Jake Profile picture
Sep 19, 2024 17 tweets 9 min read Read on X
That time a foreign intelligence service colluded with a presidential candidate and interfered with the U.S. election.
>No, not *that* time - The time it *actually* happened: How the UK colluded with FDR to pick the 1940 GOP nominee and undermine the America First movement.
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Accusations that the British were secretly manipulating the U.S. press and politicians in order to undermine the America First movement and drag America into war were dismissed as a conspiracy theory. But the conspiracy theorists were right, and it was worse than they knew.
2/16
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British agents were conducting a “classic influence operation," including wire taps, fake news, and dirty tricks aimed at discrediting America First. It was extremely effective, and the biggest coup was helping to pick a pro-war GOP presidential candidate in 1940.
3/16 Image
In 1940 Americans were still overwhelmingly in favor of staying out of the war. Yet somehow for the presidential election that year the voters were presented with a choice of two candidates, both of whom were hell-bent on dragging the U.S. into the conflict.
4/16
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New to the Republican party, and never having held elective office, Willkie had no base of support among GOP voters. But no matter, Willkie had the support of powerful elites, who happened to be working closely with FDR, British intelligence, and pro-war front groups.
5/16 Image
The married Willkie - “a notorious and practicing womanizer” - was having an affair with the New York Herald Tribune editor Irita Van Doren. This brought Willkie deep into the circles of the press, who were working closely with to British intelligence.
6/16
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In the months before the convention Willkie was near the bottom of the polls, trailing the well-known isolationist Senator Robert Taft, and far behind the up-and-coming New York District Attorney Thomas Dewy. But Willkie suddenly seemed to surge in popularity.
7/16

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With the help of allies in the press, Willkie seemed to move into a last-minute lead. But were the polls reliable? Gallup and other pollsters had been penetrated by British intelligence and FDR’s agents. And even the best polls at that time were biased, “advocacy polls."
8/16
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When presented with a straightforward, unbiased poll question, Americans continued to be overwhelmingly opposed to entering the war – Even if this meant that Britian would be defeated.
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At the convention, Willkie gained a critical advantage due to the sudden, somewhat suspicious death of a Taft-allied convention manager. Sam Pryor - a Willkie ally - took over management of the convention, and the galleries were soon packed with cheering Willkie supporters.
10/16
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Willkie’s team was not above dirty tricks at the convention. Former President Hoover gave a powerful anti-intervention speech - But no one could hear it, because Pryor had sabotaged Hoover’s microphone. Later at a press conference, a drum corps arrived and drowned him out.
11/16


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By hook or crook, Willkie had won the GOP nomination. He now faced a seemingly vulnerable Roosevelt: After two full terms, FDR had failed to end the depression - unemployment was still sky-high. And the public was uncomfortable with an unprecedented third term.
12/16
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But now that the anti-interventionist Republicans were disposed of, Willkie’s friends in the press were free to abandon him. And Willkie's pro-intervention, me-too liberalism gave the voters no reason to support him over FDR. Willkie trailed throughout the Fall campaign.
13/16 Image
With the help of British Intelligence, the America First movement and the anti-interventionists were sidelined. FDR was free to continue his march to war. The first peacetime conscription was enacted, and U.S. neutrality was abandoned with more military aid to Britain.
14/16 Image
Late in the campaign, Willkie pivoted, criticizing the conscription law and accusing FDR of secretly planning to take the U.S. into the war. Willkie could not have known how accurate this accusation was. Willkie’s last-minute peace-pivot seemed to give his campaign a boost.
15/16
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Willkie’s pivot seems to have spooked FDR into making what must have been the most cynical lie of his career – promising that America boys would not be sent into any foreign war. Very soon FDR would be doing everything in his power to bring America into the conflict.
/fin


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More from @s_decatur

Feb 28
> 1960: America seems to be entering an era of hope and prosperity.
> End of the 1960s: Complete break-down of law and order. Half the country afraid to go out at night. A crime wave of "epic proportions." Image
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From 1960 to 1970, rates of violent crime (essentially, murder, rape, robbery, and serious assaults) in the U.S. more than doubled, from 161 per 100,000 to 364. Murder rates rose 55 percent, while robbery rates climbed over 91 percent. And it continued to rise into the 1990s. Image
There was some evidence of rising crime in other western countries. But crime was *falling* in Japan. And Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore did not see a significant crime increase. Image
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Catholic Irish v. Italian culture clash in 1890s Boston:
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FDR and the "Back Road" to War with Japan:
After WW I, with the Lansing–Ishii Agreement, the U.S. had acknowledged that Japan has legitimate security interests in Manchuria – the Bolsheviks were on the march, the spread of communism threatened China and Korea.
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By the 1930s, Japan had seized control of Manchuria. But it was clear that that the Soviets were hard at work laying the foundation for Communist revolution in the Far East.
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Read 18 tweets
Nov 9, 2024
Thread on Pat Buchanan’s “Where the Right Went Wrong.”
> Not one of his best books, but the discussion on Neocons is relevant as President Trump begins staffing his new administration:
🧵/12 Image
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Buchanan had been staunch conservative, and a loyal lieutenant in both the Nixon and Reagan administrations. In his view, the Bush-era ascendency of the Neocons was a dramatic and disastrous break from American conservative tradition. The Neocons had their own agenda.
2/12 Image
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3/12 Image
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Read 12 tweets
Sep 6, 2024
Roseto, Pennsylvania is small town that was populated almost exclusively by Italian Americans. It came to national attention in the 1960s when researchers made a startling discovery - the residents seemed to be virtually immune from heart disease and other maladies.
🧵/13
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The residents of Roseto enjoyed these remarkable health benefits despite disregarding much of the common medical advice – They ate pasta, enjoyed wine and deserts, many smoked.
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Genetics did not seem to explain the Roseto anomaly. Nor did environmental factors. Nearby towns did not enjoy anything like the near-immunity from heart disease.
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Read 15 tweets
Aug 19, 2024
Italian-American Voters: From New Deal Democrats to Nixon Republicans - Pat Buchanan's search for a new majority, and the GOP’s never-ending pursuit of the wrong voters.

Early Italian American voters had been solid Republicans, associating the GOP with economic prosperity.
🧵/15
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In addition, Italians often felt unwelcomed by the Irish-dominated urban political machines.
“It can be presumed that many Italians selected the Republican Party only because it represented the party in opposition to the Irish-Democrats.”
2/15
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Italian voters were pragmatic: "The basic affinity of Italian Americans lay with conservative Democrats, rockribbed Republicans who abjured the lofty rhetoric of Yankee mugwumps, and nonideologicallocal politicians who spoke to the needs of family and community."
3/15 Image
Read 16 tweets

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