In the April 1940 issue of FORTUNE, Wendell Willkie, then a New York utilities executive not widely known to the U.S. people, published a declaration of principles, in the form of a petition to the platform makers of both parties. The declaration, widely reprinted, had an electric effect. Around him rallied almost overnight, thousands of Americans, most of them political amateurs, who had suddenly found a spokesman. Among them were young Oren Root Jr., who promptly formed the Willkie Clubs, and, FORTUNE Editor Russell Davenport, who resigned his editorial job to direct...
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