James Wolfenden - 8th Term

8th Term

In 1942, the Republicans, in a stunning comeback, gained 10 Senate seats and 47 house seats, nearly jeopardizing Democratic control in the house. Wolfenden was handily reelected, but not after a stiff challenge from Vernon O'Rourke, a Swarthmore college professor, who was aided by liberals and independents.

This coalition effort foreshadowed the campaign of fellow Democrat Bob Edgar, 32 years later. O'Rourke attacked the incumbent's isolationist voting record and waged an intensive door-to-door campaign. Nevertheless, the Congressman won by 48,210 to 34,164, with 58% of the vote in a low turn-out wartime election. But, the candidate for governor, Edward Martin, received 8,000 more votes than Wolfenden in the county.

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.

At a Democratic rally at the Odd Fellows Temple in Chester, Owen Hunt, former state insurance commissioner, stood in for O'Rourke. In his remarks, Hunt referred to Wolfenden as "treacherous", having voted against twenty-two important defense bills in the past ten years. Further, he stated that the congressman never cast a vote without "ulterior motives" and served "special interests and sinister influences", such as big business and international cartels.

In charges that smacked of the McCarthyism that would develop in a few years, Hunt seemed to be attempting to impugn Wolfenden's loyalty by stating that the Japanese, prior to the war, had not possessed the resources to build a military machine, until they were supplied by the so-called "sinister influences". He also said that on December 8, the day war was declared, Wolfenden was "out shooting ducks along the Chesapeake".

The Auditor General of Pennsylvania, Democrat Clair Ross, likened the GOP of 1944 to the party of 1920, saying that they were both "haters" and under the "control of reactionaries and isolationists". Further, he elaborated that the Republicans were the party of "Hoover, Landon and Heart; McCormick, Taft and Nye; Martin, Barton and Fish", referring to isolationist members of Congress, as well as former candidates.

Next on the attack was Congressman Francis J. Myers, candidate for U.S. Senate, who painted Dewey as anti-labor and decried the latter's use of "innuendoes" towards certain critics by referring to them as "Russian" or "foreign born". He also criticized efforts by the county government to purge recent voters from the registration rolls, by calling them in for questioning about their residency.

On September 22, Roosevelt, in replying to Republican charges about advance knowledge within the administration regarding the attack on Pearl Harbor, said anyone with such knowledge should notify the military boards who were conducting investigations.

As the allies penetrated deeper into German soil, three months after the landing at Normandy, the headlines were dominated by this news, as well as the growing casualty lists. With unemployment virtually erased in the United States, the U.S. Employment Service reported that there were 7,594 immediate job openings in Delaware County, with 3,415 of those needing unskilled workers.

In October, Delaware County's population was estimated at 335,000, based on the number of rationing books sent by the local offices. According to statistics provided by the Chester Rationing Board, with Chester as a huge wartime manufacturing and commercial center, two-thirds of the county populace lived in Chester and the surrounding towns of Chester Twp., Upland and Parkside. Some of the other Rationing Boards in the county were located in Marcus Hook, Glenolden, Ridley Park, Media and Clifton Heights.

Also in October, Democratic U.S. Senator Joseph Guffey offered a $10,000 reward for any legitimate knowledge of voter fraud in Delaware County, denouncing the alleged "debauchery of the ballot", as practiced by Joseph N. Pew, Jr. and McClure.

Charges of "who-really-got-us-into-this-war" continued to fly, as Republican Congressman Hugh Scott, later to become senator, accused President Roosevelt of "criminal negligence" regarding the positioning of the Pacific fleet immediately prior to Pearl Harbor. Republican loyalists in Chester and Delaware counties, as well as across the Commonwealth, called for a "Day for Dewey", during which volunteers would be asked to donate eight hours to enlist their friends and neighbors to support the cause.

At a rally held at the Chester Elks' Hall, Wolfenden, reacting to the strong labor support for his opponent, hammered away at the "radical, criminal" leadership of the political action committee for the CIO labor union. He called on the unions to purge their ranks of these elements and shot off a series of rhetorical questions to Leon Weiner, editor of the newspaper for Local 107 of the Electrical Workers, questioning the latter's alleged ties to Communist or leftist groups. Wolfenden then paraded his letters of endorsement from the national American Federation of Labor and four railroad brotherhoods.

On October 27, over 3,000 residents gathered, hoping to catch a glimpse of President Roosevelt as his train passed through Delaware County. As the train slowed at the Baltimore and Ohio station at 12th Street and Providence Avenue in Chester, Roosevelt waved from the window and flashed his famous smile, causing the crowd to surge forward in excitement. One woman stated: "I almost saw him." Although knowledge of his deteriorating health was kept from the public, FDR regained some of his old form and returned the fire of Dewey, accusing the Republicans of placing "party over patriotism".

On election eve, there were 141,006 Republicans registered in the county, as opposed to only 27,184 Democrats. In Chester, the GOP also led, 20,588 to 4,687. Although organized labor, which never had it so good with the wartime boom, was pushing hard for Roosevelt and O'Rourke, county GOP leaders predicted that there would be very little ticket-splitting, due to difficulties with the voting machines.

As it had done before, the Chester Times opposed Roosevelt's reelection, citing, in a front page editorial, his "inefficiency" regarding domestic affairs, an "improvised" foreign policy, the possible "dictatorship" of another term, and his choice of Missouri Senator Harry S. Truman, as a "person of no outstanding ability".