With Taft out of the race some Republican conservatives favored General MacArthur . However , MacArthur 's chances were limited by the fact that he was leading Allied forces against Japan , and thus could not campaign for the nomination . His supporters entered his name in the Wisconsin primary nonetheless . The Wisconsin primary proved to be the key contest , as Dewey won by a surprisingly wide margin . He took fourteen delegates to four for Harold Stassen , while MacArthur won the three remaining delegates . Willkie was shut out in the Wisconsin primary ; he did not win a single delegate . His unexpectedly poor showing in Wisconsin forced him to withdraw as a candidate for the nomination . However , at the time of his sudden death in early October 1944 , Willkie had endorsed neither Dewey nor Roosevelt . At the 1944 Republican National Convention in Chicago , Dewey easily overcame Bricker and was nominated for president on the first ballot . Dewey , a moderate to liberal Republican , chose the conservative Bricker as his running mate . Dewey originally preferred fellow liberal California Governor Earl Warren , but agreed on Bricker to preserve party unity ( Warren would go on to run with Dewey in the 1948 election ) . Bricker was nominated for vice president by acclamation
1944 Republican National Convention
1944 Republican National Convention
1944 United States presidential election