United States Presidential Election of 1944

Roosevelt won a fourth term, 432 to 99, in wartime, then died within three months.

Overview

With American forces fighting on two fronts, FDR, visibly aged and concealing heart disease, defeated Thomas Dewey, the young New York governor, 432 to 99 with 53.4 percent, running with Harry Truman instead of Henry Wallace. Soldiers voted by special ballot across the globe. It remains the only fourth presidential term in American history, and FDR's death on April 12, 1945, put Truman in charge of the atomic decision and the postwar settlement, making the vice-presidential pick one of history's most consequential.