[rlmorel]

Yep.

Unbelievable. A Communist, Henry Wallace a heartbeat away from the Presidency.

[Verginius Rufus]

Yes, and Wallace was VP only because FDR demanded it in 1940. Fortunately in 1944 the top figures in the Democratic Party realized that FDR wasn't going to survive another 4 years and demanded a change.

The other person who was seriously considered in 1944 was James Byrnes of SC, who was certainly very competent. I have run across two explanations for why Byrnes was passed over--that as a South Carolina Democrat he was tied to support for segregation, and that as a former Catholic who had become an Episcopalian, he could have cost the party some Catholic votes.