Wendell Willkie

About

Republican corporate lawyer who, despite never holding political office, was selected to be the Republican Party's nominee for President in 1940. After he lost that election to FDR he was made an informal ambassador-at-large by his former opponent.

Before Fame

He was a Kansas high school history teacher.

Trivia

He attended college at Indiana University and became a Beta Theta Pi fraternity brother in 1913.

Family Life

His mother, Henrietta Trisch, was one of the first female lawyers admitted to the bar in Indiana.

Associated With

In 1940, he lost the presidential election to his opponent Franklin D. Roosevelt.