Presidential elections were held on Tuesday, November 7, 1944. The election took place during World War II, which ended the following year. The Democratic ticket of incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Senator Harry Truman defeated the Republican ticket of New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey and Ohio Governor John Bricker, to win an unprecedented fourth term. It was also the fifth presidential election in which both major party candidates were registered in the same home state; the others have been in 1860, 1904, 1920, 1940, and 2016. Though the margin of victory was still a landslide, this was Roosevelt's weakest performance in his four elections, and the popular vote split was less lopsided.
Roosevelt had become the first president to win a third term with his victory in the 1940 presidential election, with little doubt that he would seek a fourth term. Unlike in 1940, Roosevelt faced little opposition within his own party, and he easily won the presidential nomination of the 1944 Democratic National Convention. Concerned that Roosevelt's ill health would mean the vice president would likely become president, the convention dropped Roosevelt's vice president Henry A. Wallace in favor of the lesser known Senator Harry S. Truman of Missouri. Governor Dewey of New York emerged as the front-runner for the Republican nomination after his victory in the Wisconsin primary, and he defeated conservative Governor John W. Bricker at the 1944 Republican National Convention.
As World War II was going well for the United States and the Allies, Roosevelt remained popular despite his long tenure. Dewey campaigned against the New Deal and for a smaller government but was ultimately unsuccessful in convincing the country to change course. The election was closer than Roosevelt's other presidential campaigns, but Roosevelt still won by a 7.5 percentage point margin in the popular vote and by a wide margin in the Electoral College. Rumors of Roosevelt's ill health, although somewhat dispelled by his vigorous campaigning, proved to be true; Roosevelt died less than three months into his fourth term and was succeeded by Truman. Roosevelt would be the last major party candidate to have been nominated by their party for three or more consecutive presidential elections until Donald Trump in 2024.
Nominations
Democratic Party nomination
1944 Democratic Party ticket for Presidentfor Vice President 32ndPresident of the United States(1933–1945) U.S. Senator from Missouri(1935–1945) In order of delegates and votes wonFranklin D. RooseveltHarry F. ByrdJames FarleyJoseph T. FergusonFred H. HildebrandtCordell HullPaul V. McNutt U.S. President from New York (1933–1945)U.S. Senator from Virginia
(1933–1965)U.S. Postmaster General from New York (1933–1940)State Auditor from Ohio (1936–1940)U.S. Representative from South Dakota (1933–1939)United States Secretary of State from Tennessee (1933–1944)High Commissioner to the Philippines from Indiana (1937–1939)1,324,006 votes 1,086 109,000 votes 89 76,919 votes 1 0 0 0 0 +Convention votePresidentVice President Franklin D. Roosevelt1,086 Harry S. Truman626Harry F. Byrd89Henry A. Wallace329James Farley1Prentice Cooper 26Scattering/Other7Alben W. Barkley6Paul V. McNutt1John H. Bankhead II0Scott W. Lucas0J. Melville Broughton0 President Roosevelt was the popular, wartime incumbent and faced little formal opposition. Although many Southern Democrats mistrusted Roosevelt's racial policies, he brought enormous war activities to the region and the end of its marginal status was in sight. No major figure opposed Roosevelt publicly, and he was re-nominated easily when the Democratic Convention met in Chicago. Some pro-segregationist delegates tried to unite behind Virginia senator Harry F. Byrd, but he refused to campaign actively against Roosevelt, and did not get enough delegates to seriously threaten the President's chances.
