to deliver his first inaugural address to both his surrounding audience and the national audience via radio. In his speech, the new President painted the dire picture of reality and passionately argued that the United States had to stand up to Hitler as the proud but determined defender of Democracy:
“Yet instinctively also—we know that we are not isolated from those suffering people. We live in the same world as they, and we are created in the same image. In all the democracies that have recently fallen, the people were living the same peaceful lives that we live. They had similar ideals of human freedom. Their methods of trade and exchange were similar to ours. Try as we will, we cannot brush the pitiless picture of their destruction from our vision, or escape the profound effects of it upon the world in which we live.
No man is as wise as to foresee what the future holds or to lay out a plan for it. No man can guarantee to maintain peace. Peace is not something that a nation can achieve by itself. It also depends on what some other country does. It is neither practical, nor desirable, to adopt a foreign program committing the United States to future action under unknown circumstances.
The best that we can do is to decide what principle shall guide us. For me, that principle can be simply defined:
In the foreign policy of the United States, as in its domestic policy, I will do everything to defend American democracy and I will refrain from doing anything that would injure it. We must not permit our emotions—our sympathies or hatreds—to move us from that fixed principle.
For instance, we must honestly face our relationship with Great Britain. We must admit that the loss of the British Fleet would greatly weaken our defense. This is because the British Fleet has for years controlled the Atlantic, leaving us free to concentrate in the Pacific. If the British Fleet were lost or captured, the Atlantic might be dominated by Germany, a power hostile to our way of life, controlling in that event most of the ships and shipbuilding facilities of Europe.
This would be a calamity for us. We might be exposed to attack on the Atlantic. Our defense would be weakened until we could build a navy and air force strong enough to defend both coasts. Also, our foreign trade would be profoundly affected. That trade is vital to our prosperity. But if we had to trade with a Europe dominated by the present German trade policies, we might have to change our methods to some totalitarian form. This is a prospect that any lover of democracy must view with consternation.
The objective of America is in the opposite direction. We must, in the long run, rebuild a world in which we can live and move and do business in the democratic way.”
ArchdukePaul: Wendell Willkie is one of my favorite historical figures. I mean, this man should have his picture in the dictionary next to the word "bipartisan". He was not afraid to make enemies in order to do the right thing. He was ahead of his time in promoting the idea of a world community spearheaded by the United States. He was also a strong advocate of civil rights. I can't wait to speculate on what a Willkie Administration might look like.
Thank you for your complements. On the question of what an Willkie Administration will do, there are three things that makes Willkie different from Roosevelt. First, Willkie was somewhat more hawkish about getting the United States into World War Two than Roosevelt, who preferred a gradual approach. Second, although Willkie supports the New Deal, cutting back spending will be in order. It won't be like "Advantages Without Obligations", where Alf M. Landon basically killed the New Deal. Third, whereas Roosevelt was hesitant about supporting civil rights in order to not offend Southern Democrats, Willkie just didn't care what they thought.
Incognitia: Getting Willkie to 283 electoral votes was the easy part. I merely adopted the calculations provided by How Close Were Presidential Elections? (and threw in Massachusetts for added measure). It was working out the popular votes that proved to be much trickier. I spent an hour or so playing around with the numbers until I got to the point where the popular votes between Willkie and Roosevelt were razor thin. I wanted Willkie to narrowly win the election when it came to actual votes.
Yes, Mr. Cromwell was the original reciever of that famous line.
El Pip: Yes. I like to think of this AAR as being a second-order counterfactual. It means that after a major change in history, a familiar pattern of history reasserts itself.
No. I don't think that will happen, but it would be funny if he did. :rofl:
There will certainly be earlier American support for the Allies. However, the Democrats will not give Willkie an political headache. Instead, he will be fighting his own party.
trekaddict: Given that Willkie used to be a Democrat, that might just be a waste of time for him.
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Willkie Assumes the Presidency
The world awoke on November 6th with the history-making news that the United States had elected a new President. In Germany, Willkie’s victory was seen as a major blow. The Nazis were naturally concerned about his “peace through strength” platform. Across the English Channel, the British were anxious to see how far the new President would go to help them. Meanwhile in the United States, the Democratic Party felt awkward about the outcome. It was almost as if they were exchanging one Democratic President with another – one who wore a Republican coat instead. As for the Republican Party, they continued to remain split into two camps. There were those who thought Willkie’s leadership would move the party into a better direction and there were those who saw the President-elect as a dangerous man who would overthrow the conservative status quo. Far from uniting the party, Willkie’s victory ironically deepened the fissure within the G.O.P.
