Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection, 1944 Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection, 1944 This article lists those who were potential candidates for the Republican nomination for Vice President of the United States in the 1944 election. At the start of the 1944 Republican National Convention, New York Governor Thomas Dewey seemed like the likely presidential nominee, but his nomination was not assured due to strong support for Ohio Governor John W. Bricker and former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen. Though Dewey wanted California Governor Earl Warren as his running mate, Warren was convinced that Franklin D. Roosevelt would win re-election, and refused to be anyone's running mate.
Governorship of Franklin D. Roosevelt wait; as Herbert Hoover would surely defeat Smith and likely serve two terms as president, being elected governor in 1932 would be better timing for the 1936 presidential election. After failing to persuade Roosevelt through many phone calls and telegrams from late September, on October 2, Smith finally got him to agree to run if nominated; the state convention did so the next day. Roosevelt had to make his peace with Tammany Hall to obtain its support, which he did with some reluctance. In the November election, Smith was heavily defeated nationwide by Republican candidate Herbert Hoover, and narrowly lost