CHAPTER 1 - A Divided Party
Since the losses of 1932 and 1936, the Republican Party had been in a great decline during the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the times of the disliked Herbert Hoover in the early 1930s. Between the moderates, the conservatives, and the liberals, there was a deep mistrust and divide in the party. Tensions were rising on the globe and the 1940 election depended on the party's position on the ensuing war in Europe. Moderates, conservatives, and liberals alike loved isolationism, although differing levels. Some wanted total isolation from European conflicts, others wanted a policy of non-interventionism. Nonetheless, the Republicans were not able to unite on a nomination and, even worse, there was no core spokesperson of leader of the party that nobody disliked or hated.
In 1939, the issue was tensions in Europe. Isolationism and interventionism, two very different and arguably polar opposite foreign policies, were the main talk of the day. Roosevelt had made key on his promise to only intervene if "American lives or their allied foreigner lives were threatened by enemies of this country's democracy." However, the Republicans were stubborn to either be full pro-intervention or full anti-intervention. This deeply divided the party even more since, by late 1939, Germany had begun their invasion of Poland along with Russia, which America did not fully expect.
In the beginning, Republicans united around young Thomas Dewey, an attorney from Manhattan in New York state. Dewey, however, was not liked by the old conservatives and attacked his weak foreign policy, citing he had never run for national office before. Then, the attention was put on Vandenberg, the compromise of conservatives and the moderation side of the Republican Party. Vandenberg was attacked on the idea of being a "favorite son," only liked in his home state of Michigan. Others wanted former President Herbert Hoover for a compromise, but he had a bad omen following him around. However, Vandenberg seemed like the best candidate, although leader of the conservative faction Robert A. Taft didn't see potential in the senator. But it was only 1939. The Republican Convention hadn't even took place yet. Discourse, negotiations, and talks only began by late November and early December.
As the Wehrmacht steamrolled Europe, the 1940 RNC was said to be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Hundreds of delegates came from far and wide, and the candidacy from the 1940 Republican ticket held in the hands of what newspapers called the "Tippy Triumvirate" as nobody seemed to know who would come out victorious in the ballots. Some wanted Charles McNary to win the ticket, mostly because Congressional Republicans voted for his Senator Majority Leader role, but they were a deep and tiny minority.
Before the RNC took place in late June of 1940, Wendell Wilkie emerged as a dark horse candidate from Indiana, a businessman who nobody cared about after becoming a moderate Republican after supporting FDR's run in 1932. Emerging onto the steps of Philadelphia Convention Hall in April of 1940, Wilkie announced he'd be running with the support of politician Harold Stassen. Now, more than eight candidates were in the running for the Republican ticket, and the party was more divided than ever before. Nobody knew who would come out of the foggy doors, emerging as a winner, in 1940.
