A thin, flat, ineffectual biography of the upstart 1940 Republican
presidential candidate and wartime champion of One WorM. In the
introduction, Chicago Tribune White House correspondent Neal (Tom
McCall, The Eisenhowers) strikes all the customary notes: Willkie's
support for aid to the Allies, contra Republican isolationism; his
"fresh and appealing" personality, his "tousled" hair and rumpled
clothes and "Hoosier twang," his energy and drive; the acidulous
anti-Willkie comments ("barefoot boy from Wall Street,"etc.); his
post-defeat trajectory - the foreign missions, support for civil
rights, political collapse. But the single interpretive peg in the
text is that, civil rights apart, Willkie was a trimmer: "Despite
his strong principles, Willkie's decision to join a fraternity
provided an early indication that he was willing to bend them when
there were personal considerations." (His girl-friend insisted.)
"In later years, Willkie was eulogized as the political rarity who
would rather be right than be president, yet when confronted with a
test of principle in the fall of 1940, he buckled to expediency" -
and, behind in the campaign, denounced Roosevelt as a warmonger.
This turnabout Willkie later referred to, famously, as "campaign
rhetoric": Neal notes that Republicans were incensed, but makes no
further comment. He also leaves the impression - perhaps
deliberately, perhaps for want of direction - that Willkie was
indeed a media and PR phenomenon: Luce, Cowles (Look), and Reid
(N.Y. Herald Tribune) support catapulted him into national
prominence; packing the galleries with "We want Willkie!" - ites,
and loosing a flood of telegrams, clinched the nomination. (The
heating-up war was, or wasn't, crucial.) The pre-1940 and post-1940
sections are weak for other, opposite reasons. Neal makes no
attempt to trace the transformation of Willkie, the successful
Akron lawyer (1919-29) and prominent, out-of-step Democrat into the
functionary and chief of Commonwealth & Southern, the nation's
largest utility holding company (1929-40) and
FDR-critic-cum-internationalist; the one thing about which we hear
at some length ("A Love in Shadow") is his attachment to Herald
Tribune book editor Irita Van Doren (who probably was, however, a
considerable influence). Post-defeat, the mass of undifferentiated
detail tends to blur the outlines - and, as regards Willkie's
purported blind passion for Madame Chiang, to detract from his
accomplishments. In particular, Neal doesn't see the power, in
1943, of Willkie's One World vision. There are some new political
scraps (many, however, from aggrieved or otherwise unfriendly
sources); Neal incorporates considerable material published since
the last Willkie bio; but in contrast with Richard Norton Smith's
recent life of Dewey, which adds substance and interest to a
slight, unpopular figure, this makes its subject smaller than life.
(Kirkus Reviews)
Wendell Willkie never held a public office, yet he nearly became
president of the United States. A registered Democrat until the
fall of 1939, he captured the Republican party's nomination less
than a year later. It was, by all accounts, a meteoric rise--to win
the nomination Willkie defeated such party stalwarts as Thomas
Dewey, Robert Taft, and Arthur Vandenberg. These Republican
front-runners had been insisting that the war in Europe wasn't a
national concern since two oceans protected the U.S. from the
aggressors, while for months Willkie had warned of the danger of a
Europe controlled by fascists. Shortly before the GOP convened in
Philadelphia, Hitler's armies swallowed Denmark, Norway, the Low
Countries, and France. In a time for heroes, Willkie was a man of
the hour.
Almost overnight Willkie moved the Republican party out of its
hidebound isolationism and sent a message to the world that
Americans stood together against Axis aggression. Roosevelt,
although recognizing Willkie as a formidable political opponent,
called his nomination a "godsend" because it finally brought
national unity.
Roosevelt's election to a third term--and Willkie's
defeat--turned out to be the closest presidential race in a
generation, and Willkie received more votes than any previous
Republican candidate, setting a record that stood until
Eisenhower's '52 landslide. And despite his defeat, Willkie grew in
stature becoming Roosevelt's special envoy during World War II,
first to London during the Blitz and later to the Middle East, to
Russia, and to China. On the home front Willkie became the
spokesman of the One World philosophy that influenced U.S. foreign
policy for a generation and the conscience of American politics,
speaking out against isolationism, imperialism, and the persecution
of minorities.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