The obvious physical decline in the president's appearance, as well as rumors of secret health problems, led many delegates and party leaders to strongly oppose Vice President Henry A. Wallace for a second term. Opposition to Wallace came especially from Catholic leaders in big cities and moderate Democrats. Wallace, who had been Roosevelt's vice president since January 1941, was regarded by most conservatives as being too left-wing and personally eccentric to be next in line for the presidency. He had performed so poorly as economic coordinator that Roosevelt had to remove him from that post. Numerous moderate party leaders privately sent word to Roosevelt that they would fight Wallace's re-nomination as vice president and proposed instead Senator Harry S. Truman, a moderate from Missouri. Truman was highly visible as the chairman of a Senate wartime committee investigating fraud and inefficiency in the war program. Roosevelt, who personally liked Wallace and knew little about Truman, agreed reluctantly to accept Truman as his running mate to preserve party unity.Alonzo L. Hamby, Man of the People: A Life of Harry S. Truman (1995) ch 17 Even so, many delegates on the left refused to abandon Wallace, and they voted for him on the first ballot.Miles S. Richards, "The Progressive Democrats in Chicago, July 1944," South Carolina Historical Magazine, 102 (July 2001), 219–37. However, enough large Northern, Midwestern, and Southern states supported Truman to give him victory on the second ballot. The fight over the vice-presidential nomination proved to be consequential; the ticket won and Roosevelt died in April 1945, and Truman instead of Wallace became the nation's thirty-third president.Weintraub, Stanley. Final Victory: FDR's Extraordinary World War II Presidential Campaign, pp. 29–59
Republican Party
1944 Republican Party ticket for Presidentfor Vice President 47thGovernor of New York(1943–1954) 54thGovernor of Ohio(1939–1945)
In order of delegates and votes wonThomas E. DeweyDouglas MacArthurEarl WarrenJohn W. BrickerHarold StassenWendell WillkieCharles A. ChristophersonEverett DirksenChapman RevercombGovernor of New York (1943–1954)General from Arkansas (1918–1951)Governor of California (1943–1953)Governor of Ohio (1943–1953)Former Governor of Minnesota (1939–1943)Businessman from New YorkRepresentative from South DakotaRepresentative from IllinoisU.S. Senator from West Virginia (1943–1949; 1956–1959)278,272 votes 1,056 662,127 votes 1 594,439 votes366,444 votes67,508 votes0 votes 0 0 votes 0 0 votes 0 0 votes 0 +Convention votePresidentVice President Thomas E. Dewey1,056 John W. Bricker1,057Douglas MacArthur1Abstaining2 As 1944 began, the frontrunners for the Republican nomination appeared to be Wendell Willkie, the party's 1940 dark horse nominee, Senator Robert A. Taft from Ohio, the leader of the party's conservatives, New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, the leader of the party's moderate eastern establishment, General Douglas MacArthur, then serving as an Allied commander in the Pacific theater of the war, and former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen, then serving as a U.S. naval officer in the Pacific. Taft surprised many by declining to run for president as he wanted to remain in the Senate; instead, he voiced his support for a fellow Ohio conservative, Governor John W. Bricker.Taft, Robert Alphonso and Wunderlin, Clarence E.; The Papers of Robert A. Taft: 1939-1944, p. 397
With Taft out of the race some Republican conservatives favored General MacArthur. However, MacArthur's chances were limited by the fact that he was leading Allied forces against Japan, and thus could not campaign for the nomination. His supporters entered his name in the Wisconsin primary nonetheless. The Wisconsin primary proved to be the key contest, as Dewey won by a surprisingly wide margin. He took fourteen delegates to four for Harold Stassen, while MacArthur won the three remaining delegates. Willkie was shut out in the Wisconsin primary; he did not win a single delegate. His unexpectedly poor showing in Wisconsin forced him to withdraw as a candidate for the nomination. However, at the time of his sudden death in early October 1944, Willkie had endorsed neither Dewey nor Roosevelt. At the 1944 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Dewey easily overcame Bricker and was nominated for president on the first ballot. Dewey, a moderate to liberal Republican, chose the conservative Bricker as his running mate. Dewey originally preferred fellow liberal California Governor Earl Warren, but agreed on Bricker to preserve party unity (Warren would go on to run with Dewey in the 1948 election). Bricker was nominated for vice president by acclamation.
