In the 1944 election, FDR ran for a fourth term against Dewey, who was governor of New York. The campaign both nationally and locally was hotly contested and brutal at times, with various unsavory charges flying back and forth between the two parties. Wolfenden was also running for another term, his ninth, against the same opponent as last time. The election had a different twist in that O'Rouke had resigned his professorship at Swarthmore and was serving as a lieutenant, junior grade, aboard a destroyer escort. Since he was at sea and navy regulations forbade active political campaigning, O'Rourke campaigned through stand-ins.