 However, with the coming of World War II, opposition to American involvement led to gains for Wendell Willkie and Thomas E. Dewey, although apart from the 1960 election – also influenced by Catholicism – Greene was a bellwether county throughout the period from 1928 to 2004.In recent years, like most of downstate Illinois, opposition to the Democratic Party's liberal views on social issues, along with economic problems, has caused very rapid swings toward the Republican Party.Hillary Clinton’s 2016 tally of 21.6 percent of the county’s vote is fifteen percent worse than any Democrat before 2010.