View source for 1940 United States presidential election

{{Short description|none}}
{{Use American English|date = April 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2013}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name      = 1940 United States presidential election
| country            = United States
| flag_year          = 1912
| type               = presidential
| previous_election  = 1936 United States presidential election
| previous_year      = 1936
| election_date      = November 5, 1940
| next_election      = 1944 United States presidential election
| next_year          = 1944
| votes_for_election = 531 members of the [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]]
| needed_votes       = 266 electoral
| turnout            = 62.5%<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.electproject.org/national-1789-present|title=National General Election VEP Turnout Rates, 1789-Present|work=United States Election Project|publisher=[[CQ Press]]}}</ref> {{increase}} 1.5 [[percentage point|pp]]
| image_size         = x200px

<!-- Franklin D. Roosevelt -->
| image1             = FDRoosevelt1938.jpg
| nominee1           = '''[[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'''
| party1             = Democratic Party (United States)
| home_state1        = [[New York (state)|New York]]
| running_mate1      = '''[[Henry A. Wallace]]'''
| electoral_vote1    = '''449'''
| states_carried1    = '''38'''
| popular_vote1      = '''27,313,945'''
| percentage1        = '''{{percent|<!-- ROOSEVELT: --> 27,313,945|<!-- TOTAL: --> 49,902,113|1|pad=yes}}'''

<!-- Wendell Willkie -->
| image2             = WendellWillkie.jpg
| nominee2           = [[Wendell Willkie]]
| party2 = Republican Party (United States)
| home_state2        = [[New York (state)|New York]]<ref name=FedRegEC1940>{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/votes/1941_1953.html#1940 |title=U. S. Electoral College |website=Archives.gov |access-date=2016-08-18}}</ref>
| running_mate2      = [[Charles L. McNary]]
| electoral_vote2    = 82
| states_carried2    = 10
| popular_vote2      = 22,347,744
| percentage2        = {{percent|<!-- WILLKIE: --> 22,347,744|<!-- TOTAL: --> 49,902,113|1|pad=yes}}

<!-- Map -->
| map                = {{1940 United States presidential election imagemap}}
| map_size           = 350px
| map_caption        = Presidential election results map. <span style="color:blue;">Blue</span> denotes those won by Roosevelt/Wallace, <span style="color:red;">red</span> denotes states won by Willkie/McNary. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.
| title              = President 
| before_election    = [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]
| before_party       = Democratic Party (United States)
| after_election     = [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]
| after_party        = Democratic Party (United States)
}}
The '''1940 United States presidential election''' was the 39th quadrennial [[United States presidential election|presidential election]]. It was held on Tuesday, November 5, 1940. Incumbent [[History of the Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] defeated [[History of the Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] businessman [[Wendell Willkie]] to be reelected for an unprecedented third term in office. Until [[1988 United States presidential election|1988]], this was the last time in which the incumbent's party won three consecutive presidential elections. It was also the fourth presidential election in which both major party candidates were registered in the same home state; the others have been in [[1860 United States presidential election|1860]], [[1904 United States presidential election|1904]], [[1920 United States presidential election|1920]], [[1944 United States presidential election|1944]], and [[2016 United States presidential election|2016]].

The election was contested in the shadow of [[World War II]] in Europe, as the United States was finally emerging from the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]]. Roosevelt did not want to campaign for a third term initially, but was driven by worsening conditions in Europe.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/radio-address-the-democratic-national-convention-accepting-the-nomination|title=Radio Address to the Democratic National Convention Accepting the Nomination. {{!}} The American Presidency Project|website=www.presidency.ucsb.edu|access-date=2019-07-15}}</ref> He and his allies sought to defuse challenges from other party leaders such as [[James Farley]] and Vice President [[John Nance Garner]]. The [[1940 Democratic National Convention]] re-nominated Roosevelt on the first ballot, while Garner was replaced on the ticket by Secretary of Agriculture [[Henry A. Wallace]]. Willkie, a [[dark horse]] candidate, unexpectedly defeated [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] Senator [[Robert A. Taft]] and [[Manhattan District Attorney]] [[Thomas E. Dewey]] on the sixth presidential ballot of the [[1940 Republican National Convention]].

Roosevelt, acutely aware of strong [[Isolationism|isolationist]] and [[United States non-interventionism|non-interventionist]] sentiment, promised there would be no involvement in foreign wars if he were reelected.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historycentral.com/FDR/FDR_1940Election.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130125203751/http://www.historycentral.com/FDR/FDR_1940Election.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-01-25|title=FDR Campaigns For Re-election}}"Roosevelt repeatedly promised that American boys would not have to fight overseas. At one point Willkie hearing Roosevelt make his pledge of "your boys are not going to be sent into a foreign war"</ref> Willkie, who had not previously run for public office, conducted an energetic campaign, managing to revive Republican strength in areas of the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]] and [[Northeastern United States|Northeast]]. He criticized perceived incompetence and waste in the [[New Deal]], warned of the dangers of breaking the two-term tradition, and accused Roosevelt of secretly planning to take the country into World War II. However, Willkie's association with [[big business]] damaged his cause, as many [[Working class in the United States|working class]] voters blamed corporations and business leaders for the Great Depression.  Roosevelt led in all pre-election polls and won a comfortable victory; his margins, though still significant, were less decisive than they had been in [[1932 United States presidential election|1932]] and [[1936 United States presidential election|1936]].

==Nominations==
===Democratic Party ===
{{Main|1940 Democratic Party presidential primaries|1940 Democratic National Convention}}

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"
|-
| style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|[[File:Democratic Disc.svg|65px|center|link=Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party (United States)]]<big>'''1940 Democratic Party ticket '''</big>
|-
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#3333FF; width:200px;"| [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|{{color|white|Franklin D. Roosevelt}}]]
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#3333FF; width:200px;"| [[Henry A. Wallace|{{color|white|Henry A. Wallace}}]]
|-
| style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#C8EBFF; width:200px;"|'''''for President'''''
| style="width:3em; font-size:100%; color:#000; background:#C8EBFF; width:200px;"|'''''for Vice President'''''
|-
| [[File:FDRoosevelt1938.jpg|center|200x200px]]
| [[File:Henry-A.-Wallace-Townsend (cropped 3x4).jpeg|center|200x200px]]
|-
| [[List of presidents of the United States|32nd]]<br>[[President of the United States]]<br><small>(1933–1945)</small>
| 11th<br>[[United States Secretary of Agriculture|U.S. Secretary of Agriculture]]<br><small>(1933–1940)</small>
|-
| colspan=2 |[[Franklin D. Roosevelt#Election of 1940|'''Campaign''']]
|-
| colspan=2 |<small>'''3,250,555 votes'''<br>'''707.5 {{abbr|PD|Pledged Delegates}}'''</small>
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="font-size:90%;"
|- <sup>†</sup>
| colspan="12" style="text-align:center; width:700px; font-size:120%; color:white; background:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}};"|''In order of delegates and votes won''
|- style="text-align:center"
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[John Nance Garner]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[Charles W. Sawyer]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[James Farley]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[William B. Bankhead]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[O. John Rogge]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[Millard Tydings]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[Burton K. Wheeler]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[Joseph C. O'Mahoney]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[Ellis E. Patterson]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[Cordell Hull]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;"|[[Paul V. McNutt]]
|- style="text-align:center"
|[[File:FDRoosevelt1938.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:JohnNanceGarner.png|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:CharlesSawyer.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:JamesFarleyProfile.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Speaker Wm. Bankhead, Sen. Barkley and Rep. Rayburn at White House conference (cropped).jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:O John Rogge 1939.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Millardetydings.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Senator Burton Kendall Wheeler.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:JosephCOMahoney.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Ellis E. Patterson.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Hull-Cordell-LOC.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|[[File:Paul V McNutt Oct 1941.jpg|center|120x120px]]
|- style="text-align:center"
|[[President of the United States|U.S. President]]<br /> from [[New York (State)|New York]]<br /> <small>(1933–1945)</small>
|[[Vice President of the United States|U.S. Vice President]]<br /> from [[Texas]]<br /> <small>(1933–1941)</small>
|[[Lieutenant Governor of Ohio|Lt. Governor]]<br /> of [[Ohio]]<br /> <small>(1933–1935)</small>
|[[United States Postmaster General|U.S. Postmaster General]]<br />from [[New York (state)|New York]]<br /><small>(1933–1940)</small>
|[[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|U.S. House Speaker]]<br />from [[Alabama]]<br /><small>(1936–1940)</small>
|[[United States Assistant Attorney General|U.S. Assistant Attorney General]]<br />from [[New York (state)|New York]]<br /><small>(1939–1940)</small>
|U.S. Senator<br />from [[Maryland]]<br /><small>(1927–1951)</small>
|U.S. Senator<br />from [[Montana]]<br /><small>(1923–1947)</small>
|U.S. Senator<br />from [[Wyoming]]<br /><small>(1934–1953)</small>
|[[Lieutenant Governor of California|Lt. Governor]]<br />of [[California]]<br /><small>(1939–1943)</small>
|[[US Secretary of State|U.S. Secretary of State]]<br />from [[Tennessee]]<br /><small>(1933–1944)</small>
|Administrator of the [[Federal Security Agency]]<br />from [[Indiana]]<br /><small>(1934–1945)</small>
|- style="text-align:center"
|<small>'''3,214,555 votes'''<br>'''691.5 {{abbr|PD|Pledged Delegates}}'''</small>
|<small>'''426,641 votes'''<br>'''69.5 {{abbr|PD|Pledged Delegates}}'''</small>
|<small>'''283,952  votes'''<br>'''52 {{abbr|PD|Pledged Delegates}}'''</small>
|<small>'''76,919 votes'''<br>'''38.5 {{abbr|PD|Pledged Delegates}}'''</small>
|<small>'''196,508 votes'''<br>'''22 {{abbr|PD|Pledged Delegates}}'''</small>
|<small>'''20 {{abbr|PD|Pledged Delegates}}'''</small>
|<small>'''16 {{abbr|PD|Pledged Delegates}}'''</small>
|<small>'''8 {{abbr|PD|Pledged Delegates}}'''</small>
|<small>'''6 {{abbr|PD|Pledged Delegates}}'''</small>
|<small>'''48,337 votes'''</small>
|<small>'''0 {{abbr|PD|Pledged Delegates}}'''</small>
|<small>'''0 {{abbr|PD|Pledged Delegates}}'''</small>
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Convention vote

