U.S. At War: Willkie Wins

Wendell Willkie, in & out of the Republican Party, had hammered long & hard at Isolation. He had more success out than in; a majority of G.O.P. leaders, unshaken by the lessons of World War II, held to the ostrich faith of their fathers that the U.S. must hold aloof from the outside world.

This week the Republican National Committee met in Chicago to lay down the Party policy for 1942. Chairman Joe Martin of Massachusetts, as usual, wanted a do-nothing, say-nothing policy. Ohio’s Senator Taft and Illinois’ Senator Brooks, both rock-hard Isolationists before Pearl Harbor, wanted no mention of post-war attitudes. Wendell Willkie wanted a clear statement that the Republican Party realizes and accepts the post-war responsibility of the U.S. to the rest of the world.

Though some Republicans could not believe their eyes, Wendell Willkie won. The G.O.P. adopted his policy, and said flatly: “. . . Our nation has an obligation to assist in the bringing about of an understanding, comity and cooperation among the nations of the world.”