President John Nance Garner

[Montgomerie Ward]

What if President Franklin Delano Roosevelt would have followed the tradition of a two-term presidency and handed the reigns to his former rival and Vice President, John Nance Garner? Do you think Garner could beat Wendell Willkie in the General Election? Who do you think Garner's vice president would be? Do you think the United States would have entered World War II under Garner's command?

 

[David T]

Well, first of all the notion that a lame-duck president could decide who the party will nominate as his successor is fallacious. In the second place, even if FDR decided not to run for a third term, it is unlikely he would have supported Garner as his successor. In January 1939, well before the war started, he stated that he could not support any Democrat in 1940 who was not a New Dealer. The nation, he said, "would be in a sad state if it had to choose in 1940 between a Democratic Tweedledee and a Republican Tweedledum." http://tinyurl.com/htjvosf In the third place, Garner (who would turn 72 in 1940) later claimed that he wasn't even interested in the presidency that year and that he only ran to protest the third term. So it's not clear that Garner will even run.

 

[LordKalvert]

Assuming that Roosevelt doesn't run in 1940, Garner is the most likely Democratic nominee even though the Vice Presidency wasn't as powerful then as it was today. Garner had a strong reputation especially to the non-New Dealers. He opposed Roosevelt on many issues but have no idea on his foreign policy views- which can change sharply once one takes office

A VP would be anyone's guess and Garner could beat Willkie. He could lose as well