|-
! colspan=2 | President
! colspan=2 | Vice President

|-
| {{Y}} '''[[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'''
| 946
| {{Y}} '''[[Henry A. Wallace]]'''
| 626

|-
| [[James Farley]]
| 72
| [[William B. Bankhead]]
| 329

|-
| [[John Nance Garner]]
| 61
| [[Paul V. McNutt]]
| 68

|-
| [[Millard Tydings]]
| 9
| [[Alva B. Adams]]
| 11

|-
| [[Cordell Hull]]
| 5
| [[James 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
|}

Throughout the winter, spring, and summer of 1940, there was much speculation as to whether Roosevelt would break with longstanding tradition and run for an unprecedented third term. The two-term tradition, although not yet [[Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution|enshrined in the Constitution]], had been established by [[George Washington]] when he refused to run for a third term in [[1796 United States presidential election|1796]]; other former presidents, such as [[Ulysses S. Grant]] in [[1880 United States presidential election|1880]] and [[Theodore Roosevelt]] in [[1912 United States presidential election|1912]] had made serious attempts to run for a third term, but the former failed to be nominated, while the latter, forced to run on a third-party ticket, lost to [[Woodrow Wilson]] due to the split in the Republican vote. President Roosevelt refused to state definitely whether he would run for a third term. He even indicated to some ambitious Democrats that he would not run. Two of them thus decided to seek the Democratic nomination. These were [[James Farley]], his former campaign manager, and Vice President [[John Nance Garner]]. Garner was a Texas conservative who had come to disagree with Roosevelt's liberal economic and social policies, and declined to run for a third term as vice president.

However, as [[Nazi Germany]] swept through western Europe and menaced the [[United Kingdom]] 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. He was aided by the party's political bosses, who feared that no Democrat except Roosevelt could defeat the popular Willkie.<ref>James MacGregor Burns ''Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox'' (1956) pp 408-30.</ref>

At the July [[1940 Democratic National Convention]] in [[Chicago]], Roosevelt easily swept aside challenges from Farley and Garner. Roosevelt picked Secretary of Agriculture [[Henry A. Wallace]] of Iowa to replace Garner on the ticket. An outspoken liberal who had been a Republican until he joined Roosevelt's cabinet, he met strong opposition from conservatives and party traditionalists. Wallace was also known as "eccentric" in his private life: some years earlier, he had been a follower of [[Theosophy|Theosophist]] mystic [[Nicholas Roerich]]. But Roosevelt insisted that without Wallace he would not run. [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] came to Chicago to vouch for Wallace, and he won the vice-presidential nomination with 626 votes to 329 for House Speaker [[William B. Bankhead]] of Alabama.<ref>Richard Moe, ''Roosevelt's Second Act: The Election of 1940 and the Politics of War'' (2013).</ref>

===Republican Party===
{{Main|1940 Republican Party presidential primaries|1940 Republican National Convention}}

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"
|-
| style="background:#f1f1f1;" colspan="30"|[[File:Republican Disc.svg|65px|center|link=Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party (United States)]]<big>'''1940 Republican Party ticket'''</big>
|-
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#E81B23; width:200px;"| [[Wendell Willkie|{{color|white|Wendell Willkie}}]]
! style="width:3em; font-size:135%; background:#E81B23; width:200px;"| [[Charles L. McNary|{{color|white|Charles L. McNary}}]]
|-  style="color:#000; font-size:100%; background:#FFD0D7;"
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for President'''''
| style="width:3em; width:200px;"|'''''for Vice President'''''
|-
| [[File:WendellWillkie.jpg|center|200x200px]]
| [[File: Charles Linza McNary cph.3b18950 (cropped 3x4).jpg|center|200x200px]]
|-
| President of<br />[[Southern Company|Commonwealth & Southern]]<br /><small>(1933–1940)</small>
| [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] from [[Oregon]]<br><small>(1917–1918, 1918–1944)</small>
|-
| colspan=2 |[[Wendell Willkie#1940 presidential election|'''Campaign''']]
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="font-size:90%;"
|- <sup>†</sup>
| colspan="12" style="text-align:center; width:700px; font-size:120%; color:white; background:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}};" |''In order of delegates and votes won''
|- style="text-align:center"
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;" |[[Wendell Willkie]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;" |[[Robert A. Taft]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;" |Jerrold L. Seawell
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;" |[[Thomas E. Dewey]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;" |[[Arthur Vandenberg|Arthur Vanderberg]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;" |[[Herbert Hoover]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;" |[[Hanford MacNider]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;" |[[Frank Gannett]]
! scope="col" style="width:10em; font-size:120%;" |[[Arthur James (politician)|Arthur H. James]]
|- style="text-align:center"
|[[File:WendellWillkie.jpg|center|129x129px]]
|[[File:RobertATaft.jpg|center|133x133px]]
|[[File:Jerrold L. Seawell, 1935.jpg|center|135x135px]]
|[[File:Thomas E. Dewey color photograph.png|center|135x135px]]
|[[File:Arthur H. Vandenberg.jpg|center|130x130px]]
|[[File:President Hoover portrait.jpg|center|137x137px]]
|[[File:Hanford MacNider2.jpg|center|129x129px]]
|[[File:FrankGannett.png|center|129x129px]]
|[[File:Arthur H. James (Pennsylvania governor).jpg|center|144x144px]]
|- style="text-align:center"
|[[Businessperson|Businessman]]<br /> from [[New York (State)|New York]]<br /> <small>(1919–1939)</small>
|U.S. Senator<br />from [[Ohio]]<br /><small>(1939–1953)</small>
|[[President pro tempore of the California State Senate|President pro tempore]]<br />of [[California]]<br /><small>(1939–1941)</small>
|[[United States Assistant Attorney General|Manhattan District Attorney]]<br />from [[New York (state)|New York]]<br /><small>(1938–1941)</small>
|U.S. Senator<br />from [[Michigan]]<br /><small>(1928–1951)</small>
|Former [[President of the United States|U.S. President]]<br />from [[California]]
|[[Assistant Secretary of War]]<small>(1925–1928)</small>
|[[Businessperson|Businessman]]<br /> from [[New York (State)|New York]]<br /> <small>(1906–1957)</small>
|[[List of governors of Pennsylvania|Governor]]<br />of [[Pennsylvania]]<br /><small>(1939–1943)</small>
|- style="text-align:center"
|<small>'''21,140 votes'''<br>'''633 {{abbr|PD|Pledged Delegates}}'''</small>
|<small>'''516,428 votes'''<br>'''310 {{abbr|PD|Pledged Delegates}}'''</small>
|<small>'''538,112 votes'''<br>'''44 {{abbr|PD|Pledged Delegates}}'''</small>
|<small>'''1,605,754 votes'''<br>'''11 {{abbr|PD|Pledged Delegates}}'''</small>
|<small>'''100,651 votes'''</small>
|<small>'''69 votes'''<br>'''9 {{abbr|PD|Pledged Delegates}}'''</small>
|<small>'''2 {{abbr|PD|Pledged Delegates}}'''</small>
|<small>'''1 {{abbr|PD|Pledged Delegates}}'''</small>
|<small>'''1 {{abbr|PD|Pledged Delegates}}'''</small>
|}
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="4" |Convention vote (6th Ballot before Shifts)
|-
! colspan="2" | President
! colspan="2" | Vice President

|-
| {{Y}} [[Wendell Willkie|'''Wendell L. Willkie''']]
| 633
| {{Y}} '''[[Charles L. McNary]]'''
| 626

|-
| [[Robert A. Taft]]
| 310
| [[Dewey Jackson Short]]
| 108

|-
| [[Thomas E. Dewey]]
| 11
| [[Styles Bridges]]
| 2

|-
| [[Herbert Hoover]]
| 9
|
|
|-
| [[Hanford MacNider]]
| 2
|
|
|-
|[[Frank Gannett]]
|1
|
|
|-
|[[Arthur James (politician)|Arthur H. James]]
|1
|
|
|}

