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1940 Democratic National Convention

1940 presidential election
Nominees Roosevelt and Wallace
Convention
Date(s)	July 15–18, 1940
City	Chicago, Illinois
Venue	Chicago Stadium
Candidates
Presidential nominee	Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York
Vice Presidential nominee	Henry A. Wallace of Iowa
Voting
Total delegates	1093
Votes needed for nomination	547 (majority)
Results (President)	Roosevelt (NY): 946 (86.32%) Farley (NY): 72 (6.57%) Garner (TX): 61 (5.57%) Tydings (MD): 9 (0.82%) Cordell Hull (TN): 5 (0.47%)
Results (Vice President)	Wallace (IA): 626 (59.3%) Bankhead (AL): 329 (31.17%) McNutt (IN): 68 (6.44%) Others: 32.5 (3.07%)
‹ 1936  ·  1944 ›

The 1940 Democratic National Convention was held at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois from July 15 to July 18, 1940. The convention resulted in the nomination of President Franklin D. Roosevelt for an unprecedented third term. Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace from Iowa was nominated for Vice President.

Despite the unprecedented bid for a third term, Roosevelt was nominated on the first ballot. Roosevelt's most formidable challengers were his former campaign manager James Farley and his Vice President, John Nance Garner. Both had sought the nomination for the presidency and soundly lost to Roosevelt who would be "drafted" at the convention. Henry Wallace was Roosevelt's preferred choice for the Vice-Presidency. His candidacy was opposed vehemently by some delegates, particularly the conservative wing of the party which had been unenthusiastic about Wallace's liberal positions. Nonetheless, Wallace was ultimately nominated with the votes of 59% of the delegates.^[1]

Democratic candidates

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  Vice President
  John Nance Garner
  
  

  
  


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  Secretary of State
  Cordell Hull
  of Tennessee
  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  
  President
  Franklin D. Roosevelt
  
  

  
  


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  Senator
  Millard E. Tydings
  of Maryland
  
  

  
  

By late 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt's plans regarding a possible third term in 1940 affected national politics. A Republican leader told H. V. Kaltenborn in September 1939, for example, that Congressional distrust of the president was a cause of the controversy over revising the Neutrality Acts of 1930s. The politician, who supported selling weapons to Britain and France, claimed that Roosevelt could "regain the complete confidence of Congress and the country" by announcing that he would not run for a third term. An unnamed Roosevelt advisor said, however, that doing so would reduce the president's influence on Congress and the Democratic party. Roosevelt would not announce his intentions until spring 1940, the advisor said.^[2]

Throughout the winter, spring, and summer of 1940 whether Roosevelt would run again remained unknown. The "two-term" tradition, although not yet enshrined in the U.S. Constitution as the 22nd Amendment, had been established by President George Washington when he refused to run for a third term in 1796, and the tradition was further supported by Thomas Jefferson.^[1] Roosevelt, however, refused to give a definitive statement as to his willingness to be a candidate, even indicating to his old friend and political kingmaker James Farley^[3] that he would not be a candidate again and that he could seek the nomination; Farley thus began his campaign.^[4]

Roosevelt told others of his plans not to run, including Cordell Hull, Frances Perkins, and Daniel J. Tobin. His wife Eleanor was opposed to a third term. Perhaps the most definitive evidence of Roosevelt's intention to not run for a third term is that in January 1940 he signed a contract to write 26 articles a year for Collier's for three years after leaving the presidency in January 1941. However, as Nazi Germany defeated France and threatened Britain in the summer of 1940, Roosevelt decided that only he had the necessary experience and skills to see the nation safely through the Nazi threat. His belief that no other Democrat who would continue the New Deal could win was likely also a reason.^[4] He was aided by the party's political bosses, who feared that no Democrat except Roosevelt could defeat the charismatic Wendell Willkie, the Republican candidate.^{[citation needed]}

The "voice from the sewers"

By the convention Farley and Vice President John Nance Garner were declared candidates, and Paul McNutt was a possibility.^[4] Roosevelt still did not want to declare openly for re-nomination, so his backers arranged a stunt at the convention. Roosevelt dictated a message on the phone to Kentucky Senator Alben Barkley, which Barkley read out to the convention during the first day's proceedings. It concluded

