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Fighting for the Republican presidential nomination in 1940, Willkie set out to shed his label as a Wall Street lawyer and public-utility president. To dramatize himself as a Hoosier, he sought an Indiana political leader to nominate him at the convention. Inevitably, "Available Charlie" was available. Even though Indiana's conservative Republican machine preferred Ohio's Robert A. Taft, Halleck jumped on the Willkie bandwagon. His reasoning was simple: "I thought he would win."
It was a crucial decision for him, and its effects lingered long. Willkie had been a University of Indiana campus radical and a registered Democrat. It took all of Halleck's skill to beat off the opposition. Facing the Republican delegates in Philadelphia's Convention Hall, he cried: "Is the Republican Party a closed corporation? Do you have to be born in it?" A roar of anger rose from Taft delegates. "Just a moment," Halleck roared back, wagging his finger. "You will listen to this." The delegates did, and when Charlie Halleck finished his speech, the convention erupted in one of the wildest of all demonstrations.
It was an exciting performance. It put Halleck in the national limelight—but it got him nowhere politically. He had backed a loser (within a year, he broke with Willkie over aid to Britain), and in the process he had incurred the lasting wrath of the Taft followers.
World War II erased Halleck's isolationism. He realized that peace cannot be achieved by avoiding international responsibility. Today, Halleck is annoyed whenever his prewar record is hung around his neck: "When did the Japs hit us at Pearl Harbor? December 7. 1941. Hell, how long had I been in Congress? Six years. That's six years out of 25." To prove his case, he cites not only his internationalist record under Republican Eisenhower, but also his record in the Republican 80th Congress while Democrat Harry Truman was President. As House majority leader, he helped push through interim aid to Britain and France, the Marshall Plan, and aid to Greece and Turkey.
The Cave-In. The 80th Congress, elected in 1946, had given Halleck his chance at House leadership: with Republicans in the majority. Joe Martin moved up from floor leader to Speaker. Halleck was an obvious possibility as majority leader, and only Ohio's Clarence Brown, backed by the unforgiving Taft followers, stood in his way. But Charlie Halleck was too much for Brown. Halleck simply saw to it that the notion of trying for the leadership job was suggested to Ohio's inept Thomas Jenkins. Although Jenkins had no chance at all. he did split Ohio's delegation. Unable to control his own state, Brown backed out—and Halleck was elected unanimously.