In the months leading up to the opening of the 1940 [[Republican National Convention]] in [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, the Republican Party was deeply divided between the party's [[United States non-interventionism|isolationists]], who wanted to stay out of [[World War II]] at all costs, and the party's interventionists, who felt that the [[United Kingdom]] needed to be given all aid short of war to prevent [[Nazi Germany]] from conquering all of Europe. The three leading candidates for the Republican nomination - Senator [[Robert A. Taft]] from Ohio, Senator [[Arthur H. Vandenberg]] from Michigan, and [[District Attorney]] [[Thomas E. Dewey]] from New York - were all isolationists to varying degrees.<ref>Michael D. Bowen, ''The Roots of Modern Conservatism: Dewey, Taft, and the Battle for the Soul of the Republican Party'' (2011).</ref>

Taft was the leader of the conservative, isolationist wing of the Republican Party, and his main strength was in his native [[Midwestern United States]] and parts of the [[Southern United States]]. Dewey, the District Attorney for [[Manhattan]], had risen to national fame as the "Gangbuster" prosecutor who had sent numerous infamous [[American Mafia|Mafia]] figures to prison, most notably [[Lucky Luciano]], the organized-crime boss of [[New York City]]. Dewey had won most of the presidential primaries in the spring of 1940, and he came into the Republican Convention in June with the largest number of delegate votes, although he was still well below the number needed to win. Vandenberg, the senior Republican in the Senate, was the "favorite son" candidate of the Michigan delegation and was considered a possible compromise candidate if Taft or Dewey faltered. Former President [[Herbert Hoover]] was also spoken of as a compromise candidate.

However, each of these candidates had weaknesses that could be exploited. Taft's outspoken isolationism and opposition to any American involvement in the [[European theatre of World War II|European war]] convinced many Republican leaders that he could not win a general election, particularly as [[Battle of France|France fell]] to the Nazis in June 1940 and Germany threatened the United Kingdom. Dewey's relative youth—he was only 38 in 1940—and lack of any foreign-policy experience caused his candidacy to weaken as the [[Wehrmacht]] emerged as a fearsome threat. In 1940, Vandenberg was also an isolationist (he would change his foreign-policy stance during World War II) and his lackadaisical, lethargic campaign never caught the voters' attention. Hoover still bore the stigma of having presided over the [[Wall Street Crash of 1929]] and the subsequent [[Great Depression]]. This left an opening for a [[dark horse]] candidate to emerge.<ref>Susan Dunn,  ''1940: FDR, Willkie, Lindbergh, Hitler-the Election Amid the Storm'' (Yale UP, 2013).</ref>

[[File:Willkie For President button.svg|thumb|right|Wendell Willkie for President campaign button.]]

A [[Wall Street]]-based industrialist named [[Wendell Willkie]], who had never before run for public office, emerged as the unlikely nominee. Willkie, a native of Indiana and a former Democrat who had supported Franklin Roosevelt in the [[1932 United States presidential election]], was considered an improbable choice. Willkie had first come to public attention as an articulate critic of Roosevelt's attempt to break up electrical power [[Monopoly|monopolies]].

Willkie was the CEO of the [[Commonwealth & Southern Corporation]], which provided electrical power to customers in eleven states. In 1933, President Roosevelt had created the [[Tennessee Valley Authority]] (TVA), which promised to provide [[flood control]] and cheap electricity to the impoverished people of the [[Tennessee Valley]]. However, the government-run TVA would compete with Willkie's Commonwealth & Southern, and this led Willkie to criticize and oppose the TVA's attempt to compete with private power companies. Willkie argued that the government had unfair advantages over private corporations, and should thus avoid competing directly against them.<ref>Steve Neal, ''Dark Horse: A Biography of Wendell Willkie'' (1989)</ref>

However, Willkie did not dismiss all of Roosevelt's [[Social programs in the United States|social welfare programs]], indeed supporting those he believed could not be managed any better by the free enterprise system. Furthermore, unlike the leading Republican candidates, Willkie was a forceful and outspoken advocate of aid to the [[Allies of World War II]], especially the United Kingdom. His support of giving all aid to the British "short of declaring war" won him the support of many Republicans on the [[East Coast of the United States]], who disagreed with their party's isolationist leaders in Congress.

Willkie's persuasive arguments impressed these Republicans, who believed that he would be an attractive presidential candidate. Many of the leading [[Media proprietor|press barons]] of the era, such as Ogden Reid of the ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'', Roy Howard of the [[E. W. Scripps Company|Scripps-Howard]] newspaper chain and [[John Cowles Sr.|John]] and [[Gardner Cowles Jr.]] publishers of the ''[[Star Tribune|Minneapolis Star]]'' and the ''[[Star Tribune|Minneapolis Tribune]]'', as well as ''[[The Des Moines Register]]'' and ''[[Look (American magazine)|Look]]'' magazine, supported Willkie in their newspapers and magazines. Even so, Willkie remained a long-shot candidate; the May 8 [[The Gallup Organization#Gallup Poll|Gallup Poll]] showed Dewey at 67% support among Republicans, followed by Vandenberg and Taft, with Willkie at only 3%.

The [[German Army (Wehrmacht)|German Army]]'s rapid [[Blitzkrieg]] campaign into France in May 1940 shook American public opinion, even as Taft was telling a Kansas audience that America needed to concentrate on domestic issues to prevent Roosevelt from using the war crisis to extend [[socialism]] at home. Both Dewey and Vandenberg also continued to oppose any aid to the United Kingdom that might lead to war with Nazi Germany. Nevertheless, sympathy for the embattled British was mounting daily, and this aided Willkie's candidacy. By mid-June, little over one week before the Republican Convention opened, the Gallup poll reported that Willkie had moved into second place with 17%, and that Dewey was slipping. Fueled by his favorable media attention, Willkie's pro-British statements won over many of the delegates. As the delegates were arriving in Philadelphia, Gallup reported that Willkie had surged to 29%, Dewey had slipped five more points to 47%, and Taft, Vandenberg and Hoover trailed at 8%, 8%, and 6% respectively.

Hundreds of thousands, perhaps as many as one million, telegrams urging support for Willkie poured in, many from "Willkie Clubs" that had sprung up across the country. Millions more signed petitions circulating everywhere. At the [[1940 Republican National Convention]] itself, keynote speaker [[Harold Stassen]], the Governor of Minnesota, announced his support for Willkie and became his official floor manager.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} Hundreds of vocal Willkie supporters packed the upper galleries of the convention hall. Willkie's amateur status and fresh face appealed to delegates as well as voters. Most of the delegations were selected not by primaries, but by party leaders in each state, and they had a keen sense of the fast-changing pulse of public opinion. Gallup found the same thing in polling data not reported until after the convention: Willkie had moved ahead among Republican voters by 44% to only 29% for the collapsing Dewey. As the pro-Willkie galleries chanted "We Want Willkie!" the delegates on the convention floor began their vote. Dewey led on the first ballot, but steadily lost strength thereafter. Both Taft and Willkie gained in strength on each ballot, and by the fourth ballot it was obvious that either Willkie or Taft would be the nominee. The key moments came when the delegations of large states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New York left Dewey and Vandenberg and switched to Willkie, giving him the victory on the sixth ballot.<ref>Henry Z. Scheele, "The Nomination of Wendell Willkie." ''Communication Quarterly'' 16.4 (1968): 45-50.</ref>

