Fdr 1940 Dbq

country from religious, racial and ethnic groups. The coalition combined Catholics, southern Protestants, northern Jews and blacks from urban areas, labor union members, small farmers in the middle west and Plains states, and liberals and radicals.
The Campaign and Election of 1940, Roosevelt decided to run a third term in office, breaking the tradition set by George Washington. Republicans chose Wendell L. Willkie of Indiana, FDR seemed strong even though he only campaigned from the White House. In late September, Willkie began to speed up the race, largely by saying that if FDR won a third term, "you may expect that we will be at war." Roosevelt said Americans would not fight in "any foreign war." Over the last month, the campaign turned into outrageous mud-slinging. On election day, FDR won 55 percent of the popular vote and the electoral votes of

But upon entering the campaign in earnest in late September, 1944, Roosevelt displayed enough passion and fight to allay most concerns and to deflect Republican attacks. With the war still raging, he urged voters not to "change horses in mid-stream." Just as important, he showed some of his famous campaign fire. In a classic speech FDR belittled the Republican attacks on him. Recalling the charges from a Minnesota congressman who accused FDR of sending a battleship to Alaska to retrieve his dog Fala, FDR nearly chortled "These Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife, or my sons. No, not content with that they now include my little dog Fala. Wll, of course, I don 't resent attacks, and my family don 't resent attacks, but Fala does resent them." With his audience abuzz, FDR delivered his punch-line: "I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself . . . But I think I have a right to resent, to object to libelous statements about my dog."On election day, voters returned Roosevelt to the White