D2001

Great Americans

 Wendell Willkie - 1940 Republican nominee for President

Collins Cover Announcement 

WENDELL WILLKIE 

75-cent "Great American" Issue

This prominent American came into national prominence in 1940 when he won the Republican nomination. He opposed President Franklin D. Roosevelt who was seeking a third term. His popular vote count of 22 million was the highest ever for a Republican up to that time.

He graduated from Indiana University Law School in 1916. Starting as a corporate lawyer, he then became president of a utilities holding company. After his run for the presidency, he helped turn many of his fellow Republicans away from isolationism and toward postwar international cooperation.

The hand-painted cachet on this COLLINS features a portrait of Willkie as he appears before the delegates of the convention to receive the nomination as their candidate. It's a nice historical and political cover, and I'm most pleased with its over-all appearance. It should be noted that with a seventy-five cent value, the stamp issue adds to the desirability as the higher value stamps always seem to add a premium to the ultimate worth of covers on which they are featured. The postmark is from Bloomington, Indiana -- site of the university from which Wendell received his degree.

Travel back over half a century to the floor of the Republican Convention in the City of Brotherly Love -- Philadelphia. Item #D2001. $10.75.