Willkie's nomination was one of the most dramatic moments in any political convention.<ref>Charles Peters, ''Five Days in Philadelphia: 1940, Wendell Willkie, FDR and the Political Convention That Won World War II'' (2006) pp 1-5.</ref> Having given little thought to whom he would select as his vice-presidential nominee, Willkie left the decision to convention chairman and Massachusetts Representative [[Joseph William Martin Jr.|Joseph Martin]], the House Minority Leader, who suggested Senate Minority Leader [[Charles L. McNary]] from Oregon. Despite the fact that McNary had spearheaded a "Stop Willkie" campaign late in the balloting, the convention picked him to be Willkie's running mate.<ref>Steve Neal, ''McNary of Oregon: A Political Biography'' (1985).</ref>

==General election==
===Polling===
{{Main|Nationwide opinion polling for the 1940 United States presidential election}}

{| style="margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; border-spacing: 3px; background-color: #f8f9fa;" class="floatright"
|+Polling aggregates
|-
! scope="col" | Candidates
|-
| style="padding: 0 5px;" | {{legend|#3333FF|Franklin Roosevelt}}
|-
| style="padding: 0 5px;" | {{legend|#E81B23|Wendell Willkie}}
|-
| style="padding: 0 5px;" | {{legend|Silver|Undecided}}
|}

{{Graph:Chart
 | width = 950
 | height= 450
 | type = line
 | interpolate = basis
 | xType = date
 | xAxisAngle = -40
 | yAxisTitle = % Support
 | yGrid = yes
 | symbolsShape= circle
 | showSymbols = 0, 0, 0, 3, 3
 | linewidth = 2
 | x = 1940/05/29, 1940/06/11, 1940/07/03, 1940/07/11, 1940/07/16, 1940/07/19, 1940/07/31, 1940/08/08, 1940/08/09, 1940/08/21, 1940/09/03, 1940/09/14, 1940/09/20, 1940/09/30, 1940/10/05, 1940/10/09, 1940/10/19, 1940/10/22, 1940/10/23, 1940/10/24, 1940/11/02
 | y1 = <!-- Roosevelt --> 54.5, 52.7, 42.0, 46.4, 44.3, 42.7, 43.6, 42.1, 40.3, 43.2, 42.7, 47.6, 48.3, 48.8, 46.7, 50.0, 48.3, 49.9, 48.2, 47.7, 51.1,  <!-- Roosevelt -->
 | y2 = <!-- Willkie --> 29.3, 29.9, 45.7, 39.8, 43.1, 43.4, 45.8, 46.0, 43.8, 43.6, 42.8, 42.4, 40.7, 42.0, 45.6, 41.4, 45.1, 41.8, 43.5, 44.2, 47.4,  <!-- Willkie -->
 | y3 = <!-- Undecided --> 15.9, 17.3, 12.3, 13.8, 12.4, 13.4, 10.3, 11.1, 13.8, 12.2, 14.2, 9.5, 11.0, 8.8, 7.5, 7.9, 6.2, 7.9, 8.0, 7.9, 1.1,  <!-- Undecided -->
 | y4 = <!-- Roosevelt Final -->,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 54.74 <!-- Roosevelt Final -->
 | y5 = <!-- Willkie Final -->,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 44.78 <!-- Willkie Final -->
 | colors = <!-- Active candidates --> #3333FF, #E81B23, Silver, #3333FF, #E81B23
}}

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed"
! Poll Source
! Field Date(s)
! Sample Size
! Franklin Roosevelt<br/><small>{{nobold|Democratic}}</small>
! Wendell Willkie<br><small>{{nobold|Republican}}</small>
! Others
! Undecided
! Leading by<br>([[percentage point|points]])
|-
| '''Election Results'''
! colspan=2 | November 5, 1940
|align="center" {{party shading/Democratic}}|'''54.7%'''
|align="center" | 44.8%
|align="center" | 0.5%
|align="center" | -
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center|'''10.0'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|November 2, 1940
|3,094 (A)
|align="center" {{party shading/Democratic}}|'''51.1%'''
|align="center" | 47.4%
|align="center" | 0.4%
|align="center" | 1.1%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center|'''3.7'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|October 24, 1940
|10,325 (A)
|align="center" {{party shading/Democratic}}|'''47.7%'''
|align="center" | 44.2%
|align="center" | 0.2%
|align="center" | 7.9%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center|'''3.5'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|October 23, 1940
|3,161 (A)
|align="center" {{party shading/Democratic}}|'''48.2%'''
|align="center" | 43.5%
|align="center" | 0.3%
|align="center" | 8.00%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center|'''4.7'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|October 22, 1940
|11,860 (A)
|align="center" {{party shading/Democratic}}|'''49.9%'''
|align="center" | 41.8%
|align="center" | 0.4%
|align="center" | 7.9%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center|'''8.1'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|October 19, 1940
|5,525 (A)
|align="center" {{party shading/Democratic}}|'''48.3%'''
|align="center" | 45.1%
|align="center" | 0.5%
|align="center" | 6.2%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center|'''3.2'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|October 9, 1940
|3,134 (A)
|align="center" {{party shading/Democratic}}|'''50.0%'''
|align="center" | 41.4%
|align="center" | 0.6%
|align="center" | 7.9%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center|'''8.6'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|October 5, 1940
|6,221 (A)
|align="center" {{party shading/Democratic}}|'''46.7%'''
|align="center" | 45.6%
|align="center" | 0.4%
|align="center" | 7.5%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center|'''1.1'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|September 30, 1940
|3,089 (A)
|align="center" {{party shading/Democratic}}|'''48.8%'''
|align="center" | 42.0%
|align="center" | 0.3%
|align="center" | 8.8%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center|'''6.8'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|September 20, 1940
|2,957 (A)
|align="center" {{party shading/Democratic}}|'''48.3%'''
|align="center" | 40.7%
|align="center" | 0.1%
|align="center" | 11.0%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center|'''7.6'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|September 14, 1940
|7,489 (A)
|align="center" {{party shading/Democratic}}|'''47.6%'''
|align="center" | 42.4%
|align="center" | 0.5%
|align="center" | 9.5%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center|'''5.2'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|September 3, 1940
|4,536 (A)
|align="center" |42.7%
|align="center" {{party shading/Republican}}| '''42.8%'''
|align="center" | 0.3%
|align="center" | 14.2%
| {{party shading/Republican}} align=center|'''0.2'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|August 21, 1940
|3,117 (A)
|align="center" |43.2%
|align="center" {{party shading/Republican}}| '''43.6%'''
|align="center" | 0.3%
|align="center" | 12.2%
| {{party shading/Republican}} align=center|'''0.4'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|August 9, 1940
|3,117 (A)
|align="center" |40.3%
|align="center" {{party shading/Republican}}| '''43.8%'''
|align="center" | 0.6%
|align="center" | 13.8%
| {{party shading/Republican}} align=center|'''3.5'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|August 8, 1940
|5,790 (A)
|align="center" |42.1%
|align="center" {{party shading/Republican}}| '''46.0%'''
|align="center" | 0.9%
|align="center" | 11.1%
| {{party shading/Republican}} align=center|'''3.9'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|July 31, 1940
|3,060 (A)
|align="center" |43.6%
|align="center" {{party shading/Republican}}| '''45.8%'''
|align="center" | 0.3%
|align="center" | 10.3%
| {{party shading/Republican}} align=center|'''2.2'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|July 19, 1940
|3,117 (A)
|align="center" |42.7%
|align="center" {{party shading/Republican}}| '''43.4%'''
|align="center" | 0.5%
|align="center" | 13.4%
| {{party shading/Republican}} align=center|'''0.7'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|July 16, 1940
|1,626 (A)
|align="center" {{party shading/Democratic}}|'''44.3%'''
|align="center" | 43.1%
|align="center" | 0.3%
|align="center" | 12.4%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center|'''1.2'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|July 11, 1940
|2,490 (A)
|align="center" {{party shading/Democratic}}|'''46.4%'''
|align="center" | 39.8%
|align="center" | -
|align="center" | 13.8%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center|'''6.6'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|July 3, 1940
|3,121 (A)
|align="center" |42.0%
|align="center" {{party shading/Republican}}| '''45.7%'''
|align="center" | -
|align="center" | 12.3%
| {{party shading/Republican}} align=center|'''3.6'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|Jun 11, 1940
|3,091 (A)
|align="center" {{party shading/Democratic}}|'''52.7%'''
|align="center" | 29.9%
|align="center" | -
|align="center" | 17.3%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center|'''22.9'''
|-
|Gallup Poll News Service
|May 29, 1940
|3,159 (A)
|align="center" {{party shading/Democratic}}|'''54.5%'''
|align="center" | 29.3%
|align="center" | -
|align="center" | 15.9%
| {{party shading/Democratic}} align=center|'''25.2'''
|-
|}

