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5th November 1940: President Roosevelt elected for an unprecedented third term

1,313 views · Published 5 November 2018 · 2:50 · Indexed 27 September 2026

Channel: HistoryPod · 2018 · Education

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Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated as the 32nd President of the United States on 4 March 1933, and quickly introduced initiatives designed to counter the effects of the Great Depression. Known as the New Deal, the combination of “relief, recovery and reform” introduced Social Security and unemployment benefits that proved popular with the American people. This led to Roosevelt being elected to a second term in 1936 with 98.49% of the electoral vote.

Four years later there was speculation about whether Roosevelt would run again. George Washington had established the two-term tradition when he declined to run for a third in 1796. However, this limitation wasn’t formally imposed until the 22nd Amendment in 1947. Consequently Roosevelt, after deciding that only he was capable of leading the United States at a time when Europe was battling the Nazi threat, chose to run again.

Having easily secured the Democratic nomination, Roosevelt joined with Henry Wallace as his running mate. He secured a boost to his popularity in September with the announcement of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement that gave a number of aging American battleships to a desperate Britain, in return for access to military bases that would improve American continental defences.

Nevertheless the Republican candidate, Wendell Willkie, warned that electing Roosevelt risked involving the United States in another European war. The president promised that this would never happen, however, and went on to win an unprecedented third term with almost 85% of the electoral vote. America joined the war just over a year later, prompted by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

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