Standish High School - Crimson Rambler Yearbook (Standish, ME)

Page 15 text:

WENDELL WILLKIE . Wendell Willkie was born in Elwood, Indiana, in 1892, the son of lawyer parents. Although he had three brothers and two sisters, Wendell alone has reached the national. acclaim to which so many aspire. ' His liberal education at Culver Military Academy and later at the Indiana State University left him suited for any one of several professions. His natural abilities, probably largely inherent, led him into the field of law, but not until he had first proven his outstanding ability as a teacher of social sciences. Teaching, however, was soon abandoned in preference to a more profitable occupation. His career as a lawyer was soon interrupted by the army, and Wendell went toiwght in World War l on the very day that war was declared. Even the army was quick te see Wende11's natural talents, and rather than have them entirely wasted, they promoted him to the rank of Captain and placed him in' the position of defense council for court-martialed soldiers. Wendell himself said that he felt that he lost this position mainly because he made a nuisance of himself. Returning from the army, he resumed his law practice in Akron. Here-he later became associated uhh utility companies where he was soon advanced to a position 'as President of the Commonwealth and Southern Utility Company. All this eventually led him into the field of economics and then into politics, and it was here that he made his lasting impression upon American History. He entered'dn Presidential Campaign of l94Q,but having risen from near-obscurity to nation-wide familiarity during an extremely short period of time, it was only natural that the majority of people were still to surprised, puzzled, and stunned to give full consideration toall his qualifications. Although he lost this election, his later conduct was such that he is often spoken of as having made progress through his failures. He continued his efforts to convert his Rep- ublican Party into a new and better liberal group. By l944,he had made a lasting impression on all American people. He had succeeded in winning the.confidence of the Negro and Jewish voters through the ehuwrity of his speeches and actions. Hiss book, nOne Uorld,H had made its impressidn on the people, and the work he had put into it had made Willkie realize that Isolationism was dead and that all nations must work together for a better future, if they were to have a future at all. This lang route through Moscow mm1Chunking was preferred even to the shorter route through Albany,where he was wanted by the people of New York as their governor. Turning down

Page 14 text:

F-L ' , 1:,t,L i r 4 1 X 4-C' ' . 'l'Y 1 , -1... . X , .. -.- 1, .. w 1,9 V36 N 1 . Nxu ,J 'NL s 1. .s.' nv I 1 , ., .f ., -I -,Hn 'I '. rl-.' , ... Q- .Y , up-1 L,- , . J . 1 FF 1, - ,Q P n r . I u 1 n.. I me -- .', u ' 4 ' -'mb ' --4--us... .we mains-a , V w ' w 1 U , ' 4 i f . ' 'I 4, . , H I W X 7 'r- . v.4 ' - - L ' . , ' .Il 2 'f' ' ' g ' . 1 .. FM-F, ,- f w- Nu., . Y . Jig , w :H - h ifi ' . . 4' f -. s -f ' . f A V. ,ve , , A1 , ' aff ,. , X W 1 V. ' V I A t .. M- 40. in 1 , .9 , ,. ' , -N M, 'V ., V ,f ', ,, 1 L,-1 -A 1 2, A. A - ,,, - V A .gi , ' .,, iw V , ' H' 1 ' , . . 1, ' I 4: -x -2- L H., .4 -'A V' 1 - -,rw 'f.: QQ, O 1 5 . 3 A. ' - n I -- I . f X o 3' -.1 .5 r . K' 'V ' 1 L - u ' 5 f ' ,, 1 ' ' . V' .ff 'mn A, Af ' :V V I , 21 '- '.. , -M. an I ' ' - 4 .,. N , - . ,. ., . L 1 1 4 D UW . u.. 'W 1 X .-Q1 .L . , wi-lk 4, aww r 'f 4 ' 1 A 1 w. 1 J. ,. Y , 4 1 1'vhi, - -.fa f -,N I-1 I 1 r 'F v , 4 F -1 v 2 . ..E D4 N. f li .-I S EI -J! 1 ,Q ,.,f '- . r nf --1 J. 'ni L -3 r 1 n in H3 ' -fr: -5 .4 1

Page 16 text:

this offer, which might well have led to greater influence and an even better chance toward winning the 1944 election, Willkie continuedlns 50,000 mile whirlwind campaign. In his famous Saint Louis speech, he was the first to advocate a 4- power alliance to include China as well as Great Britian and Russia. This recommendation was based upon his personal experience in China. Willk1e's platform contained all of the most desired factors which werelmprmmn on his mind, if not on the minds of the people. He advocated: A Policy Heart And Soul for Liberal Objectives. A New Foreign Policy and Labor And Finance Legislation. Win the War and Look Ahead to the Future. An International Understanding that Isolationism was Dead. All this--and stul he lost--and still he looked forward with an open mind and an open heart, continuing his battle for all that he cherished in his mind as an Ideal America. Willkie fought and worked with all his powergno man can do more. His death was mourned by thousands, who appeared at his funeral, and by milions of people all over the United States, and by millions more throughout the world. Wendell Willkie's name will go down in history, not'as a nman of wordsu as Rodell wrote, but as a man of action a true American Immortal, and a frank, honest, and capable, American leader. Philip L. Martin '48