The Gallup Poll accurately predicted the election outcome.<ref name="gallup1941">{{cite web|url=http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/FDR_1940_presidential_gallup_poll_information |last1=Gallup|first1=George|title=Was I Right About Roosevelt?|publisher=Old Magazine Articles |work=Coronet|date=January 1941 |access-date=2016-08-18}}</ref> However, the American Institute of Public Opinion, responsible for the Gallup Poll, avoided predicting the outcome, citing a four percent margin of error.<ref>[[Daniel Katz (psychologist)|Katz, Daniel]] (March 1941). "The Public Opinion Polls and the 1940 Election". ''The Public Opinion Quarterly''. Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 52–78</ref> The Gallup Poll also found that, if there was [[European theatre of World War II|no war in Europe]], voters preferred Willkie over Roosevelt.<ref name="gallup1941"/>

===Fall campaign===
[[File:PresidentialCounty1940Colorbrewer.gif|thumb|right|400px|Results by county explicitly indicating the percentage for the winning candidate. Shades of blue are for Roosevelt (Democratic) and shades of red are for Willkie (Republican).]]
Willkie crusaded against Roosevelt's attempt to break the two-term presidential tradition, arguing that "if one man is indispensable, then none of us is free." Even some Democrats who had supported Roosevelt in the past disapproved of his attempt to win a third term, and Willkie hoped to win their votes. Willkie also criticized what he claimed was the incompetence and waste in Roosevelt's [[New Deal]] welfare programs. He stated that as president he would keep most of Roosevelt's government programs, but would make them more efficient.<ref>John W. Jeffries,  ''A Third Term for FDR: The Election of 1940'' (2017)</ref>

However, many Americans still blamed business leaders for the Great Depression, and the fact that Willkie symbolized "[[Big business|Big Business]]" hurt him with many [[Working class in the United States|working-class voters]]. Willkie was a fearless campaigner; he often visited industrial areas where Republicans were still blamed for causing the Great Depression and where Roosevelt was highly popular. In these areas, Willkie frequently had rotten fruit and vegetables thrown at him and was heckled by crowds; still, he was unfazed.<ref>* Evjen, Henry O. "The Willkie Campaign; An Unfortunate Chapter in Republican Leadership", ''Journal of Politics'' (1952) 14#2 pp. 241–56 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2126521 in JSTOR]</ref>

Willkie also accused Roosevelt of leaving the nation unprepared for war, but Roosevelt's military buildup and transformation of the nation into the "[[Arsenal of Democracy]]" removed the "unpreparedness" charge as a major issue. Willkie then reversed his approach and charged Roosevelt with secretly planning to take the nation into World War II. This accusation did cut into Roosevelt's support. In response, Roosevelt, in a pledge that he would later regret, promised that he would "not send American boys into any foreign wars." The United Kingdom and Germany actively interfered throughout the election, hoping to exploit public sentiments and cultivate political contacts.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Usdin|first1=Steve|title=When a Foreign Government Interfered in a U.S. Election — to Reelect FDR|url=http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/when-a-foreign-government-interfered-in-a-us-electionto-reelect-fdr-214634|access-date=18 January 2017|work=[[Politico]]|date=16 January 2017}}</ref><ref name="The Conversation">{{cite news|last1=Hart|first1=Bradley|title=Nazis and communists tried it too: Foreign interference in US elections dates back decades|url=https://theconversation.com/nazis-and-communists-tried-it-too-foreign-interference-in-us-elections-dates-back-decades-109934|access-date=23 January 2019|work=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]]|date=23 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=A Nazi Attempt To Influence U.S. Elections|url=https://edition.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/07/23/nazis/|work=[[CNN]]|date=23 July 1997}}</ref>

===Results===
Roosevelt [[Historical polling for U.S. Presidential elections#United States presidential election, 1940|led in all pre-election opinion polls]] by various margins. On Election Day—November 5, 1940, he received 27.3 million votes to Willkie's 22.3 million, and in the [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]], he defeated Willkie by a margin of 449 to 82. Willkie did get over six million more votes than the Republican nominee in 1936, [[Alf Landon]], and he ran strong in [[rural]] areas in the American [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]], taking over 57% of the farm vote. Many counties in the Midwest have not voted for a Democrat since. Roosevelt, meanwhile, carried every American city with a population of more than 400,000 except [[Cincinnati]], Ohio. Of the 106 cities with more than 100,000 population, he won 61% of the votes cast; in the [[Southern United States]] as a whole, he won 73% of the total vote. In the remainder of the country (the rural and small-town [[Northern United States]]), Willkie had a majority of 53%. In the cities, there was a class differential, with the white-collar and middle-class voters supporting the Republican candidate, and working class, blue-collar voters going for FDR. In the North, Roosevelt won 87% of the Jewish vote, 73% of the Catholics, and 61% of the nonmembers, while all the major Protestant denominations showed majorities for Willkie.<ref>Richard Jensen,  "The Cities Reelect Roosevelt" p 189-90</ref>

Roosevelt's net vote totals in the twelve largest cities decreased from 3,479,000 votes in the 1936 election to 2,112,000 votes, but it was still higher than his result from the 1932 election when he won by 1,791,000 votes.<ref>{{cite book |last=Murphy |first=Paul |date=1974 |title=Political Parties In American History, Volume 3, 1890-present |publisher=[[G. P. Putnam's Sons]]}}</ref> Of the 3,094 counties/independent cities, Roosevelt won in 1,947 (62.93%) while Willkie carried 1,147 (37.07%).

===Records===
Roosevelt was the third of just four presidents in United States history to win re-election with a lower percentage of the electoral vote than in their prior elections, the other three were [[James Madison]] in [[1812 United States presidential election|1812]], [[Woodrow Wilson]] in [[1916 United States presidential election|1916]] and [[Barack Obama]] in [[2012 United States presidential election|2012]]. Additionally, Roosevelt was the fourth of only five presidents to win re-election with a smaller percentage of the popular vote than in prior elections, the other four are [[James Madison]] in [[1812 United States presidential election|1812]], [[Andrew Jackson]] in [[1832 United States presidential election|1832]], [[Grover Cleveland]] in [[1892 United States presidential election|1892]], and Obama in 2012. This marked the first time since 1892 that the Democrats won the popular vote in three consecutive elections, and the first since 1840 where they won three consecutive elections. Although at a rate lower than 1936, Roosevelt maintained his strong majorities from labor unions, big city [[political machine]]s, ethnic minority voters, and the traditionally Democratic [[Solid South]]. Roosevelt's third consecutive victory inspired the [[Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twenty-second Amendment]], limiting the number of terms a person may be president.

As of 2024, Roosevelt was the sixth of eight presidential nominees to win a significant number of electoral votes in at least three elections, the others being Thomas Jefferson, Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, William Jennings Bryan, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump. Of these, Jackson, Cleveland, and Roosevelt also won the popular vote in at least three elections. Jefferson, Cleveland, Roosevelt, and Trump were also their respective party's nominees for three consecutive elections.

This was the first time that North Dakota voted for a losing candidate and the first time since 1892 that a Democrat won without Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska. This was also the first time anyone won without Colorado and Nebraska since 1908, and Kansas since 1900. It was also the fourth presidential election in which both major party candidates were registered in the same home state; the others have been in [[1860 United States presidential election|1860]], [[1904 United States presidential election|1904]], [[1920 United States presidential election|1920]], [[1944 United States presidential election|1944]], and [[2016 United States presidential election|2016]].

Willkie and McNary both died in 1944 (October 8, and February 25, respectively); the first, and to date only time both members of a major-party presidential ticket died during the term for which they sought election. Had they been elected, Willkie's death would have resulted in the Secretary of State becoming [[Acting president of the United States|acting president]] for the remainder of the term ending on January 20, 1945, in accordance with the [[Presidential Succession Act#Presidential Succession Act of 1886|Presidential Succession Act of 1886]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Brewer|first=F.|date=1945|title=Succession to the presidency|work=Editorial research reports 1945 (Vol. II)|publisher=CQ Press|location=Washington, D.C.|url=http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1945092000|url-access=registration|access-date=July 12, 2018|quote=If the Republican ticket had been elected in 1940, the plan of succession adopted in 1886 would probably have come into operation for the first time in 1944. Charles McNary, Republican candidate for Vice President, died on Feb. 25, 1944, With the death of Wendell Willkie, on Oct. 8, his Secretary of State would have been sworn in for the remainder of the term ending on Jan. 20, 1945.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Feinman|first=Ronald L.|title=The Election of 1940 and the Might-Have-Been that Makes One Shudder|url=https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/161880|date=March 1, 2016|publisher=[[History News Network]]|access-date=July 13, 2018}}</ref>

4.53% of Willkie's votes came from the eleven states of the former Confederacy, with him taking 21.65% of the vote in that region.{{sfn|Sherman|1973|p=263}}