Two days after the election, Willkie paid a visit to Elwood. He found the town to be beside itself with pure excitement. After all, their favorite son was on his way to the White House. Everyone was out on the streets, celebrating and honoring the President-elect. Standing on the steps of Town Hall, a deeply moved Willkie thanked his fellow Hoosiers for their warm hospitality and support and promised to “return to this great town whenever I need a break from the choking atmosphere of Washington.”
At the exact same time Willkie was being worshipped in Elwood, Roosevelt returned to the White House from Hyde Park. Ever since conceding the election, the President kept a low profile. With the whole nation buzzing over the outcome and what the future might hold, he wanted to take the opportunity to take a step back and carefully consider his endgame. Unlike Hoover, FDR gracefully accepted his loss and had no bitterness towards the man who would replace him in a few months. “You know, he’s a very good fellow,” he told Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, “He has lots of talent.” Waiting for Roosevelt in his office was a message from Churchill:
“I did not think it right for me as a Foreigner to express my opinion upon American politics while the Election was on, but now I feel you will not mind my saying that I am disappointed by the result. I think the judgment rendered by the people of the United States, while free, is not correct. I do not hesitate to say that the better man did not win. However, things are afoot which will be remembered as long as the English language is spoken in any quarter of the globe. I shall take Mr. Willkie into my confidence and share with him the same insights I have shared with you. I pray for his success now that these great burdens have been cast upon him. I must avow my faith that the lights by which we steer will bring us all safely to anchor.”
After leaving Elwood, Willkie set about laying the foundation for his upcoming administration. He already had a few names in mind. Republican Governors Harold Stassen of Minnesota and Raymond E. Baldwin of Connecticut (who credited Willkie’s win in the Constitution State for his narrow re-election to a second term) were both promised cabinet positions as a reward for their support during the convention and subsequent campaign. In addition, 1936 Republican Presidential candidate Alf M. Landon of Kansas and Republican Senator Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan were invited to join the new administration. Willkie especially sought Vandenberg – one of the leaders of the Conservative wing – out in order to strike an ideological balance.
On November 11th, the President-elect traveled to the White House for his first meeting with the lame duck. Upon shaking hands, it became clear that the bitter campaign rivalry between them was gone. The two men took an immediate liking to each other and quickly became friends. Over the next few months, Roosevelt and Willkie met several times for both formal meetings and informal get-togethers. As a result, the Roosevelt-Willkie transition period became virtually seamless; a striking far cry from the cold indifference which had marked the Hoover-Roosevelt transition period eight years earlier. On foreign policy, they shared the same aim: supporting the United Kingdom and preparing the United States for the spectra of war. On domestic policy, they differed. Willkie warned FDR that he intended to roll back the New Deal, but that he would also keep certain programs - like Social Security.
Four days later, Willkie lunched with the only living former President at the Waldorf Towers in New York City. Although he was among those who viewed Willkie as a Democrat who had somehow high jacked the Republican Party, Hoover was nonetheless intrigued when his presence was requested. While munching in Hoover’s suite, the President-elect asked the former President if he would be willing to serve as his personal envoy. Hoover remained quiet as Willkie told him that “we must continue to help the fighting men of Britain to preserve that rim of freedom which is gradually shrinking and which, if we permit it to continue to shrink, will shrink to the edge of our own shores.” He reminded Hoover that “you are still highly regarded in Europe for your exceptional humanitarian work there. To me, you are the perfect person to go to Britain and see first hand exactly what they need to withstand the Nazi threat. This is your golden opportunity to once again perform great deeds for the world.”
Although he was a staunch isolationist, Hoover couldn’t resist the appeals to his vanity. It was also a good way to start rehabilitating his shattered image at home. He thereby agreed to visit the United Kingdom as Willkie’s envoy in January 1941.
