What would’ve it been like had Wendell Willkie been elected president in 1940?
He was anti war according to the World war II channel on youtube, the republican plataform was also very anti war so you might see a delayed US enter in WWII.
The one that suffers the most with that are the chinese, the japanese might not get embargoed and advance even further into China.
Sorry for the late reply, but, Willkie wanted to give the UK all support possible except joining the war. I'm pretty sure that his foreign policy decisions wouldn't be very different from those of Franklin Roosevelt. Regardless, the USA, under any President, would have joined World War II after Pearl Harbour.
Wilkie, meanwhile, was a dynamic campaigner.
Wilkie's edge as a campaigner...
He was anti war according to the World war II channel on youtube, the republican plataform was also very anti war so you might see a delayed US enter in WWII.
Sorry for the late reply, but, Willkie wanted to give the UK all support possible except joining the war. I'm pretty sure that his foreign policy decisions wouldn't be very different from those of Franklin Roosevelt. Regardless, the USA, under any President, would have joined World War II after Pearl Harbour.
Who would be his Sec of State. Assuming he and his vp die as they did in otl that will be the legal successor under the then law
In the 1940s the risk of smoking was not so well known. And of course FDR's lifestyle was less than totally healthyWilkie’s VP candidate, Charles McNary (Senate Majority leader from Oregon) was found to have a malignant brain tumor in November 1943 after having complained about severe headaches since February. They removed it the same week then found it in 11/43, but by then the cancer had spread throughout his body. If they had discovered it sooner, like in 2/43, he might have recovered and lasted longer but I think that’s still too late to save him from cancer.
He was nearly 70 years old in the 1940s. Best case scenario, with the prospect of potentially fatal brain surgery, McNary resigns, seeks treatment, and gets a few years with his family.
Wilkie’s death in 1944 was caused by a mix of preventable health issues, heavy smoking, poor diet, and no exercise, and Wilkie’s own choices. He had a heart attack and refused to be hospitalized. He was even resistant to medical treatment in general and was really just hellbent on ignoring the heart attack. The next month, he had another one and, again, refused treatment. He was traveling when it happened and when he arrived in NYC an unspecified amount of time later and was in great pain so his press secretary called an ambulance. He died in the first week of October, after suffering four more heart attacks.
If Wilkie had begun to take care of himself better in 1940, I don’t think you would have seen the string of heart attacks in ‘44. With a better diet, less smoking, and some exercise, Wilkie could live well past 59. The likely outcome would be, with Wilkie elected POTUS in 1940, his VP would resign in ‘43 and he would run for, and probably win, re-election in ‘44 and serve either two full terms or most of two.
I don’t think anybody would let the president be so reckless with his health and I think with just a few steps in the right direction, Wilkie could have lived a long life.
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PH definitely changed everything as regards to war. I read somewhere an isolationist legislator was working on a scrapbook of all the times he tried to stop "The march to war" when he heard about PH over the radio. He promptly called FDR asking what he could do to support the war effort.
Assuming Willkie winning results in him taking better care of himself, who would his running mate be in 1944?
Inspired choice, actually, but I could see him at State under Willkie too.Possibly Vandenberg. He would need to be a Westerner or Midwesterner since Willkie was from New York.
IIRC Wilkie was in line with the rest of the GOP to only provide the British a single $5 Billion credit to buy whatever they needed so they didn't lose, but was against an open ended commitment or repealing Cash and Carry that would come with FDR's Lend-Lease program.Sorry for the late reply, but, Willkie wanted to give the UK all support possible except joining the war. I'm pretty sure that his foreign policy decisions wouldn't be very different from those of Franklin Roosevelt. Regardless, the USA, under any President, would have joined World War II after Pearl Harbour.