The United States Presidential Election of 1940 (not 1941, as mentioned by OP), occurred on November 5, 1940. The election pitted incumbent President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a Democrat, against Republican Wendell Willkie. The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, also known as the Burke-Wadsworth Act, was passed in September of that year, just before the election, and became the first peace-time draft in the history of the United States.

How did this not harm Roosevelt's chances of re-election? He was himself worried about it, and only reluctantly embraced the bill as it was being debated in Congress. He told a reporter that even "…a limited form of selective draft may very easily defeat the Democratic National Ticket."^1 Yet, he did offer the bill his support, and so did both parties in Congress, with the bill passing 58-31 in the Senate (with support of 8 Republicans in addition to 50 Democrats) and 263-149 in the House (with the support of 52 Republicans in addition to 211 Democrats).

However, his opponent, Willkie was more vocal in his support of the draft than Roosevelt was. Willkie refused to oppose the bill, telling a reporter, "I would rather not win the election than do that."^2 He went even further, offering the bill his support in a campaign speech, saying that the draft "…is the only democratic way in which to assure the trained and competent man-power we need in our national defense."^3 In short, Willkie's support for the draft removed it as an election issue.

As the election season progressed, Roosevelt faced some backlash over the Destroyers for Bases deal, implemented via Executive Order. Willkie decried it as extreme executive overreach, calling it "…the most arbitrary and dictatorial action ever taken by any President in the history of the United States."^4 Even so, his criticism seems primarily related to how this deal was enacted, rather than the policy itself. As the campaign was coming to a close, Willkie abandoned his previous civility regarding Roosevelt's war preparations, declaring "We do not want to send our boys over there again. [I]f you elect the third-term candidate, I believe they will be sent."^5 At a speech in Boston, just days before the election, Roosevelt refuted that, stating, "I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again: Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars."^6

How could he make this argument, with the draft in place? The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 specifically limited the draft to just 12 months, and "Persons inducted into the land forces of the United States under this Act shall not be employed beyond the limits of the Western Hemisphere except in the Territories and possessions of the United States, including the Philippine Islands."^7

In August of 1941, Congress extended that period of service for an additional 17 months with the Service Extension Act of 1941. The vote for this extension was much closer, passing by just a single vote in the House. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 20, 1941, Congress passed an amendment to the Selective Training and Service Act which removed all restrictions on foreign service, and extended the term to the duration of the war plus six months.^8

Notes

1. David M. Kennedy, Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 459.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid., 461.

5. Ibid., 462.

6. Ibid., 463.

7. "Select Service and Training Act of 1940," World Affairs 103, No. 3 (September 1940): 180.

8. James A. Huston, "Selective Service in World War II," Current History 54, No. 322 (June 1968): 345-350.