Meanwhile, Roosevelt kept himself busy. With his Presidency set to expire on January 20th, 1941, he didn’t want to simply sit back and take it easy. Instead, he would go out the same way he came in: doing as much as possible. In late 1940, the situation in the United Kingdom was reaching a critical point. Approaching bankruptcy, the British government could no longer afford the cash-and-carry policy. Churchill described the crisis in an urgent message:
“The moment approaches when we shall no longer be able to pay cash for shipping and other supplies. While we will do our utmost, and shrink from no proper sacrifice to make payments across the Exchange, I believe you will agree that it would be wrong in principle and mutually disadvantageous in effect, if at the height of this struggle, Great Britain were to be divested of all salvable assets, so that after the victory was won with our blood, civilization saved, and the time gained for the United States to be fully armed against all eventualities, we should stand stripped to the bone. Such a course would not be in the moral or the economic interests of either of our countries.”
Roosevelt knew he had to do something – or at least get the ball rolling – to rectify the problem. In early December, he took the financial issue with him on a relaxing Caribbean cruise. While fishing, he casually described to Harry L. Hopkins a thought brewing in his mind. What if the United States lent the United Kingdom whatever it needed now and was repaid by them later? This concept was one FDR would spend the remainder of his time in office decisively pursuing.
Upon his return to the White House, Roosevelt called Willkie and told him about his brainstorm. Since implementing this lend-now-pay-later proposal would carry over into the Willkie Administration, FDR wanted his successor to be kept in the loop. Willkie called the idea “fantastic” and said he would see it through. Indeed, Willkie was already planning to make expanding military aid to the United Kingdom a major part of his first inaugural address. With the President-elect pledging to continue the effort, the incumbent officially launched the effort on December 17th. Meeting with the press, Roosevelt rolled out what would become known as “Lend-Lease”:
“Suppose my neighbor's home catches fire, and I have a length of garden hose 400 or 500 feet away. If he can take my garden hose and connect it up with his hydrant, I may help him to put out his fire. Now, what do I do? I don't say to him before that operation, ‘Neighbor, my garden hose cost me $15; you have to pay me $15 for it.’ What is the transaction that goes on? I don't want $15 - I want my garden hose back after the fire is over. If it goes through the fire all right, intact, without any damage to it, he gives it back to me and thanks me very much for the use of it. But suppose it gets smashed up - holes in it - during the fire; we don't have to have too much formality about it, but I say to him, ‘I was glad to lend you that hose; I see I can't use it any more, it's all smashed up.’ He says, ‘How many feet of it were there?’ I tell him, ‘There were 150 feet of it.’ He says, ‘All right, I will replace it.’ Now, if I get a nice garden hose back, I am in pretty good shape.”
When Churchill learned of Lend-Lease, he told Parliament that it was “the most unsordid act in the history of any nation.” Opposing Lend-Lease, Senator Taft observed that “lending war equipment is a good deal like lending chewing gum. You don’t want it back.” Undeterred by the isolationist reaction, Roosevelt then presented Lend-Lease directly to the American people. On December 29th, in his sixteenth and final fireside chat, Roosevelt appealed to the nation to stand behind expanding material support to the United Kingdom.
“Our defense efforts must not be blocked by those who fear the future consequences of surplus plant capacity. The possible consequences of failure of our defense efforts now are much more to be feared.
And after the present needs of our defense are past, a proper handling of the country's peacetime needs will require all of the new productive capacity -- if not still more.
No pessimistic policy about the future of America shall delay the immediate expansion of those industries essential to defense. We need them.
I want to make it clear that it is the purpose of the nation to build now with all possible speed every machine, every arsenal, and every factory that we need to manufacture our defense material. We have the men -- the skill -- the wealth -- and above all, the will.
I am confident that if and when production of consumer or luxury goods in certain industries requires the use of machines and raw materials that are essential for defense purposes, then such production must yield, and will gladly yield, to our primary and compelling purpose.
So I appeal to the owners of plants -- to the managers -- to the workers -- to our own Government employees -- to put every ounce of effort into producing these munitions swiftly and without stint. With this appeal I give you the pledge that all of us who are officers of your Government will devote ourselves to the same whole-hearted extent to the great task that lies ahead.
As planes and ships and guns and shells are produced, your Government, with its defense experts, can then determine how best to use them to defend this hemisphere. The decision as to how much shall be sent abroad and how much shall remain at home must be made on the basis of our overall military necessities.
We must be the great arsenal of democracy. For us this is an emergency as serious as war itself. We must apply ourselves to our task with the same resolution, the same sense of urgency, the same spirit of patriotism and sacrifice as we would show were we at war.
