How Gracie Allen & The Surprise Party Excited '40s America

[Riddick]

When FDR decided to run for an unprecedented 3rd term, the competition seemed to stop trying. The GOP pinned their hopes on a political novice, Wendell Wilkie. The socialist and prohibition parties put their unflexed muscles behind relative unknowns. For FDR, the race seemed to be a lock. That is, until George Burns decided to shake things up.



In early 1940, the comedian hatched a scheme to have his wife and comic partner Gracie Allen run for president as the “Surprise Party” candidate. When Allen made her announcement on the couple’s radio show that February, she and Burns thought they’d get a few chuckles and some promotional buzz.

One of her proposals involved offering correspondence courses for unemployed workers, so they could fail to find jobs in three or four different industries. She also refused to share the ticket with a VP nominee, claiming she didn’t want any vice in the White House, & promised to settle the Florida-California border dispute.

It didn’t matter that Allen’s platform made no sense. The idea caught on with the glum electorate and, as their modest stunt went as viral as anything could in pre-YouTube days, the pair even mounted a “real” campaign. The silliness escalated.


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