{{start U.S. presidential ticket box| pv_footnote=| ev_footnote=}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] (incumbent)| party=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]| state=[[New York (state)|New York]]| pv=27,313,945| pv_pct=54.74%| ev=449| vp_name=[[Henry A. Wallace]]| vp_state=[[Iowa]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Wendell Willkie]]| party=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]| state=[[New York (state)|New York]]| pv=22,347,744| pv_pct=44.78%| ev=82| vp_name=[[Charles L. McNary]]| vp_state=[[Oregon]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Norman Thomas]]| party=[[Socialist Party of America|Socialist]]| state=[[New York (state)|New York]]| pv=116,599| pv_pct=0.23%| ev=0| vp_name=[[Maynard C. Krueger]]| vp_state=[[Illinois]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Roger Babson]]| party=[[Prohibition Party|Prohibition]]| state=[[Massachusetts]]| pv=57,903| pv_pct=0.12%| ev=0| vp_name=Edgar Moorman| vp_state=[[Illinois]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Earl Browder]]| party=[[Communist Party USA|Communist]]| state=[[Kansas]]| pv=48,557| pv_pct=0.10%| ev=0| vp_name=[[James W. Ford]]| vp_state=[[New York (state)|New York]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[John W. Aiken]]| party=[[Socialist Labor Party of America|Socialist Labor]]| state=[[Connecticut]]| pv=14,883| pv_pct=0.03%| ev=0| vp_name=Aaron M. Orange| vp_state=[[New York (state)|New York]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box other| footnote=| pv=2,482| pv_pct=0.00%| }}
{{end U.S. presidential ticket box| pv=49,902,113| ev=531| to_win=266}}'''Source (Popular Vote):''' {{Leip PV source 2| year=1940| as of=July 31, 2005}}'''Source (Electoral Vote):''' {{National Archives EV source| year=1940| as of=July 31, 2005}}

{{bar box
|title=Popular vote
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=600px
|barwidth=410px
|bars=
{{bar percent|'''Roosevelt'''|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}|54.74}}
{{bar percent|Willkie|{{party color|Republican Party (US)}}|44.78}}
{{bar percent|Thomas|#CD3700|0.23}}
{{bar percent|Others|#777777|0.25}}
}}
{{bar box
|title=Electoral vote
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=600px
|barwidth=410px
|bars=
{{bar percent|'''Roosevelt'''|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}|84.56}}
{{bar percent|Willkie|{{party color|Republican Party (US)}}|15.44}}
}}

===Geography of results===
[[File:1940 Electoral Map.png|650px|thumb|left]]
<gallery perrow="3" widths="500px" heights="317px">
Image:1940 United States presidential election results map by county.svg|Results by county, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote
</gallery>

====Cartographic gallery====
<gallery perrow="5" widths="185px" heights="113px">
Image:PresidentialCounty1940Colorbrewer.gif|Presidential election results by county
Image:DemocraticPresidentialCounty1940Colorbrewer.gif|Democratic presidential election results by county
Image:RepublicanPresidentialCounty1940Colorbrewer.gif|Republican presidential election results by county
Image:OtherPresidentialCounty1940Colorbrewer.gif|"Other" presidential election results by county
</gallery>

===Results by state===
Source:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/data.php?year=1940&datatype=national&def=1&f=0&off=0&elect=0|title=1940 Presidential General Election Data - National|website=Uselectionatlas.org|access-date=April 14, 2013}}</ref>
{|class="wikitable"
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
|States/districts won by [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Roosevelt]]/[[Henry A. Wallace|Wallace]]
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
|States/districts won by [[Wendell Willkie|Willkie]]/[[Charles L. McNary|McNary]]
|}<div style="overflow:auto">
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
|-
! colspan=2 |
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| Franklin D. Roosevelt<br>Democratic
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| Wendell Willkie<br>Republican
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| Norman Thomas<br>Socialist
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| Other
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Margin
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| State Total
|-
! align=center | State
! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | electoral<br>votes
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| #
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| %
! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | electoral<br>votes
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| #
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| %
! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | electoral<br>votes
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| #
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| %
! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | electoral<br>votes
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| #
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| %
! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | electoral<br>votes
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| #
! style="text-align:center;" data-sort- type="number"| %
! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" data-sort-type="number" | #
!
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Alabama|Alabama]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 11
|250,726||85.22||11||42,184||14.34||-||100||0.03||-||1,209||0.41||-||208,542||70.88||294,219
|AL
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Arizona|Arizona]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
|95,267||63.49||3||54,030||36.01||-||-||-||-||742||0.49||-||41,237||27.48||150,039
|AZ
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Arkansas|Arkansas]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 9
|158,622||79.02||9||42,121||20.98||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||116,501||58.03||200,743
|AR
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in California|California]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 22
|1,877,618||57.44||22||1,351,419||41.34||-||16,506||0.50||-||23,248||0.71||-||526,199||16.10||3,268,791
|CA
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Colorado|Colorado]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 6
|265,554||48.37||-||279,576||50.92||6||1,899||0.35||-||1,975||0.36||-||-14,022||-2.55||549,004
|CO
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Connecticut|Connecticut]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 8
|417,621||53.44||8||361,819||46.30||-||-||-||-||2,062||0.26||-||55,802||7.14||781,502
|CT
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Delaware|Delaware]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
|74,599||54.70||3||61,440||45.05||-||115||0.08||-||220||0.16||-||13,159||9.65||136,374
|DE
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Florida|Florida]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 7
|359,334||74.01||7||126,158||25.99||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||233,176||48.03||485,492
|FL
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Georgia|Georgia]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 12
|265,194||84.85||12||46,360||14.83||-||-||-||-||997||0.32||-||218,834||70.02||312,551
|GA
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Idaho|Idaho]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
|127,842||54.36||4||106,553||45.31||-||497||0.21||-||276||0.12||-||21,289||9.05||235,168
|ID
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Illinois|Illinois]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 29
|2,149,934||50.97||29||2,047,240||48.54||-||10,914||0.26||-||9,847||0.23||-||102,694||2.43||4,217,935
|IL
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Indiana|Indiana]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 14
|874,063||49.03||-||899,466||50.45||14||2,075||0.12||-||7,143||0.40||-||-25,403||-1.42||1,782,747
|IN
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Iowa|Iowa]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 11
|578,800||47.62||-||632,370||52.03||11||-||-||-||4,260||0.35||-||-53,570||-4.41||1,215,430
|IA
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Kansas|Kansas]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 9
|364,725||42.40||-||489,169||56.86||9||2,347||0.27||-||4,056||0.47||-||-124,444||-14.47||860,297
|KS
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Kentucky|Kentucky]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 11
|557,222||57.44||11||410,384||42.30||-||1,014||0.10||-||1,443||0.15||-||146,838||15.14||970,063
|KY
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Louisiana|Louisiana]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 10
|319,751||85.88||10||52,446||14.09||-||-||-||-||108||0.03||-||267,305||71.80||372,305
|LA
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Maine|Maine]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 5
|156,478||48.77||-||163,951||51.10||5||-||-||-||411||0.13||-||-7,473||-2.33||320,840
|ME
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Maryland|Maryland]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 8
|384,546||58.25||8||269,534||40.83||-||4,093||0.62||-||1,944||0.29||-||115,012||17.42||660,117
|MD
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Massachusetts|Massachusetts]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 17
|1,076,522||53.11||17||939,700||46.36||-||4,091||0.20||-||6,680||0.33||-||136,822||6.75||2,026,993
|MA
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Michigan|Michigan]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 19
|1,032,991||49.52||-||1,039,917||49.85||19||7,593||0.36||-||5,428||0.26||-||-6,926||-0.33||2,085,929
|MI
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Minnesota|Minnesota]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 11
|644,196||51.49||11||596,274||47.66||-||5,454||0.44||-||5,264||0.42||-||47,922||3.83||1,251,188
|MN
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Mississippi|Mississippi]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 9
|168,267||95.70||9||7,364||4.19||-||193||0.11||-||-||-||-||160,903||91.51||175,824
|MS
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Missouri|Missouri]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 15
|958,476||52.27||15||871,009||47.50||-||2,226||0.12||-||2,018||0.11||-||87,467||4.77||1,833,729
|MO
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Montana|Montana]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
|145,698||58.78||4||99,579||40.17||-||1,443||0.58||-||1,153||0.47||-||46,119||18.61||247,873
|MT
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Nebraska|Nebraska]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 7
|263,677||42.81||-||352,201||57.19||7||-||-||-||-||-||-||-88,524||-14.37||615,878
|NE
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Nevada|Nevada]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
|31,945||60.08||3||21,229||39.92||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||10,716||20.15||53,174
|NV
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in New Hampshire|New Hampshire]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
|125,292||53.22||4||110,127||46.78||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||15,165||6.44||235,419
|NH
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in New Jersey|New Jersey]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 16
|1,016,404||51.48||16||944,876||47.86||-||2,823||0.14||-||10,111||0.51||-||71,528||3.62||1,974,214
|NJ
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in New Mexico|New Mexico]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
|103,699||56.59||3||79,315||43.28||-||144||0.08||-||100||0.05||-||24,384||13.31||183,258
|NM
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in New York|New York]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 47
|3,251,918||51.60||47||3,027,478||48.04||-||18,950||0.30||-||3,250||0.05||-||224,440||3.56||6,301,596
|NY
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in North Carolina|North Carolina]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 13
|609,015||74.03||13||213,633||25.97||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||395,382||48.06||822,648
|NC
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in North Dakota|North Dakota]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
|124,036||44.18||-||154,590||55.06||4||1,279||0.46||-||870||0.31||-||-30,554||-10.88||280,775
|ND
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Ohio|Ohio]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 26
|1,733,139||52.20||26||1,586,773||47.80||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||146,366||4.41||3,319,912
|OH
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Oklahoma|Oklahoma]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 11
|474,313||57.41||11||348,872||42.23||-||-||-||-||3,027||0.37||-||125,441||15.18||826,212
|OK
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Oregon|Oregon]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 5
|258,415||53.70||5||219,555||45.62||-||398||0.08||-||2,872||0.60||-||38,860||8.07||481,240
|OR
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 36
|2,171,035||53.23||36||1,889,848||46.33||-||10,967||0.27||-||6,864||0.17||-||281,187||6.89||4,078,714
|PA
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Rhode Island|Rhode Island]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
|182,182||56.73||4||138,653||43.17||-||-||-||-||313||0.10||-||43,529||13.55||321,148
|RI
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in South Carolina|South Carolina]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 8
|95,470||95.63||8||4,360||4.37||-||-||-||-||2||0.00||-||91,110||91.26||99,832
|SC
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in South Dakota|South Dakota]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
|131,362||42.59||-||177,065||57.41||4||-||-||-||-||-||-||-45,703||-14.82||308,427
|SD
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Tennessee|Tennessee]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 11
|351,601||67.25||11||169,153||32.35||-||463||0.09||-||1,606||0.31||-||182,448||34.90||522,823
|TN
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Texas|Texas]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 23
|909,974||80.92||23||212,692||18.91||-||728||0.06||-||1,137||0.10||-||697,282||62.01||1,124,531
|TX
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Utah|Utah]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
|154,277||62.25||4||93,151||37.59||-||200||0.08||-||191||0.08||-||61,126||24.67||247,819
|UT
|-{{Party shading/Republican}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Vermont|Vermont]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
|64,269||44.92||-||78,371||54.78||3||-||-||-||422||0.30||-||-14,102||-9.86||143,062
|VT
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Virginia|Virginia]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 11
|235,961||68.08||11||109,363||31.55||-||282||0.08||-||1,001||0.29||-||126,598||36.52||346,607
|VA
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Washington|Washington]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 8
|462,145||58.22||8||322,123||40.58||-||4,586||0.58||-||4,979||0.63||-||140,022||17.64||793,833
|WA
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in West Virginia|West Virginia]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 8
|495,662||57.10||8||372,414||42.90||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||123,248||14.20||868,076
|WV
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Wisconsin|Wisconsin]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 12
|704,821||50.15||12||679,206||48.32||-||15,071||1.07||-||6,424||0.46||-||25,615||1.82||1,405,522
|WI
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
| style="text-align:center;" | [[1940 United States presidential election in Wyoming|Wyoming]]
| style="text-align:center;" | 3
|59,287||52.82||3||52,633||46.89||-||148||0.13||-||172||0.15||-||6,654||5.93||112,240
|WY
|-
!TOTALS:||531
!27,313,945||54.74||449
!22,347,744||44.78||82
!116,599||0.23||-
!123,825||0.25||-
!4,966,201||9.95||49,902,113
|US
|}</div>

