Breathitt enraged Chandler by charging that when Chandler was a senator, he had voted in favor of declaring World War II, but soon afterward, he had resigned his commission as a reserve army captain. According to Chandler's version of events, after he voted in favor of the war declaration, he called US Secretary of War Henry Stimson and asked to be put on active duty. Chandler said that Stimson told him he would rather have a senator than a captain, and then Chandler resigned his commission. Chandler's explanation did not stop Breathitt from repeating the charge often on the campaign trail.