The novel gives considerable attention to the rise of Wendell L. Willkie to become the Republican candidate in the 1940 Presidential Election , suggesting that Roosevelt 's supporters grossly intervened in the affairs of the rival party to make sure that the Interventionist Willkie would win over Isolationist rivals , thus ensuring that whoever won the elections the US would enter the war . The book 's detailed depiction of the 1940 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia even suggests — though offering no proof — that murder was resorted to in order to place a Willkie supporter in a key position of control over the convention 's technical arrangements , and that such control was used to sabotage former president Herbert Hoover 's bid for a comeback . The account also suggests that British secret agents were involved in all this , interfering in the American political affairs - since US entry into the war was in the most vital interest of Britain , involved in a life-and-death struggle with the Nazis . An often repeated theme is the reference to Roosevelt — and afterwards to Harry S. Truman — as " Emperor of the World " , to Eleanor Roosevelt as " The Empress " , to the Roosevelt White House as " The Imperial Court " , to Washington D.C. as " The Imperial City " and so on . Roosevelt is compared to Augustus , the founder of the Roman Empire
1940 Republican National Convention
1940 Republican National Convention
The Golden Age (Vidal novel)