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The President has never had, and has not today, any desire or purpose to continue in the office of President, to be a candidate for that office, or to be nominated by the convention for that office. He wishes in earnestness and sincerity to make it clear that all of the delegates in this convention are free to vote for any candidate.^[4]

One biographer wrote that Barkley's message "can scarcely be said to have conveyed the whole or literal truth".^[4] When it ended, the convention sat in shocked silence for a moment. The silence was then broken by a voice thundering over the stadium loudspeakers:
"We want Roosevelt! We want Roosevelt!" The voice was Thomas D. Garry, Superintendent of Chicago's Department of Sanitation (the sewers department), a trusted henchman of Chicago Mayor Ed Kelly. Garry was stationed in a basement room with a microphone, waiting for that moment. Kelly had posted hundreds of Chicago city workers and precinct captains around the hall; other Democratic bosses had brought followers from their home territories. All of them joined Garry's chant. Within a few seconds, hundreds of delegates joined in. Many poured into the aisles, carrying state delegation standards for impromptu demonstrations. Whenever the chant began to die down, state chairmen, who also had microphones connected to the speakers, added their own endorsements: "New Jersey wants Roosevelt! Arizona wants Roosevelt! Iowa wants Roosevelt!"^[5]

The effect of the "voice from the sewers" was overwhelming. The next day Roosevelt was nominated by an 86% majority.

The balloting

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Presidential Ballot		Vice Presidential Ballot
President Franklin D. Roosevelt	946 (86.32%)	Henry A. Wallace	626
James A. Farley	72 (6.57%)	William B. Bankhead	329
John Nance Garner	61 (5.57%)	Paul V. McNutt	68
Millard E. Tydings	9 (0.82%)	Alva B. Adams	11
Cordell Hull	5 (0.47%)	James A. Farley	7
		Jesse H. Jones	5
		Joseph C. O'Mahoney	3
		Alben W. Barkley	2
		Prentiss M. Brown	1
		Louis A. Johnson	1
		Scott W. Lucas	1
		Bascom N. Timmons	1
		David I. Walsh	0.5

Vice-presidential selection

Incumbent Vice President John Nance Garner opposed Roosevelt's re-election, so the party had to choose a new vice presidential nominee.^[8] Though national delegates usually played the dominant role in choosing running mate, Roosevelt decided that the choice of running mate should be his prerogative.^[9] Roosevelt asked Secretary of State Cordell Hull to serve as his running mate, but Hull preferred to remain in his Cabinet position.^[9] Roosevelt also strongly considered South Carolina Senator James F. Byrnes, but the president instead settled on Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace.^[9] Roosevelt chose Wallace because of Wallace's positions on the New Deal and aid to Britain, and because he hoped that Wallace would appeal to agricultural voters.^[9] Though many Democrats disliked being forced to select Roosevelt's running mate of choice, Wallace won the vice presidential nomination on the first ballot over Speaker of the United States House of Representatives William B. Bankhead.^[10] The Roosevelt-Wallace ticket defeated the Republican ticket to win the 1940 election. Wallace was successfully nominated after First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt flew to Chicago to campaign,^[11] and gave what came to be known as her "No Ordinary Time" speech.^[12][13] Wallace was replaced by Missouri Senator Harry Truman for Roosevelt's successful 1944 re-election bid, and Wallace later ran a third party campaign in 1948.^[14] Roosevelt's decision to select his own running mate set a powerful precedent, and presidential candidates after 1940 became much more influential in the choice of running mates.^[9] James Farley could not be on the ticket as Vice-President, because both he and Roosevelt were from New York State, and if they had run together, the electors of the State of New York, pursuant to the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, could not have voted for them both.^[12] Others considered were Kentucky Senator Alben Barkley,^[15] South Carolina Senator James F. Byrnes,^[15] Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas,^[15] and Speaker of the House William B. Bankhead of Alabama.^[10]

See also

• Democratic Party presidential primaries, 1940


• List of Democratic National Conventions


• U.S. presidential nomination convention


• United States presidential election, 1940


• 1940 Republican National Convention


• 22nd Amendment

References

External links

• 
  Democratic Party Platform of 1940 at The American Presidency Project
  


• 
  Roosevelt Nomination Acceptance Speech for President at DNC (transcript) at The American Presidency Project
  

Preceded by 1936 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Democratic National Conventions

Succeeded by 1944 Chicago, Illinois