The '44 Vote

I added the following as a comment to my own article at Pajamas Media. As noted, to do this story justice would take much more space than available - and even much more than I've taken here. But I'm re-posting this here so it doesn't become lost in what's turning out to be a very large comment section - consider it a companion piece to the main article.

The WWII US Military was an anomaly in our nation’s history - large and demographically similar to the nation as a whole. There was bipartisan opposition (and support) for a voting act that would have simplified the enormously complex problem of ensuring each and every service member on battlefields around the world got their chance to vote. Valid arguments of federal encroachment on State’s rights were raised in opposition, but also often masked other motives ranging from purely political (Republicans feared Roosevelt controlled all information flow to the troops and would receive their blind obedience) to unimaginably vile (southern Democrats’ desire to maintain Jim Crow laws).

Still, more than a few military members voted that year (50 percent of military personnel requested ballots and 30 percent succeeded in casting ballots) even with the associated logistical problems. While the military vote might have tipped New Jersey from Republican to Democrat, Roosevelt was reelected in an electoral landslide, and neither the Senate or House composition changed appreciably. I’m not sure many military members (well aware of the logistics involved) were very much outraged over the outcome of the voting effort or the election.

But I like this quote:

Attitudes of service members show as wide a variety of opinions as those expressed by their congressional representatives. A naval officer in the Pacific wrote a letter to Newsweek in which he stated the majority of Sailors on his cruiser showed little interest in voting. However, many planned to run for office themselves upon their return. This prompted the officer to write “I am certain that no one but a veteran–probably those who have seen active service–will hold any job after the war, from Constable to President.”