====States that flipped from Democratic to Republican====
*[[Colorado]]
*[[Indiana]]
*[[Iowa]]
*[[Kansas]]
*[[Michigan]]
*[[Nebraska]]
*[[North Dakota]]
*[[South Dakota]]

====Close states====
Margin of victory less than 1% (19 electoral votes):
# <span style="color:red;">'''Michigan, 0.33% (6,926 votes)'''</span>

Margin of victory less than 5% (192 electoral votes):
# <span style="color:red;">'''Indiana, 1.42% (25,403 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Wisconsin, 1.82% (25,615 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Maine, 2.33% (7,473 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Illinois, 2.43% (102,694 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Colorado, 2.55% (14,022 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''New York, 3.56% (224,440 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''New Jersey, 3.62% (71,528 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Minnesota, 3.83% (47,922 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Iowa, 4.41% (53,570 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Ohio, 4.41% (146,366 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Missouri, 4.77% (87,467 votes)'''</span>

Margin of victory between 5% and 10% (83 electoral votes):
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Wyoming, 5.93% (6,654 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''New Hampshire, 6.44% (15,165 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Massachusetts, 6.75% (136,822 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Pennsylvania, 6.89% (281,187 votes)'''</span> (tipping point state)
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Connecticut, 7.14% (55,802 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Oregon, 8.07% (38,860 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Idaho, 9.05% (21,289 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:blue;">'''Delaware, 9.65% (13,159 votes)'''</span>
# <span style="color:red;">'''Vermont, 9.86% (14,102 votes)'''</span>

====Statistics====
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/data.php?year=1940&datatype=national&def=1&f=0&off=0&elect=0|title=1940 Presidential General Election Data - National|website=Uselectionatlas.org|access-date=April 14, 2013}}</ref>

Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Democratic)
# '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Terrell County, Georgia]] 100.00%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Tate County, Mississippi]] 99.81%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Lancaster County, South Carolina]] 99.57%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Calhoun County, South Carolina]] 99.55%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:blue;">[[Chesterfield County, South Carolina]] 99.31%</span>'''

Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Republican)
# '''<span style="color:red;">[[McIntosh County, North Dakota]] 91.66%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:red;">[[Jackson County, Kentucky]] 88.62%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:red;">[[Gillespie County, Texas]] 86.74%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:red;">[[Mercer County, North Dakota]] 85.36%</span>'''
# '''<span style="color:red;">[[Johnson County, Tennessee]] 84.21%</span>'''

==Foreign interference==
The British government engaged covert intelligence operations to support Roosevelt, including the planting of false news stories, wiretaps, "October surprises", and other intelligence activities.<ref>{{cite web|last=Usdin|first=Steve|url=http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/when-a-foreign-government-interfered-in-a-us-electionto-reelect-fdr-214634|title=When a Foreign Government Interfered in a U.S. Election—to Reelect FDR|work=[[Politico]]|date=2017-01-16|access-date=2017-10-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Stevenson|first=William Samuel|title=British Security Coordination: The Secret History of British Intelligence in the Americas, 1940–1945 |date=1999-06-01|publisher=Fromm International |isbn=088064236X}}</ref> The German government had allocated $5 million as a campaign war chest via the German embassy to bribe Democratic delegates at the 1940 convention, using American businessman [[William Rhodes Davis]] as a conduit. Davis was sympathetic to the German cause after his meeting with [[Hermann Göring]] and was enlisted for this purpose. Later, he directed some of these funds towards supporting anti-Roosevelt radio broadcasts by the isolationist labor leader [[John L. Lewis]], with the aim of impeding Roosevelt's re-election bid. Initially a supporter of Roosevelt in 1936, Davis had become disillusioned by 1940, and the two had grown apart over foreign policy. The German envoy in Mexico had also requested $160,000 to sway an unnamed Democratic Party operative in Pennsylvania to unseat interventionist Democratic Senator [[Joseph Guffey]], who was a prominent critic of Nazi Germany. Davis was later identified as [[Abwehr]] agent C-80 following his death in August 1941.<ref name="The Conversation"/><ref>{{cite news|title=A Nazi Attempt To Influence U.S. Elections|url=https://edition.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/07/23/nazis/|work=[[CNN]]|date=23 July 1997}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[1940 United States House of Representatives elections]]
* [[1940 United States Senate elections]]
* [[History of the United States (1918–1945)]]
* [[Third inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt]]
* ''[[The Plot Against America]]'', a 2004 [[alternate history|alternative history]] by [[Philip Roth]], premised on the 1940 defeat of Roosevelt by [[Charles Lindbergh#America First|Charles Lindbergh]]
* ''[[Bring the Jubilee]]'', a 1953 [[alternative history]] novel by [[Ward Moore]], set in a universe where the Confederacy won the [[American Civil War]], where the election is contested by Whig candidate Thomas E. Dewey and Populist candidate Jennings Lewis.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Works cited==
* {{cite book|last=Sherman |first=Richard |title=The Republican Party and Black America From McKinley to Hoover 1896-1933 |publisher=[[University of Virginia Press]] |date=1973 |isbn=0813904676}}

