Willkie's legacy not forgotten at RNC

NEW YORK -- On the side of the New York Public Library, in a place thousands of New Yorkers pass each day, there is a monument dedicated to out-of-nowhere 1940 Republican nominee Wendell Willkie. \n"I believe in America because in it we are free -- free to choose our government, to speak our minds, to serve our different religions," it says, quoting Willkie.\nSixty-four years later, the Republican Party is in New York for the first time, blocks from the obscure plaque about the Indiana native who attended IU and went on to win the Republican nomination to face the Democratic nominee Franklin Roosevelt.\nWillkie's youngest grandson, David, lives here, too, working for Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar. \n"When I think of my grandfather, one, I think of a very progressive, visionary for his time," David said. "I'm very proud of his record."\nThat record certainly struck many in the 1930s and '40s as unconventional -- a shift from the United States' policy of isolationism, desegregation throughout the country, an end to stereotyping blacks in entertainment.\nWendell Willkie was born in 1892 in Elwood, Ind., and attended IU, receiving both his undergraduate and law degree and finishing at the top of his class.\nIn the 1930s, Willkie became a very wealthy businessman. He had since moved to New York and had been dubbed a "barefoot boy from Wall Street," said IU history Professor James Madison, who has written a book on Willkie.\nBut even though Willkie was doing very well in business, "he chose to enter politics, and he chose more importantly to enter public life," Madison said.\nWillkie began thinking about a run for the White House, even though he had never before held public office. In an out-of-nowhere bid, Willkie won the delegates needed to become the Republican nominee.\n"He's one of the quintessential dark horses," Madison said.\nDavid said there are still questions as to why Wendell Willkie ran on the Republican ticket even though he was registered as a Democrat. But at the time, Willkie was upset with part of FDR's New Deal.\nBut Willkie's campaign was poorly managed. Its national headquarters was based out of tiny Rushville, Ind. Willkie lost to the incumbent Roosevelt by about 5 million votes.\nHowever, his most lasting contributions came after his loss, which include his book "One World," which focuses on just that. Willkie advocated equality for all.\nIn 1943, Willkie went around the world to foreign leaders advocating a philosophy of desegregation and his dislike of the United States' foreign policy of isolationism.\nIn 1944, Willkie began thinking about another run for the presidency. But a series of massive heart attacks brought an end not only to Willkie's run for the White House, but also to his remarkable life.\n"I think he's one of the greatest Hoosiers of all time," Professor Madison said.\nWillkie's grandson said presidential candidates are inevitably compared to his grandfather. Some believe Willkie's campaign is similar to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry because many liberals are furious at some of President Bush's policies, just like many hard-core Republicans hated parts of FDR's New Deal. Willkie has been compared to Bush as well, but David said his grandfather would have some questions about sending the country into a war without many of its allies, as Bush has been accused of doing.\n"He would definitely have some questions about that," David said. He also said his grandfather believed in the creed: "By protecting the rights of people you hate, you protect the rights of those you love."\nAlthough Wendell Willkie's name emerges each election year, David said he doesn't spend a lot of time thinking what his grandfather stood for.\n"I think about his ideals and some of the things he thought about," David said. "They've definitely shaped me."\nOne of Willkie's major achievements was becoming one of the first white men to address a national convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Following his death, the NAACP was housed in the Willkie Freedom House in New York. It was later torn down, but the memorial to the small-town Indiana native still stands near the old NAACP headquarters on the side of the New York Public Library.\n"I feel very proud of that legacy and that heritage," David said. "I want more than anything to keep his ideals alive."\n-- Contact staff writer Josh Sanburn at jsanburn@indiana.edu.