Most people do not think of Tompkins County as a "stronghold of Republicanism." But--shocking as it may be to local activists--that is how The Ithaca Journal accurately described Ithaca at the time of the 1944 presidential elections. Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt had been President for a dozen years, and was running for reelection, again. His Republican challenger was Thomas E. Dewey, then the Governor of New York.
Ithaca was not so much pro-Dewey, but mainly anti-Roosevelt. One Ithaca Journal editorial that ran just days before the election criticized Roosevelt for paragraphs and paragraphs, but never mentioned Dewey once, let alone why he was better. Letters listed off reasons of why Roosevelt should be defeated. Another editorial begged readers to "...vote a thunderous no to “Roosevelt next Tuesday" A straw poll conducted by the Rotary club showed its members opposing FDR in the election by a whopping 129 to 21.
One of these anti-Roosevelts was Robert W. Robinson, an Ithaca native and owner of this button. Robinson grew up in an intellectual family in Belle Sherman, attending IHS and Cornell, and later working at Cornell and Morse Chain. He was a registered Republican, and was very active in the community, especially with volunteer firefighting, scouting and the First Presbyterian Church.
Dewey ended up winning the election--but only in Tompkins County. In Ithaca, he won 12,813 votes to Roosevelt's 7,182, and in the outlying towns, the proportion was even higher--7,501 to 3,069. Of 47 electoral districts in the county, all but four went to the Governor. Nationwide, however, Roosevelt defeated Dewey, and became the first President to ever be elected to four terms. As for Robinson, he died in November 1981 at the age of 72. The button, along with many other of his papers, was donated to the DeWitt Historical Society in 1982.
Sources: DHS Button Box #1 (82.81.250); The Ithaca Journal (November 1944; November 1981); Robert W. Robinson Collection (DHS V-14-2-2 (A-C)); Tompkins County Board of Elections; Robinson, Elise "Memories of Ithaca and Sheldrake" pp.18-20
Past Objects:
1962 Civil Defence Kit
1890 Shaving Kit
Dennison's Jewelry Cleaning Casket
Ithaca Calendar Clock Patent Model
Indian Clubs
Passenger Pigeon Net
Steamship Frontenac Belaying Pin
Paint Box of W.C. Baker
Amber Candy Dish
