When President Franklin D. Roosevelt made plans to run for a third
term in 1940 he decided to drop conservative Vice President John Nance
Garner from the ticket, both because Garner disapproved of Roosevelt
running again and Garner's opposition to much of the New Deal. Instead
Roosevelt chose Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace.
However,
many of Garner's fellow conservative Democrats, including the party's
reactionary wing based in the South, despised Wallace for his liberalism
and attempted to block his nomination at the convention before
Roosevelt's arrival. The book American Dreamer: A Life of Henry A. Wallace describes what happened next:
At the White House, Franklin Roosevelt sat in the Oval Room playing solitaire, listening to the proceedings with growing disgust"It was a hot, humid evening in Washington, and Roosevelt was out of patience. Suddenly he reached for a pad and began to scribble. Shortly he handed his notes to [federal judge and confidant] Sam Rosenman and told him to "clean it up" because he might have to "deliver it quickly."
Below is the letter which Roosevelt drafted, in which he vowed not to
run if his fellow Democrats blocked his choice of Wallace. (In the end
the letter was never sent, as a speech by Eleanor Roosevelt turned the
tide for Wallace at the convention.) Roosevelt's letter, with its
powerful critique of the Democratic Party, was published almost nowhere
and was essentially unknown before it appeared in Oliver Stone's new
Showtime documentary series Untold History of the United States:
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Franklin D. Roosevelt Letter to the Democratic Convention
July 18, 1940
Members of the Convention:
In
the century in which we live, the Democratic Party has received the
support of the electorate only when the party, with absolute clarity,
has been the champion of progressive and liberal policies and principles
of government.
The party has failed consistently when through
political trading and chicanery it has fallen into the control of those
interests, personal and financial, which think in terms of dollars
instead of in terms of human values.
The Republican Party has
made its nominations this year at the dictation of those who, we all
know, always place money ahead of human progress.
The Democratic
Convention, as appears clear from the events of today, is divided on
this fundamental issue. Until the Democratic Party through this
convention makes overwhelmingly clear its stand in favor of social
progress and liberalism, and shakes off all the shackles of control
fastened upon it by the forces of conservatism, reaction, and
appeasement, it will not continue its march of victory.
It is
without question that certain political influences pledged to reaction
in domestic affairs and to appeasement in foreign affairs have been
busily engaged behind the scenes in the promotion of discord since this
Convention convened.
Under these circumstances, I cannot, in all
honor, and will not, merely for political expediency, go along with the
cheap bargaining and political maneuvering which have brought about
party dissension in this convention.
It is best not to straddle ideals.
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