Wendell Lewis Willkie

US Presidential Candidate, Author. Both his father and mother were successful attorneys he attained his law degree from Indiana University and worked for his family's practice. He served with the United States Army during World War I and upon his return home, he was a legal representative with the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio. After moving to New York, Willkie made a name for himself through his work with a prestigious electric utility company. Additionally, his outspokenness against Franklin Roosevelt and the "New Deal" garnered national attention leading to a movement to nominate him as a presidential candidate for the 1940 election. Willkie defeated fellow Republican Thomas Dewey to secure the nomination but lost in a landslide to President Roosevelt during the general election. He would be appointed by Roosevelt to serve as an international diplomat. In 1942, he authored the bestselling book "One World" which defined a post World War II world of international peace and freedom. Willkie himself would not live to see the end of the war. After being in apparent ill health for some time (it is believed he suffered multiple heart attacks over several months) he suffered a fatal heart attack while campaigning in 1944.