by Curt_Anderson on April 3, 2022 11:43 am
FDR never appealed to Hitler for dirt on Wendell Willkie, his third term election opponent.
Political trivia: Willkie who was ten years younger than Roosevelt probably seemed to many voters as a younger, healthier alternative. Willkie died in October of 1944. FDR died a half year later at the start of his fourth term.
Willkie's 1940 running mate, Senator Charles McNary of Oregon, died eight months before him, on February 25. It was the first, and to date, the only time both members of a major-party presidential ticket died during the term for which they sought election. Had they been elected, the Presidential Succession Act of 1886 would have been invoked upon Willkie's death, and his Secretary of State would have been sworn in as acting president for the remainder of the term ending on January 20, 1945.
en.wikipedia.org
