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Shortly after returning from the Tehran Conference in December 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt developed a severe cough and persistent fatigue. It was initially thought to be the flu but he could not shake it off. Roosevelt’s health and physical appearance deteriorated badly after that.
In March 1944, Roosevelt was diagnosed with dangerously high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, and other ailments. By May, he was able to work only four hours a day.
With the aid of the press, the public was kept in the dark about his condition. But those who were close to the President knew he was in bad shape and there were growing doubts he would survive a fourth term should he choose to run.
On July 13, 1944, about a week before the Democratic National Convention opened in Chicago, Roosevelt left on a five-week trip that would take him to the Pacific coast, Pearl Harbor, the Aleutian Islands, and Alaska. The trip came at a time when American forces were engaged in heavy fighting in Europe and the South Pacific so it seemed odd that the commander-in-chief would take off at such a critical time.
Roosevelt’s train arrived in San Diego on July 19 – the day the convention opened. That evening he attended a family dinner hosted by Col. and Mrs. James Roosevelt at the home of Admiral R.O. Davis on Coronado Island.
The next day Roosevelt received a telegram stating that he had been re-nominated. He radioed a short acceptance speech broadcast over the public address system in the Chicago Stadium where the convention was being held. The crowd cheered. Roosevelt easily won the nomination but there was controversy over who should be his running mate. Current Vice President Henry A. Wallace, a native of Iowa, was the favorite going into the convention.
A Gallup poll taken shortly before the convention indicated that 65 percent of the rank and file preferred Wallace while only 2 percent wanted Harry Truman, a relatively unknown senator from Missouri. Roosevelt initially endorsed Wallace. But after party bosses objected, he said he would be OK with Truman.
Wallace’s main problem was his outspoken criticism of racial discrimination and segregation in the South. “We cannot fight to crush Nazi brutality abroad and condone race riots at home,” he said following a 1943 race riot. “We cannot plead for equal opportunities for people everywhere and overlook the denial of the right to vote for millions of our own people.”
There was concern that Wallace‘s name on the ticket might alienate voters in the South at a time when the Democrats needed every vote they could get. Moreover, should Roosevelt die and Wallace become president, the chances of retaining control of the White House in 1948 were slim.
By today’s standards, the campaign was short. Roosevelt did not return to the White House until Aug. 17. Until shortly before the election, most of Roosevelt’s campaigning was done over the radio. Beginning on Oct. 26, he made in-person campaign speeches in Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, and several cities in New York State and New England.
His final campaign address was delivered over the radio on the evening of Nov. 6.
Democrats were counting on Roosevelt’s campaign slogan “Don’t Change Horses in Midstream,” to carry them through and also the fact that many people feared the depression would return when the war ended and the soldiers returned home.
Thomas E. Dewey, on the other hand, did much of his campaigning in person. He had a private train with nine cars two reserved for Dewey.
The other seven carried newspaper correspondents from all over the country. In his column in the Norfork Daily News, Drew Pearson noted Dewey rarely left his private car and made few speeches to crowds gathered along the way.
In September 1944, Dewey made a train trip to the West Coast, attacking Roosevelt’s New Deal policies before massive crowds in California, Oregon, and Washington.
On the way west, he spoke in Des Moines, Iowa, before a crowd estimated at between 4-5000 and then was paraded through the downtown where another 6-7000 people lined the streets.
When his train sped across Nebraska, Dewey did not come out of his private car to greet the thousands of supporters who gathered at railway stations along the way. Many who had waited hours to see him were not happy.
He did, however, spend two days on Sam McKelvie’s ranch near Valentine. During his stay, he listened to farmers and ranchers complain about the problems they faced dealing with New Deal bureaucrats. He promised to do something about it. “Tom Dewey impressed the people of Nebraska and he is going to get their vote,“ said the Chadron Record.
His next major stop was at Spokane, Washington, where he was greeted by a large crowd of cheering supporters. Enroute from Spokane to Portland, the Dewey train crashed into the rear of a passenger train stopped at the scene of another train wreck. Fifty people were injured. Several had to be hospitalized and one later died. Dewey and his wife received minor bumps on their heads.
With the damaged train stalled on the track, Dewey and his wife were driven to Portland by automobile. They had another narrow escape when a truck pulled out in front of them. Dewey’s driver swerved and slammed on the brakes leaving 50 feet of skid marks on the pavement. But they made it to Portland in time to speak to a crowd of 6,500 in the Portland Arena.
After repairs were completed, Dewey’s train headed for California where he spoke to a crowd of 20,000 in San Francisco and more than 90,000 in Los Angeles. Following another major speech in Oklahoma City, Dewey returned to Albany, New York, to take a break before hitting the campaign trail again.
Meanwhile, other than a few press conferences broadcast over the radio, Roosevelt had not yet begun to campaign.
