1940 United States presidential election was the 39th quadrennial presidential election . It was held on Tuesday , November 5 , 1940 . The election was contested in the shadow of World War II in Europe , as the United States was emerging from the Great Depression . Incumbent Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Republican businessman Wendell Willkie to be reelected for an unprecedented third term in office . Roosevelt did not want to campaign for a third term initially , but was driven by worsening conditions in Europe . He and his allies sought to defuse challenges from other party leaders like James Farley and Vice President John Nance Garner . The 1940 Democratic National Convention re-nominated Roosevelt on the first ballot , while Garner was replaced on the ticket by Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace . Willkie , a dark horse candidate , defeated conservative Senator Robert A. Taft and prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey on the sixth presidential ballot of the 1940 Republican National Convention
1940 Republican National Convention
1940 Republican National Convention
1940 United States presidential election