Secretary of War Fiorello La Guardia?

From what I can gather, when FDR was planning the United States' initial 'preparedness actions' prior to the Second World War, he was determined to make the war effort, should one take shape, a bipartisan affair, leading to his appointing of former Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson to the post of Secretary of War and former Republican Vice Presidential nominee Frank Knox to the post of Secretary of the Navy shortly before the outbreak of the war.

Reportedly, Roosevelt was leaning towards choosing his personal ally, the Republican Mayor of New York City, Fiorello La Guardia for Secretary of War, but ultimately went for Stimson because of his record in previous administrations.

What if he hadn't, and La Guardia became the United States' Secretary of War for the duration of World War II?
 
Could use it as a springboard for a Republican presidential or VP bid?

I don't think so. La Guardia was firmly in the New Deal camp, and supported Roosevelt in every single one of his electoral bids for the White House. Not the easiest way to gain support within your own party for a Presidential bid, methinks. :eek:
 
From what I can gather, when FDR was planning the United States' initial 'preparedness actions' prior to the Second World War, he was determined to make the war effort, should one take shape, a bipartisan affair, leading to his appointing of former Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson to the post of Secretary of War and former Republican Vice Presidential nominee Frank Knox to the post of Secretary of the Navy shortly before the outbreak of the war.

Reportedly, Roosevelt was leaning towards choosing his personal ally, the Republican Mayor of New York City, Fiorello La Guardia for Secretary of War, but ultimately went for Stimson because of his record in previous administrations.

What if he hadn't, and La Guardia became the United States' Secretary of War for the duration of World War II?
From what little I know of them, Stimson and Knox were both very competent at their jobs and at getting the US ready for war.

Would La Guardia be anywhere nearly as good? He is a legendary mayor, which might translate into a reasonable administrator for the department, but did he have any military knowledge/experience. Might we get more 'Brewster Buffalos' because they were a bit cheaper, say, even if they were useless planes?
 
Well, LaGuardia was a pilot in WWI. He was head of the Office of Civilian Defense until shortly after Pearl Harbor (This was in addition to his duties as Mayor of New York). He was the man who approved the formation of Civil Air Patrol, which did provide a lot of help on the homefront in training, courier work, and even sinking submarines! (I am a CAP member, so I am a bit biased...)

One more thing- if LaGuardia gets in a greater position of power, he may bring someone else with him from New York to help, or simply to give his talents a better use, namely a bright young prosecutor named Thomas E. Dewey...
 
Well, LaGuardia was a pilot in WWI. He was head of the Office of Civilian Defense until shortly after Pearl Harbor (This was in addition to his duties as Mayor of New York). He was the man who approved the formation of Civil Air Patrol, which did provide a lot of help on the homefront in training, courier work, and even sinking submarines! (I am a CAP member, so I am a bit biased...)
Hmmm.... OK, thanks for the info. So there's a GOOD reason for an airport to be named after him:)
 
Well, he was also the guy who brought an airport to NYC- he was upset at having a ticket for "New York", but having to land in Newark...
 
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