Distribution of votes in the 1944 US presidential election

The 40th US presidential election took place on November 7, 1944, just five months after the US-led invasion of Normandy, during the Second World War. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was already in an unprecedented third term in office, however the US' position in the war drove him to seek a fourth term; something that the Democratic Party welcomed (although they replaced Vice-President Wallace with Harry S. Truman). The Republican Party put forward the Governor of New York, Thomas E. Dewey, as Roosevelt's opponent.

Results

Roosevelt won the election comfortably, despite receiving a lower share of the votes than in all his previous elections. Roosevelt carried 36 out of 48 states, giving him an 81 percent share of the electoral votes, and over 53 percent of the popular votes. Roosevelt carried the traditionally-Democratic Solid South, as well as every coastal state except Maine.

The Death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Roosevelt's health deteriorated in his final year in office, and he became visibly weaker after his fourth inauguration as President. In March 1945, Roosevelt travelled to his personal residence in Georgia (known as the "Little White House") in order to prepare for the founding conference of the United Nations in San Francisco, which was due to start on April 26. Unfortunately, Roosevelt passed away from a brain hemorrhage on April 12. 1945, at the age of 63. He was succeeded by Vice President Harry S. Truman. Roosevelt is remembered for leading the United States through the Great Depression and the Second World War, and as one of the founders of the United Nations. Historians regard Roosevelt as one of the most highly ranked US presidents of all time (along with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln), and one of the most important global figures of the twentieth century.