==Further reading==
* Barnard, Ellsworth .  ''Wendell Willkie: Fighter for Freedom'' (1966)
* Bowen, Michael D. ''The Roots of Modern Conservatism: Dewey, Taft, and the Battle for the Soul of the Republican Party'' (U of North Carolina Press, 2011).
* [[James MacGregor Burns|Burns, James MacGregor]].  ''Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox'' (1956)
* Cole, Wayne S. ''America First: The Battle against Intervention, 1940–41'' (1953)
* Cole, Wayne S. ''Charles A. Lindbergh and the Battle against American Intervention in World War II'' (1974)
* Davies, Gareth, and Julian E. Zelizer, eds. ''America at the Ballot Box: Elections and Political History'' (2015) pp.&nbsp;153–66.
* DeSilvio, David. ''How Domestic Politics Influenced Foreign Policy in the 1940 Election: FDR, Domestic Politics, Foreign Policy, and the Election of 1940'' (2008)
* Divine, Robert A. ''Foreign policy and U.S. presidential elections, 1940-1948'' (1974) [https://archive.org/details/foreignpolicyusp0000divi online; pp 3–90 on 1940] 
* Doenecke, Justus D. ''Storm on the Horizon: The Challenge to American Intervention, 1939–1941'' (2000).
* Doenecke, Justus D. ''The Battle Against Intervention, 1939–1941'' (1997), includes short narrative and primary documents.
* Donahoe, Bernard F. ''Private Plans and Public Dangers: The Story of FDR's Third Nomination'' (University of Notre Dame Press, 1965). 
* Dunn, Susan. ''1940: FDR, Willkie, Lindbergh, Hitler-the Election Amid the Storm'' (Yale UP, 2013). [https://www.amazon.com/1940-Willkie-Lindbergh-Hitler-Election-ebook/dp/B00D6II2N0/ excerpt]
* Evjen, Henry O. "The Willkie Campaign; An Unfortunate Chapter in Republican Leadership", ''Journal of Politics'' (1952) 14#2 pp.&nbsp;241–56 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2126521 in JSTOR]
* Gamm, Gerald H. ''The making of the New Deal Democrats: Voting behavior and realignment in Boston, 1920-1940'' (U of Chicago Press, 1989).
* [[S. Everett Gleason|Gleason, S. Everett]] and [[William L. Langer]]. ''The Undeclared War, 1940–1941'' 1953 Policy toward war in Europe; pro FDR
* Grant, Philip A. Jr. "The Presidential Election of 1940 in Missouri." ''Missouri Historical Review'' 1988 83(1) pp 1–16.   Abstract: Missouri serves as a good barometer of nationwide political sentiment; The two major political parties considered Missouri a key state in the 1940 presidential election. Wendell Willkie captured 64 of the state's 114 counties, but huge majorities in the urban counties carried the state for Franklin D. Roosevelt.
* Jeffries, John W. ''A Third Term for FDR: The Election of 1940'' (University Press of Kansas, 2017). xiv, 264 pp. [https://www.amazon.com/Third-Term-FDR-Presidential-Elections/dp/0700624023/ excerpt]
* Jensen, Richard. "The cities reelect Roosevelt: Ethnicity, religion, and class in 1940." ''Ethnicity. An Interdisciplinary Journal of the Study of Ethnic Relations''  (1981) 8#2 pp 189–195.
* Johnstone, Andrew, and Andrew Priest, eds.  ''US Presidential Elections and Foreign Policy: Candidates, Campaigns, and Global Politics from FDR to Bill Clinton'' (2017) pp 19–39. [https://muse.jhu.edu/book/50578/ online]
* Jonas, Manfred. ''Isolationism in America, 1935–1941'' (1966).
* Katz, Daniel. "The public opinion polls and the 1940 election." ''Public Opinion Quarterly'' 5.1 (1941) 52–78.
* Lewis, David Levering. ''The Improbable Wendell Willkie: The Businessman Who Saved the Republican Party and His Country, and Conceived a New World Order'' (Liveright, 2018). [https://www.amazon.com/Improbable-Wendell-Willkie-Businessman-Republican/dp/0871404575/ excerpt]
* Luconi, Stefano. "Machine Politics and the Consolidation of the Roosevelt Majority: The Case of Italian Americans in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia." ''Journal of American Ethnic History'' (1996) 32–59. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/27502042 in JSTOR]
* Madison, James H., ed. ''Wendell Willkie: Hoosier Internationalist'' (Indiana University Press, 1992) essays by experts.
* Moe, Richard. ''Roosevelt's Second Act: The Election of 1940 and the Politics of War'' (Oxford UP, 2013). [https://www.amazon.com/Roosevelts-Second-Act-Election-Politics/dp/0199981914/ excerpt]
* Neal, Steve. ''Dark Horse: A Biography of Wendell Willkie'' (1989)
* [[Louise Overacker|Overacker, Louise]]. "Campaign finance in the Presidential Election of 1940." ''American Political Science Review'' 35.4 (1941): 701–727. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1948076 in JSTOR]
* Parmet, Herbert S., and Marie B. Hecht. ''Never again: A president runs for a third term'' (1968).
* Peters, Charles. ''Five Days in Philadelphia: 1940, Wendell Willkie, FDR and the Political Convention That Won World War II'' (2006).
* Robinson, Edgar Eugene. ''They Voted for Roosevelt: The Presidential Vote 1932-1944'' (1947). Election returns by County for every state.
* Ross, Hugh. "John L. Lewis and the Election of 1940." ''Labor History'' 1976 17(2)  160–189. Abstract: The breach between John L. Lewis and Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 stemmed from domestic and foreign policy concerns. The struggle to organize the steel industry, and after 1938, business attempts to erode Walsh-Healy and the Fair Labor Standards Act provided the backdrop for the feud. But activities of Nazi agents, working through [[William Rhodes Davis]], increased Lewis' suspicions of Roosevelt's [[interventionism (politics)|interventionist foreign policy]] and were important in the decision to support Wendell Willkie.
* Savage, Sean J. "The 1936-1944 Campaigns", in William D. Pederson, ed. ''A Companion to Franklin D. Roosevelt'' (2011) pp 96–113
* Schneider, James C. ''Should America Go to War? The Debate over Foreign Policy in Chicago, 1939–1941'' (1989)
* Schearer, Michael. "The Emergence of Wendell Willkie as the 1940 Republican Nominee." (SSRN 2019) [https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3465797 online].

=== Primary sources ===
* [[Hadley Cantril|Cantril, Hadley]] and Mildred Strunk, eds.; ''Public Opinion, 1935–1946'' (1951), massive compilation of many public opinion polls from USA [https://archive.org/details/publicopinion19300unse online]
* Doenecke, Justus D. ed. ''In Danger Undaunted: The Anti-Interventionist Movement of 1940–1941 as Revealed in the Papers of the America First Committee'' (1990) [https://www.amazon.com/Danger-Undaunted-Anti-Interventionist-Committee-Documentaries/dp/0817988424/ excerpt]
* [[George Gallup|Gallup, George H.]] ed. ''The Gallup Poll, Volume One 1935–1948'' (1972) statistical reports on each poll
* Chester, Edward W  ''A guide to political platforms'' (1977) [https://archive.org/details/guidetopolitical0000ches online]
* Porter, Kirk H. and Donald Bruce Johnson, eds. ''National party platforms, 1840-1964'' (1965) [https://archive.org/details/nationalpartypla00port online 1840-1956]

==External links==
* {{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?188671-1/after-words-charles-peters ''After Words'' interview with Charles Peters on ''Five Days in Philadelphia'', September 3, 2005], [[C-SPAN]]| video2= [https://www.c-span.org/video/?193154-3/five-days-philadelphia Presentation by Peters on ''Five Days in Philadelphia'', June 24, 2006], [[C-SPAN]]}}
* [http://geoelections.free.fr/USA/elec_comtes/1940.htm 1940 popular vote by counties]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303220738/http://www.countingthevotes.com/1940/ Election of 1940 in Counting the Votes]

{{USPresidentialElections}}
{{1940 United States elections}}
{{United States presidential election, 1940}}
{{State Results of the 1940 U.S. presidential election}}
{{Franklin D. Roosevelt}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1940 United States presidential election| ]]
[[Category:Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt]]
[[Category:November 1940 events in the United States]]
[[Category:Wendell Willkie]]