Sold – Roosevelt Confides: Beating the Axis “Will be a long uphill fight”

Wendell Willkie was the dark horse nominee to run against Roosevelt in the 1940 election. He got more votes than any Republican presidential candidate ever had before, but carried just ten states and lost the election handily. Willkie was not a blind partisan, however, and almost immediately after the election, he made it clear to FDR that he would support the administration’s war preparation efforts. He became an outspoken opponent of Democratic and Republican leaders who wanted to return America to isolationism, and in July 1941 went so far as to urge unlimited aid to Britain in its struggle against Nazi Germany. 

After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and plunged the U.S. into World War II, Roosevelt saw an opportunity to use Willkie to aid the war effort. In August 1942, FDR asked Willkie to make an airplane flight around the world as his special envoy to show the world that although America was engaged in a vigorous political debate at home, she was united in her desire to combat fascism throughout the world. What better way to do so, Willkie and FDR reasoned, than to have the President’s political opponent make a goodwill tour of America’s allies. Willkie’s 50-day trip as Roosevelt’s personal representative included stops at battle zones in Africa, the Soviet Union and China, which he reported on in a radio speech to the nation on October 26, 1942, soon after he returned. In it, he urged a second front in Europe to relieve pressure on U.S.S.R. and an all-out attack on Burma to aid China. Among the important points he made were that the U.S.’s “reservoir of good will is leaking“ because of failure to deliver expected aid and because of doubt about Anglo-American war aims. “If I were to tell you how few bombers China has received from us, you simply wouldn’t believe me,” he said. He made the point that “Now is the time for the U.S. to accept the most challenging opportunity of all history— the chance to help create a new society in which men and women the globe around can live and grow invigorated by freedom.” Thus, while advancing Roosevely’s primary aim, Willkie was clearly somewhat critical of the Roosevelt administration’s handling of the war.

Things on the whole are going fairly well but it will be a long uphill fight

How did FDR really feel about Willkie in the immediate wake of his return? He had some criticisms of his own, and he confided them to a friend, New York attorney and public service expert Arthur W. Procter, in a letter marked “Private.” Typed Letter Signed as President, on White House letterhead, Washington, November 2, 1942, to Procter, assessing Willkie, providing a candid look at how the war was going, and adding some insightful information on his own worldview. “Ever so many thanks for that mighty nice letter of yours. I always try to see the good in things and people. You are right about Wendell Willkie’s speech. He had a good thought but was just a bit too immature to carry it through. He could only see the little things – and he has not yet forgotten that he ran for President two years ago. Things on the whole are going fairly well but it will be a long uphill fight.”

So Roosevelt characterized himself as looking for “the good in things and people”, a trait his wife Eleanor saw in him as well. This attitude made him naturally optimistic, and FDR’s optimism inspired others and gave hope to the nation, both during the Depression and World War II. Thus, it had very real consequences. As for Willkie, most sources contend that Roosevelt had a very high regard for him; here we see another side, as conveyed to a friend. And probably most importantly of all, we see FDR’s true assessment of the status of World War II, one that tempers hope with realism:?“it will be a long uphill fight.”

In 1943, Willkie wrote “One World”, a plea for international peacekeeping after the war. Extremely popular, millions of copies of the book sold. The next year, before being able to see the Unites Nations come into existence, he died at age 52.