Possible To Get A Third Party Candidate Into The White House?

In OTL FDR had privately indicated he did not intend to run again, unless the situation in Europe got much worse - may '40 changed that.

If the sitzkrieg is prolonged a few months, but otherwise proceeds more or less as OTL, it might have been too late for him to grab the Democratic nomination, but he could still run as an independant.

If that happens you may want to look very carefully at his VP choice, because the MUCH more active campaign could be deadly :)

There was a very good chance FDR would have been drafted by the Party Bosses regardless of whether he was actually running for the nomination or not, simply because they believed he was the only nominee capable of actually defeating the Republican Ticket. Even if these fears were unfounded, they seriously thought that the other likely candidates for the nomination, James Farley and Cordell Hull, would have lost to Thomas Dewey or Wendell Willkie.​
 
On a similar note to what I just answered, I remember that President John Tyler back in 1844 had wanted to run as an Independent or on a Third Party that he was seeking to form largely on the question of annexing Texas. At Van Buren was the expected Democratic nominee, and he was opposed to the annexation of Texas, whereas Whig nominee Clay was on the fence. Tyler being the only one completely for Annexation would be expected to carry most of the South without any trouble.

However once Polk managed to win the nomination, himself being a supporter of Texas's annexation, Tyler's support declined and he was forced to withdraw for fear of dividing the vote and giving the election to Henry Clay. As we know, the election was decided on a very narrow margin.

Change the circumstances of the election to allow the nomination of either Van Buren or Cass as the Democratic nominee for President, and it is likely that President Tyler would have won a second term to the Presidency.​
 
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