[2]
The primaries were contested mainly by Manhattan District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey and Senators Robert A. Taft and Arthur Vandenberg, though only a few states’ primaries featured two or more of these men.
By the start of the convention, only 300 of the 1,000 convention delegates had been pledged to a candidate, far fewer than was necessary to determine a victor. Estimates of delegate loyalty placed Dewey first, Taft second, and Wendell Willkie, an internationalist businessman, third.[1] Late momentum following the escalation of World War II allowed Willkie to take the nomination on the sixth ballot at the convention.
Background
1936 presidential election
In 1936, Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Alf Landon in a historic landslide; his party expanded its majority in both houses of Congress. The result left the Republican Party at its lowest point since its founding: diminished, leaderless, and unpopular. Following two successive landslide defeats, the party was bereft of potential candidates for president in 1940.
1938 midterms
In the wake of his historic victory, Roosevelt overplayed his hand. He attempted to expand his formal powers dramatically (as in the proposed Judicial Procedures Reform Bill and Reorganization Bill) and informally purge his party of its conservative elements, angering allies and the public. The country also suffered an economic recession, further damaging Roosevelt’s popularity. The 1938 elections were thus a massive victory of the Republican Party. The results reinvigorated Republicans and halted the growth of Roosevelt’s New Deal.
New York was a notable exception to the Republican gains. Young prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey had made a national name for himself as a “Gangbuster” after his convictions of numerous American Mafia figures, including Lucky Luciano and Waxey Gordon. However, in one of the most watched races of the year, he narrowly failed to unseat Governor Herbert Lehman.
Dewey had made major improvements on the disastrous performance of Robert Moses in the 1934 race and elevated his status to that of a national politician. William Allen White compared his loss favorably to that of Abraham Lincoln in 1858: a prelude to the presidency. A poll by Gallup, Inc. shortly after his loss showed Dewey as the leading Republican candidate for the presidency with 33 percent of the popular vote.[3]
Pre-campaign maneuvering

As the presidential field shaped up, Republican candidates were largely focused on opposition to President Roosevelt’s involvement in European affairs. Among the leaders in their cause was Robert A. Taft, the newly elected Senator from Ohio and the son of a former president himself. Though Taft struggled to develop a popular following equal to that of Dewey’s, he was positioned as a natural heir to his father’s conservative, Midwestern base. Arriving in Washington as a young member of a party lacking in leaders, Taft was immediately lauded as a presidential contender.[4]
Meanwhile, Dewey set to work expanding and strengthening the New York Republican Party and continued in his role as Manhattan District Attorney.[4] His conviction of Tammany Hall leader James Joseph Hines won him further national praise, especially from Republicans eager to tie Hines to the Roosevelt administration. A Gallup poll following the verdict showed him with a majority of the Republican vote (well ahead of Taft and Senator Arthur Vandenberg) and leading President Roosevelt, 58–42.[5] In December, he delivered an anti-New Deal speech to a capacity crowd in Minneapolis.[6]
As Dewey resolved to seek the presidency, he made overtures to the conservative wing of the national party, including former President Herbert Hoover. These efforts simultaneously alienated New York County party chair Kenneth F. Simpson, an avowed liberal Dewey ally and Hoover critic; instead of supporting Dewey’s campaign, Simpson joined with Russell Davenport to support a Democratic businessman for the nomination: Wendell Willkie, president of a utilities holding company and an eloquent critic of the New Deal.[7]
From the start, Dewey engaged in a popular campaign designed to secure the nomination through a show of overwhelming support in the primary elections, whereas Taft and Vandenberg (who avoided making any formal commitment to running) pursued victory through the backroom convention and caucus processes.[8]
Candidates
Nominee
| Candidate | Experience | Home state | Campaign | Popular vote | Contests won | Running mate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wendell | Activist and Statesman
(1940-1944) Businessman (1919–1939) |
New York (state)</a>”}’> New York |
(Campaign) | 1,605,754
(49.76%) |
5 | |||
| Robert A. Taft | U.S. Senator from Ohio (1939–1953) |
Ohio |
(Campaign) | 516,428
(16.00%) |
1 | |||
| Arthur Vandenberg | U.S. Senator from Michigan (1928–1951) |
Michigan |
[data missing] | 0 | ||||
Bypassing primaries
The following candidates did not actively campaign for any state’s presidential primary, but may have had their name placed on the ballot by supporters or may have sought to influence to selection of un-elected delegates or sought the support of uncommitted delegates.