General election Polling
+Polling aggregates Candidates Franklin Roosevelt Thomas Dewey Undecided
Poll source Field date(s) Sample size Franklin Roosevelt Thomas Dewey Others Undecided Leading by(points) Election results November 7, 194453.4% 45.9% 0.7% -7.5FortuneNovember 5, 194450.9% 44.1% - 5.0%~7Gallup Poll News ServiceNovember 3, 19443,085 (A)46.5% 45.6% 0.4% 7.6%0.9FortuneOctober 20, 1944? ? - ?7.0Gallup Poll News ServiceOctober 17, 19442,404 (A)47.8% 42.5% 0.3% 9.5%5.2Gallup Poll News ServiceOctober 12, 19442,743 (A)46.1% 43.1% 0.4% 10.3%3.0Gallup Poll News ServiceOctober 6, 19442,616 (A)48.6% 40.0% 0.3% 11.1%8.6Gallup Poll News ServiceOctober 3, 19442,601 (A) 44.2% 44.4% 0.4% 9.8%0.2Gallup Poll News ServiceSeptember 20, 19442,988 (A)47.0% 43.2% - 9.8%3.9Gallup Poll News ServiceSeptember 14, 19442,917 (A)48.6% 40.7% 0.7% 10.1%7.8Fortune49.3% 44.4% - 6.3%4.9Gallup Poll News ServiceSeptember 6, 1944615 (A)44.6% 34.6% - 20.8%9.9Gallup Poll News ServiceAugust 29, 19443,021 (A)46.4% 42.3% - 11.3%4.1Gallup Poll News ServiceAugust 16, 19441,171 (A)48.8% 38.2% - 13.1%10.6Fortune52.5% 43.9% - 3.6%8.6Gallup Poll News ServiceAugust 1, 19441,231 (A)46.8% 41.7% - 11.5%5.1FortuneJuly 20, 194450.8% 42.2% - 7.0%8.6Gallup Poll News ServiceJuly 18, 19443,020 (A)49.5% 41.0% - 9.6%8.5Gallup Poll News ServiceJune 20, 19442,910 (A)51.0% 43.5% - 5.5%7.5Gallup Poll News ServiceJune 7, 19442,718 (A)50.6% 45.1% - 4.3%5.4Gallup Poll News ServiceMay 23, 19443,009 (A)50.3% 44.7% - 5.0%5.6Gallup Poll News ServiceMay 9, 19442,631 (A)51.2% 42.9% - 5.9%8.3Gallup Poll News ServiceApril 25, 19441,566 (A)48.0% 46.2% - 5.8%1.9Gallup Poll News ServiceMarch 29, 19442,982 (A)51.2% 41.2% - 7.6%10.1Gallup Poll News ServiceMarch 15, 19441,400 (A)53.4% 42.4% - 4.2%11.0Gallup Poll News ServiceMarch 1, 19441,643 (A)53.1% 42.2% - 4.7%11.0Gallup Poll News ServiceFebruary 1, 19442,980 (A)48.8% 44.6% - 6.6%4.2Gallup Poll News ServiceJanuary 4, 19443,006 (A)54.3% 37.3% - 8.4%17.0Gallup Poll News ServiceNovember 9, 19433,026 (A)53.9% 39.9% - 6.2%14.0Gallup Poll News ServiceOctober 26, 19432,918 (A)48.5% 43.4% - 8.1%5.1Gallup Poll News ServiceSeptember 14, 19432,645 (A)58.0% 33.7% - 8.3%24.3Gallup Poll News ServiceJuly 7, 19433,033 (A)52.3% 38.3% - 9.5%14.0Gallup Poll News ServiceJune 2, 19431,442 (A)51.9% 40.2% - 7.9%11.8Gallup Poll News ServiceMay 12, 19431,497 (A)47.1% 36.3% - 16.6%10.8Gallup Poll News ServiceApril 27, 19431,486 (A)51.6% 36.8% - 11.6%14.7Gallup Poll News ServiceJanuary 7, 19432,808 (A)49.7% 32.7% - 17.6%17.0Gallup Poll News ServiceDecember 15, 19421,380 (A)41.1% 35.8% - 23.1%5.3
Fall campaign
The Republicans campaigned against the New Deal,Jordan, David M.; FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944, pp. 119 seeking a smaller government and less-regulated economy as the end of the war seemed in sight. Nonetheless, Roosevelt's continuing popularity was the main theme of the campaign. To quiet rumors of his poor health, Roosevelt insisted on making a vigorous campaign swing in October and rode in an open car through city streets.