A Wall Street-based industrialist named Wendell Willkie , who had never before run for public office , emerged as the unlikely nominee . Willkie , a former Democrat who had been a pro-Roosevelt delegate at the 1932 Democratic National Convention , was considered an improbable choice . Willkie had first come to public attention as an articulate critic of Roosevelt 's attempt to break up electrical power monopolies . Willkie was the CEO of the Commonwealth and Southern power company , and he opposed the federal government 's attempts to compete with private enterprise , claiming that the government had unfair advantages over private companies . Willkie did not dismiss all Roosevelt 's social welfare programs , and in fact he supported those he believed free enterprise could not do better . Furthermore , unlike the leading Republican candidates , Willkie was a forceful and outspoken advocate of aid to the Allies , especially Britain . His support of giving all aid to the British " short of declaring war " won him the support of many Republicans on the East Coast , who disagreed with their party 's isolationist leaders in Congress . Willkie 's persuasive arguments impressed these Republicans , who believed that he would be an attractive presidential candidate . Many of the leading media magnates of the era , such as Ogden Reid of the '' New York Herald Tribune '' , Roy Howard of the Scripps-Howard chain and John and Gardner Cowles , publishers of the '' Minneapolis Star '' and the '' Minneapolis Tribune '' , as well as the '' Des Moines Register '' and '' Look '' magazine , supported Willkie in their newspapers and magazines . Even so , Willkie remained a long-shot candidate ; the May 8 Gallup Poll showed Dewey at 67 % support among Republicans , followed by Vandenberg and Taft , with Willkie at only 3 %
1932 Democratic National Convention
1932 Democratic National Convention
1940 Republican Party presidential primaries