The election of 1944 was unlike anything the United States had ever seen. For the first time since 1916, Americans went to the polls in the middle of a major global war. Franklin D. Roosevelt, already a three-term president, was now asking the nation for something unprecedented: a fourth term in office. Having steered the country through the Great Depression and into World War II, Roosevelt argued that continuity of leadership was essential in such dangerous times. His opponent, Republican Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York, countered that the nation needed new energy, fresh ideas, and a president healthy enough to see the war through to its conclusion.
From Neutrality to War
As discussed in the election of 1940, Roosevelt had won re-election by promising not to send American boys into foreign wars. Yet just over a year later, on December 7, 1941, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor changed everything. Roosevelt’s famous speech the following day declared December 7th “a date which will live in infamy,” and Congress immediately declared war on Japan. Within days, Germany and Italy also declared war, pulling America fully into World War II.
Roosevelt oversaw a massive mobilization at home and abroad, but his presidency also took controversial turns, most notably the signing of Executive Order 9066 in February 1942. This order forced Japanese Americans into internment camps, a decision justified at the time as wartime security but remembered today as one of the darkest violations of civil liberties in U.S. history.
Roosevelt’s Health and the Truman Switch
By 1944, Roosevelt’s health was an open question. At 62, visibly weakened by years of stress and illness, he faced persistent rumors that he might not survive another full term. The vice presidency suddenly became crucial. His sitting vice president, Henry Wallace, was popular with progressives but distrusted by Southern Democrats and party bosses.
At the Democratic Convention, Wallace was replaced with Senator Harry S. Truman of Missouri, known for his tough investigations into wartime fraud. Truman was seen as a safe, moderate choice — and fate would soon prove just how consequential that decision was.
Choosing the Republican Nominee
The Republicans, still recovering from their heavy defeats in 1936 and 1940, sought a candidate who could unite the party. The leading contenders included Senator Robert Taft of Ohio, Senator Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan, and former nominee Wendell Willkie. But divisions between isolationists and internationalists left the door open for a compromise candidate: Thomas E. Dewey, the tough-on-crime Governor of New York.
Dewey selected Governor John Bricker of Ohio as his running mate, balancing the ticket with conservative appeal. The GOP framed its campaign around ending one-party rule, curbing government overreach, and questioning whether Roosevelt was physically fit for another term.
The Campaigns
Despite the war, the election of 1944 was fiercely contested. Roosevelt emphasized his steady wartime leadership and framed the choice as one of continuity versus risk. Allied successes in Europe and the Pacific, including the liberation of France following the D-Day landings, boosted his case.
Dewey attacked Roosevelt’s age, his record of government expansion under the New Deal, and his decision to seek a fourth term, calling it a dangerous break with American tradition. Republicans also attempted to smear Truman with false allegations of KKK ties, but the attacks largely backfired.
Perhaps the most memorable moment of the campaign came when Roosevelt responded to Republican rumors that taxpayers had paid to rescue his Scottish Terrier, Fala, from the Aleutian Islands. In a nationally broadcast speech, he quipped:
“These Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my family — now they include my little dog, Fala. Well, of course, I don’t resent attacks, but Fala does resent them!”
The humorous defense of his dog turned the rumor into a national joke and helped Roosevelt win sympathy.
Election of 1944 Results
On Election Day, Roosevelt won a comfortable but reduced victory compared to previous elections. He carried 36 states, securing 432 electoral votes and 53.4% of the popular vote. Dewey performed better than any previous Republican against Roosevelt, winning 99 electoral votes and 45.9% of the popular vote.
It was Roosevelt’s narrowest win of his four elections, but it still marked an unprecedented fourth term — a feat no other U.S. president has achieved.
Aftermath: Roosevelt’s Death and Truman’s Presidency
Roosevelt would not live to see the end of the war. On April 12, 1945, just months into his fourth term, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died at Warm Springs, Georgia. Harry Truman was suddenly thrust into the presidency at one of the most critical moments in history, overseeing the final months of World War II and the dawn of the atomic age.
Roosevelt’s long tenure directly inspired the 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, which limited future presidents to two terms.
Conclusion
The election of 1944 built on the extraordinary precedent of 1940, when Roosevelt had broken tradition to run for a third term. Now, in the middle of World War II, Americans once again chose stability and experience over change. With FDR’s death less than a year later, the importance of his vice-presidential switch from Wallace to Truman became clear.
From the Depression-era New Deal of 1932 to the wartime vote of 1944, Roosevelt had reshaped the presidency and the nation itself. But the elections ahead — beginning with 1948 — would unfold in a very different world, one defined not by isolationism or domestic crisis, but by the Cold War.
