U.S. presidential election, 1944
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
At the time of the U.S. presidential election of 1944, the U.S. was still in the middle of fighting World War II. The aging Franklin D. Roosevelt had been in power for longer than any other president, but remained popular.
| Contents |
Nominations
Democratic Party nomination
Roosevelt was a popular, war-time incumbent and faced little opposition. With Roosevelt's health deteriorating, many in the Democratic party saw incumbent vice president Henry Wallace as being too far to the left to be so close to the presidency, so Roosevelt agreed to replace him on the ticket with Missouri Senator Harry Truman.
Republican Party nomination
Former prosecutor and New York governor Thomas E. Dewey defeated former candidate Wendell Willkie for the nomination.
General election
Campaign
The Republicans campaigned against the New Deal, seeking a smaller government and less regulated economy as the end of the war seemed in sight. Nonetheless Roosevelt's continuing popularity was the main theme of the campaign.
The election was held on November 7, 1944 and was won by Roosevelt, who beat Republican challenger Thomas E. Dewey to become the only U.S. president to be elected to a fourth term.
Results
| Presidential Candidate | Party | Home State | Popular Vote | Electoral Vote | Running Mate | Running Mate's Home State | Running Mate's Electoral Vote | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | Percentage | |||||||
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | Democrat | New York | 25,602,504 | 53.4% | 432 | Harry S Truman | Missouri | 432 |
| Thomas Edmund Dewey | Republican | New York | 22,006,285 | 45.9% | 99 | John William Bricker | Ohio | 99 |
| Other(a) | 336,051 | 0.7% | 0 | Other(a) | 0 | |||
| Total | 47,944,840 | 100% | 531 | Total | 531 | |||
| Needed to win | 266 | Needed to win | 266 | |||||
(a) includes Texas Regulars and Norman Thomas
Source: U.S. Office of the Federal Register (http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/scores.html#1944)
See also
- President of the United States
- U.S. Senate election, 1944
- History of the United States (1918-1945)
- Hell-Bent for Election, animated Roosevelt campaign film
| U.S. presidential elections | |
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1789–1799: 1789 | 1792 | 1796 | |