We have furnished the British great material support and we will furnish far more in the future. There will be no ‘bottlenecks’ in our determination to aid Great Britain. No dictator, no combination of dictators, will weaken that determination by threats of how they will construe that determination.”
With the Gallup Poll showing sixty-eight percent of Americans in favor of Lend-Lease, Roosevelt felt confident it would get enacted. However, he couldn’t help but worry about his successor. Lend-Lease would be the first major test of Willkie’s Presidency. In order to get it passed, Willkie would have to fight nearly the entire leadership of his own party. Even some members of the incoming administration were voicing their opposition to Lend-Lease. To improve his friend's odds in the battle ahead, FDR went to Capitol Hill to rally Congressional support. On January 6th, 1941, with fourteen days left until the inauguration, he addressed a joint session of Congress for the final time. Roosevelt reminded Congress that “by an impressive expression of the public will and without regard to partisanship, we are committed to all-inclusive national defense.” He made a strong pitch for Lend-Lease, describing the need to send to the Democracies in peril a united message that “we Americans are vitally concerned in your defense of freedom. We are putting forth our energies, our resources, and our organizing powers to give you the strength to regain and maintain a free world. We shall send you, in ever-increasing numbers, ships, planes, tanks, guns. This is our purpose and our pledge.”
The President concluded his “farewell” address by painting his vision of a world guided by a set of fundamental principles known as the “Four Freedoms”:
“In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear—which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world.
That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.
To that new order we oppose the greater conception—the moral order. A good society is able to face schemes of world domination and foreign revolutions alike without fear.
Since the beginning of our American history, we have been engaged in change—in a perpetual peaceful revolution—a revolution which goes on steadily, quietly adjusting itself to changing conditions—without the oppression of society or the quick-lime in the ditch. The world order which we seek is the cooperation of free countries, working together in a friendly, civilized society.
This nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and hearts of its millions of free men and women; and its faith in freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them. Our strength is our unity of purpose. To that high concept there can be no end save victory.”
A few days later, on January 13th, Willkie held his first press conference since winning the election. The main purpose of the conference was to announce his cabinet picks. To prove that he really was a Republican, Willkie made sure his administration was G.O.P. heavy with a few Democrats thrown in for bipartisan measure. They included:
-Republican Senator Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan as Secretary of State
-Republican Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson of New York (Roosevelt holdover)
-1936 Republican Presidential candidate Alf M. Landon of Kansas as Secretary of the Treasury
-Democratic Attorney General Robert H. Jackson of New York (Roosevelt holdover)
-Republican Governor Harold Stassen of Minnesota as Postmaster General
-Republican Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox of Illinois (Roosevelt holdover)
-Republican Governor Raymond E. Baldwin of Connecticut as Secretary of the Interior
-Democratic Secretary of Agriculture Claude R. Wickard of Indiana (Roosevelt holdover)
-1920 Democratic Presidential candidate James M. Cox of Ohio as Secretary of Commerce
-Republican politician Fiorello H. La Guardia of New York as Secretary of Labor
Afterwards, he took questions from reporters. During the question and answer session, Willkie was asked about what he thought of Lend-Lease. Up until now, he had been quiet on the issue; indeed, the President-elect had mainly stayed in the background out of respect to the current President. Having been asked about Lend-Lease, Willkie answered in his typical, honest fashion. He agreed with the Vice President-elect that the Lend-Lease proposal granted wider presidential authority than he felt was necessary. He favored some minor revisions, including inserting an amendment underscoring Congress’s sole power to declare war. That being said, Willkie approved of Lend-Lease’s overall objective. “Under such dire circumstances,” he declared, “extraordinary steps must be taken. Democracy cannot hope to defend itself in any other way. Let us be clear that the United States is not a belligerent, and we hope she shall not be. Our problem, however, is not alone to keep America out of war, but to keep war out of America.” He also took the opportunity to issue a public warning that the “appeasers, isolationists, or lip-service friends of Britain will seek to sabotage the program of aid to Britain and her allies behind the screen of opposition to this bill.” In other words, Willkie would dig in his heels and stand up to the isolationists within his party in order to get Lend-Lease passed.
