Wendell Willkie - Rushville, IN - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

Wendell Willkie was born Lewis Wendell Willkie in Elwood, IN, into a family of lawyers: Both parents were lawyers and Wendell actually worked for his parents’ firm for a short while after he graduated from law school. He also gained a penchant for politics from his dad who was heavily involved in the local Democratic party.

After a brief stint in the Army during World War I, Willkie moved into corporate law, first with Firestone in Akron, OH, then with Commonwealth & Southern, an electric utility holding company in New York City. While quickly moving up the corporate ladder, he stayed close to politics and was actually a delegate at the 1932 Democratic convention which saw Franklin D. Roosevelt emerge as the nominee.

Willkie got into the national spotlight when, as the main spokesman for electric utilities, he locked horns with the Roosevelt administration over the TVA, one of Roosevelt’s New Deal programs aimed at developing the Tennessee River Valley region with dams for flood control and hydroelectric power generation. Although the Roosevelt administration eventually got their way in the much-publicized proceedings, Willkie was viewed as having negotiated an effective outcome for the utilities.

At some point in 1939, Willkie switched parties and then became the quintessential dark horse candidate when his new party nominated him for President in 1940. He was soundly defeated by FDR who was elected to an unprecedented third term. Though they had their disagreements in the past, Willkie subsequently supported Roosevelt’s war efforts and was tapped by the administration for several diplomatic missions.

Although he is known mostly for politics, Wendell Willkie never actually held an elective office (unless you count being president of his high school class). Willkie was not nominated by the Republicans in 1944 and his efforts to create a new political party were upended when he died of a heart attack later that year. Although he was offered a burial plot in Arlington National Cemetery, Willkie’s wife elected to have him buried in their hometown of Rushville.

Description: Wendell Willkie is laid to rest in East Hill Cemetery in Rushville, IN. Date of birth: 02/18/1892 Date of death: 10/08/1944 Area of notoriety: Politics Marker Type: Monument Setting: Outdoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: none Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

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