Five Days in Philadelphia by Charles Peters
Wendell Willkie and the 1940 Republican Convention
Jan 21, 2009
Even though the subtitle of the book is The Amazing "We Want Willkie!" Convention of 1940 and How It Freed FDR to Save The Western World, it covers more than that. The people and events leading up to the Republican convention, the Democratic convention, the campaign, and the aftermath are all chronicled by Peters. He also enhances the book with cultural details of 1940 America and his own personal experiences.
The Internationalist vs. the Isolationists
Willkie, all for getting involved in the war in Europe to stop Adolf Hitler, came to the convention in Philadelphia with momentum. "Willkie Clubs" were formed all across the country by his supporters and many of the northeast writers backed him (not their isolationist editors). His sudden popular appeal was attributed, according to Peters, to his similarity to Will Rogers. His homespun manner of speaking, his rumpled look, and small town origins reminded many of the popular humorist. This is an interesting comparison since Willkie was also a power company executive who hobnobbed with the eastern elite. But in politics image is important.
Also important, Peters cleverly pinpoints the specific manuevers Willkie supporters used at the convention that enabled Willkie to win the nomination. In a tough battle with isolationist candidates Robert Taft, Thomas Dewey, and Arthur Vandenberg, Willkie backer Sam Pryor, the convention's Chairman of Arrangements, packed the galleries with noisy Willkie fans to influence the delegates. Then there was Joe Martin, the convention chairman, whose procedural rulings favored Willkie. Finally, Republican national chairman John D.M. Hamilton called in a favor to Michigan leader Frank McKay to lock up most of the state's delegates for Willkie, which led to an unanimous victory for Willkie on the sixth ballot.
Meanwhile, Peters gives you the full delegate experience by describing the entertainment options outside the convention. On the Sunday before the convention, a delegate could catch a major league baseball doubleheader between the Phillies and Cubs, see the movie Roberta starring Fred Astaire, or travel the short distance to Atlantic City to see Bob Hope.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Despite the Republican convention being the center of his book, Peters devotes a chapter on the Democratic convention in Chicago. Political manipulations were there as well. Privately, FDR wanted a controversial third term but did not want to appear seeking it. After Senator Alben Barkley read FDR's statement to the convention, allowing the delegates to choose any man they wanted, a worker for Chicago mayor Ed Kelly from the basement yelled into a microphone, "We want Roosevelt." The delegates went wild for FDR. Later, when a number of delegates were angry about FDR shoving Henry Wallace down their throats for Vice President, the Roosevelt inner circle persuaded First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to speak to the convention to smooth things over.
Peters heard that anger over Wallace for himself, as he was there as a boy, eavesdropping on delegates in hotel lobbies. His father made the spontaneous decision to trek to Chicago from Charleston, West Virginia after listening to the convention on radio. They got there in time to hear Eleanor Roosevelt reduce the boos for Wallace. This and other personal anecdotes of Peters make the book unique.
With the conventions over, FDR had to campaign to an isolationist nation and work to pass aid to Britain and a draft. Thanks to his opponent Willkie agreeing through back channels not to condemn the destroyers for bases deal, the U.S. was able to quickly send the destroyers that September, postponing Hitler's invasion plans. Also Willkie's support for the military draft broke the backs of the isolationists in Congress, the bill passing September 14th.
In Five Days in Philadelphia, the free world hung in the balance. This is a great book to think about the "what-ifs." Charles Peters makes a convincing case that without Willkie as the Republican nominee, FDR would have probably failed to get aid to Britain and a draft for America.
Published by PublicAffairs, 2005, ISBN-13: 978-1-58648-112-4, ISBN 1-58648-112-6
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