but ultimately, as the campaign progressed, willkie did make an attack on the president. he said the president is plotting and planning to send america into war. in other words, willkie wasn't an isolationist, but he was opposed to america getting involved in the war. as he saw the election slipping away from him, he did make the argument that you can't vote for roosevelt or you'll get into war. anyone know how roosevelt responded? >> did he pretty much promise that -- >> he absolutely promised, we're not going to get involved in the war. i'm not going to send american boys to die in an overseas war, establishing, not for the first time, but further ratifying a fundamental premise that every time it's 100% guaranteed that a president says i'm not getting involved in a war during a campaign, what does he do immediately after? gets us involved in a war. woodrow wilson, world war i. franklin roosevelt, world war ii. lyndon johnson, the vietnam war. george w. bush, the wars in afghanistan and iraq. you name it, every president who's disclaimed any desire to get america involv

willkie's strength is confined to the plain state area and the midwest, primarily. it's a pretty thumping victory for roosevelt. certainly not a ratification of the idea that america should get involved in the war but a ratification of this idea that roosevelt pushes right at the beginning of his third term in office. by the way, of course, the election of 1940 shatters what? the three-term tradition. why was roosevelt able to shatter the three-term tradition and win a third term? something no one else had ever done. >> i guess he broke the two-term tradition primarily because of his incredible -- >> i'm sorry. i said three term. i meant two term. >> because of his incredible cris mar and popularity. >> that's part of it. but there's something more fundamental operating here. >> a desire not to change in the middle of a war. >> exactly. we're not in the war, but the war is going on. the world is in flames. there's great peril. had there not been a war, the polls show the nation probably would have voted republican in 1940, and, again, the course of history would hav

wendell willkie, who held what political office? trick question. >> none. >> none. what was he? >> businessman. >> businessman. and not an isolationist. he's a businessman who had kind of represented the business side of opposition to the new deal but not an isolationist. as other nominees begin to falter, he was supported by the non-isolationist northern financial wing, "time" magazine and wall street. and came out of nowhere to win the republican nomination. so the campaign in 1940 did not become an outright battle between roosevelt, the internationalist, and republican isolationists because of the nomination of willkie. meanwhile, roosevelt took

wendell willkie, who held what political office? trick question. >> none. >> none. what was he? >> businessman. >> businessman. and not an isolationist. he's a businessman, who had kind of represented the business side of opposition to the new deal but not an isolationist. as othom falter, he was supported by the non-isolationist northern financial wing, "time" magazine and wall street. and came out of nowhere to win the republican nomination. so the campaign in 1940 did not become an outright battle between roosevelt the internationalist and republican isolationists because of the nomination of willkie. meanwhile, roosevelt took unilateral action as president to aid particularly britain, who seemed very hard pressed to survive against the germans. does anybody know what he did unilaterally? [ inaudible ] >> that would be after the election. yeah? >> he gave them submarines. i believe. >> what? >> he gave them submarines. >> destroyers, exactly. he gave them destroyers in return for s

he had led on the first three ballots in 1940 before losing to wendell willkie. quite remarkable, because this year 1948, he's only 46 years old. that's about the a's that obama was killed only three years older than jack kennedy. he is a young man. and he has been on the verge of power and national notoriety, even before that, 1940. in 1940 he is next to -- x district attorney, not even governor, the district attorney of men and. he was mr. district attorney, crime buster, the guy who went after the mob, put them in jail, when after the wall street guys, put them in jail. he did it all. he was spectacular as a district attorney. but as governor he began to trim his sails. he is looking at the polls, and as a candid if it is the same weight. so people, even though he is the purported front runner and he is the front runner in terms of delegates at this point, he is not particularly loved in the party or among the population, but in this debate he is the former district attorney. he's a great prosecutor, agree with the jury. the prosecutor, but evidently the prose

republican party in 1944, he had led on the first three ballots in 1940 before losing to wendell willkie. quite remarkable because this year, 1948, he's only 46 years old. now, that's about the age obama was. that's only three years older than jack kennedy was. he's a young man. and he's been on the verge l of power and national notoriety even before that 190. what is he in 1940? he's an ex-district attorney. he's not even governor. he was the district attorney of manhattan. he was mr. district attorney, crime buster, the guy who went after the mob, put 'em in jail, went after the wall street guys, put 'em in jail. he did it all. he was spectacular. as a district attorney. but as governor, he begins to trim his sails. he's looking at the polls and as a candidate it's the same way. so people even though he's the purported front runner and he's the front runner in terms of delegates at this point, he's not particularly loved. in the party or among the population. but in this debate he is the former district attorney. he's a great prosecutor. he's great with a jury. stassen was a prosecutor

he had let on the first three ballots in 1940 before losing to wendell willkie, wilkie quite markowitz has this year he is only 46 years old. that is about the h. obama was. that is only three years older than jack kennedy was. he is a young man. and he has been on the verge of power and national notoriety even before the 1940. he is in asked district attorney. he is not even governor. he was the district attorney of manhattan. he was mr. district attorney, crime buster, the guy who went after the mob, put him in jail and went after the wall street guy, put them in jail. he did it all. he was spectacular as the district attorney but as governor he begins to trim his sails. he is looking at the polls and the candidate the same way. even though he is the purported front-runner and he is the front-runner in terms of delegates at this point, he is not particularly loved in the party or among the population but in this debate, he is the former district attorney. he is a great prosecutor. stassen was a prosecutor too but evidently the prosecutors in manhattan have to be tougher than the pros