VIGNETTE OF WENDELL WILLKIE

Few Americans have attained the worldwide reputation that Wendell Willkie gained while still a private citizen. Of course he won nomination for President, but he was already nationally known before that, and his activities after his defeat (he had not held any public office) were such as to give him international renown. Willkie had become spokesman for international cooperation and after his defeat, President Roosevelt asked him to be his personal emissary on a round-the-world trip to reassure the heads of state of various major nations concerning the fundamental unity of the American people and the national support for Roosevelt’s policy of prosecuting the war until the Germans surrendered unconditionally. No more dramatic way could have been found to convey this message than having the defeated candidate for President, the opponent of the victor, represent the victor in these worldwide contacts.

After Willkie came back from his trip, he wrote a prophetic book which was entitled One World. The phrase that he created—one world—has become a part of the common heritage of the intellectual and political community everywhere.

Wendell Willkie was a brilliant man, an eloquent man and an indefatigable worker. He and his brothers and sisters banded together when they were in college to maintain a home for themselves so that they might go to college economically, and all the members of the family after graduation achieved considerable success in their respective fields. Wendell Willkie first entered into the private practice of law. He then became a counsel for the Commonwealth & Southern Corporation in 1929 and soon earned a reputation as the great protagonist of the private utilities in their attempt to block the creation of the public Tennessee Valley Authority, known as TVA.

Although time has perhaps proven that the establishment of TVA was a wise step; nevertheless, Willkie was a worthy opponent of the move and had gained national stature in that role when he was invited to the University to speak and receive an honorary degree on Foundation Day in 1938. His speech in the crowded Auditorium was intensely interesting and well received. Following the ceremony we went to my official residence, Wood burn House, for lunch—a small stag luncheon of perhaps eight or ten—and we had a rollicking good time. Mr. Willkie was in rare form, stimulated no doubt by the events of the morning, and he regaled us with one story after another of a recent meeting he had had in the White House with Roosevelt. They were two of a kind in a way and apparently admired each other tremendously although they were poles apart in their economic and political philosophies.

Mr. Willkie had a striking countenance and his shaggy hair emphasized the contour of his head. He cared little for his personal appearance and yet he was an impressive figure. It is said that he was the only man in the world who could put on a $400 tailor-made suit and in short order have it so rumpled that it looked as if it had come from Macy’s bargain basement.

He had strong ties with Indiana University which he maintained through the years. When he launched his campaign for the Presidency in a great outdoor gathering at Elwood, his boyhood home, he asked William Lowe Bryan, who had been President of IU when he was a student, to be one of the speakers, a request which Dr. Bryan readily accepted. Willkie’s feeling for Indiana University was likewise evidenced by the fact that he was a member of the first Board of Trustees of the Indiana University Foundation.

After Wendell’s death, the family relationship with IU continued through his widow Edith and his son Philip. From them, the University received Wendell Willkie’s papers for the Lilly Library. Mrs. Willkie, who died only recently, donated a quantity of memorabilia that she had accumulated including a truly handsome Persian rug which had been the gift of the Shah of Iran to her when her husband met the Shah on his round-the-world trip. Mrs. Willkie was an alumna of the University and at her death her heirs decided that the funds in the Wendell L. Willkie Foundation, totaling about $100,000, should come to the University as an endowment for the Lilly Library with which to help maintain the Willkie collection and buy materials associated with it.

There is a magnificent bronze bust of Wendell Willkie by Malvina Hoffman, the great American sculptress, in the south lounge of the Union Building. It is a remarkable likeness and so suggestive of life, vigor, and vitality that it seems ready to speak. All in all, Wendell Willkie is one of Indiana University’s most distinguished sons, one of whom true University alumni are very proud.