On January 19th, Hoover left for London on a high-publicized fact-finding mission; the same day, Wendell and his wife Edith were invited to dine with Franklin and his wife Eleanor at the White House. After all, it was customary for the outgoing First Family to dine with the incoming First Family at the Executive Mansion the night before the inauguration. After dinner, while Eleanor briefed Edith on what to expect as First Lady, Franklin and Wendell spent time alone in the Oval Office. Over drinks, the two men shared both laughter and serious talk. At one point, Roosevelt recommended and Willkie agreed to replace the controversial Joseph P. Kennedy with Hopkins as the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. “Poor Winston thinks everything is going to hell with you in office instead of me,” FDR explained. “He doesn’t really know you yet. Having Harry over there as our Ambassador should soothe anxious nerves.” At another point, FDR was asked what his plans were for the future. His response:
-Write and speak
-Spending time in his beloved Warm Springs, Georgia estate
-Pray that his successor doesn’t get impeached for doing the right thing for America
On that last point, Willkie complained, “Impeached? I am already getting impeached before I even take office tomorrow. My own party wants to lynch me for not following their idiotic and blind beliefs. You know what that SOB Taft is saying about me? He had the gall to publically declare that I am not a ‘real’ Republican President…whatever the hell that means…and therefore whatever I do in office will not reflect the true party. When I leave office, mark my words, I will personally give that son of a failure a black eye on my way out.”
The next morning, after attending a prayer service at St. John’s Episcopal Church (a precedent set by Roosevelt eight years earlier), Willkie and his entourage arrived at the White House for the big day. To make it easier for Roosevelt’s leg paralysis, arrangements were made to have Willkie hang out in the East Room while FDR was carefully loaded into the right seat of the presidential car. Once his friend was comfortably settled in, Willkie walked out onto the North Portico and – with photos and newsreels capturing the moment for prosperity – sat next to him. The motorcade then made its’ two-mile journey up Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol Building. Along the way, the two men made light conversation – a striking contrast from the dead silence of the Hoover-Roosevelt car during the last transition. Arriving at the Capitol, Charles McNary was sworn in first as the thirty-third Vice President of the United States (relieving John Nance Garner of a job he considered “not worth a bucket of warm piss”). Then at Noon, Willkie stood at the rostrum and was sworn in by Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes (this would be Hughes’ final Presidential inauguration) as the thirty-third President of the United States:
“I, Wendell Lewis Willkie, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God."
After shaking hands with people around him amid the United States Marine Band’s stirring rendition of “Hail to the Chief”, forty-eight-year-old Willkie proceeded to deliver his first inaugural address to both his surrounding audience and the national audience via radio. In his speech, the new President painted the dire picture of reality and passionately argued that the United States had to stand up to Hitler as the proud but determined defender of Democracy:
“Yet instinctively also—we know that we are not isolated from those suffering people. We live in the same world as they, and we are created in the same image. In all the democracies that have recently fallen, the people were living the same peaceful lives that we live. They had similar ideals of human freedom. Their methods of trade and exchange were similar to ours. Try as we will, we cannot brush the pitiless picture of their destruction from our vision, or escape the profound effects of it upon the world in which we live.
No man is as wise as to foresee what the future holds or to lay out a plan for it. No man can guarantee to maintain peace. Peace is not something that a nation can achieve by itself. It also depends on what some other country does. It is neither practical, nor desirable, to adopt a foreign program committing the United States to future action under unknown circumstances.
The best that we can do is to decide what principle shall guide us. For me, that principle can be simply defined:
In the foreign policy of the United States, as in its domestic policy, I will do everything to defend American democracy and I will refrain from doing anything that would injure it. We must not permit our emotions—our sympathies or hatreds—to move us from that fixed principle.
For instance, we must honestly face our relationship with Great Britain. We must admit that the loss of the British Fleet would greatly weaken our defense. This is because the British Fleet has for years controlled the Atlantic, leaving us free to concentrate in the Pacific. If the British Fleet were lost or captured, the Atlantic might be dominated by Germany, a power hostile to our way of life, controlling in that event most of the ships and shipbuilding facilities of Europe.
This would be a calamity for us. We might be exposed to attack on the Atlantic. Our defense would be weakened until we could build a navy and air force strong enough to defend both coasts. Also, our foreign trade would be profoundly affected. That trade is vital to our prosperity. But if we had to trade with a Europe dominated by the present German trade policies, we might have to change our methods to some totalitarian form. This is a prospect that any lover of democracy must view with consternation.
The objective of America is in the opposite direction. We must, in the long run, rebuild a world in which we can live and move and do business in the democratic way.”
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