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| Styles Bridges | U.S. Senator from New Hampshire (1937–1961) Governor of New Hampshire |
New Hampshire |
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| Herbert Hoover | President of the United States (1929–1933) U.S. Secretary of Commerce Chairman of the Belgian Relief |
(Campaign) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arthur James | Governor of Pennsylvania (1939–1943) Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania |
Pennsylvania |
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| Frank Gannett | Founder of Gannett Company, Inc. (1923-1957) Owner of Elmira Gazette |
[9]
PollingGraph of opinion polls conducted View source data. National polling
State pollingIllinois
Massachusetts
Michigan
Ohio
Wisconsin
Statewide contestsMarch 12: New HampshireThe New Hampshire primary was the first in the nation and widely considered one of the most notable at the outset of the process. The state elected four delegates at-large and two from each of the state’s two congressional districts.[30] Though all delegates were formally uncommitted, J. Howard Gile of Nashua announced his intention to vote for Thomas Dewey — against the Dewey campaign’s wishes. The Dewey campaign asked Gile to withdraw from the race; it was assumed Dewey had bypassed New Hampshire in respect and recognition of favorite-son presidential candidate Senator Styles Bridges, who ran as a delegate at-large.[30] In the Second Congressional District, James P. Richardson expressed his support of Dewey but did not formally pledge himself to any candidate. Most of the elected delegates expressed a non-binding preference for Senator Bridges. April 2: WisconsinThe first competitive race was between Dewey and Vandenberg in Wisconsin. The state was expected to be favorable to Vandenberg, the Senator from neighboring Michigan. Vandenberg was also an opponent of expanded trade agreements, a supporter of dairy and beet farmers, an isolationist, and a supporter of the St. Lawrence Waterway project — all positions expected to gain him strong support in the state. It was also said that Vandenberg had the stronger, more popular slate of delegates.[31] He was also seen to have the support of the state’s many Progressive Party voters as against Dewey, but may have been hurt by those voters’ last-second swing to support President Roosevelt in the Democratic primary.[32] Dewey gained support from voters and political leaders by announcing his support for the expansion of the St. Lawrence Waterway. After his endorsement, many of the state’s Congressmen opted not to take sides in the race. Dewey also took a hit when the leadership of the state’s active Progressive Party objected to a Dewey supporter’s use of “Progressive” in campaign material.[31] Dewey, unlike Vandenberg, personally campaigned in Wisconsin. He held a barnstorming tour across the state in the final week of March.[32] Although internal polling showed him winning easily, the Dewey campaign took an intentionally modest stance, expressing worry over the result and offering to split the delegation with Vandenberg.[33] Although Wisconsin held a delegate election and a preference poll on primary day, Dewey’s name was not entered the latter; his campaign opted only to run a slate of delegates.[32] His slate won 61.8% of the vote, carried all but four of Wisconsin’s counties, and swept its 24 delegates.[33] April 9: Illinois and NebraskaThe Illinois primary was initially expected to be one of the more competitive votes of the process. Congressman Hamilton Fish III filed to run as an isolationist candidate, but later withdrew his name.[34][35] Mayor of New York Fiorello La Guardia was also submitted as a candidate without his knowledge, but did not sign a statement of candidacy necessary to appear on the ballot and declined to be considered.[9][34] Regardless of who else appeared on the ballot, Dewey was considered the heavy favorite; he ultimately went unopposed. None of the state’s delegates, who were elected separately, were bound by the “advisory” result. Instead, most focus was on Nebraska, where Vandenberg made his last stand against Dewey. With the support of the party’s Old Guard, including fellow Senators Arthur Capper, Charles McNary and Gerald Nye, the Vandenberg campaign argued that Dewey was unsound on agricultural issues. The campaign was in vain; Dewey won the state as easily as he had Wisconsin, effectively eliminating Vandenberg from contention. Sensing Dewey’s popular momentum, Senator Taft withdrew from the Maryland and New Jersey primaries rather than face a likely popular defeat.[33]
April 23: Pennsylvania
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