following his controversial win over heflin in 1930, the senator from alabama worked at the passage of various pieces of new deal legislation to benefit cotton farmers, including the subsistence homestead act of 1933, the cotton control act of 1934 and the parity payment amendments to the agricultural adjustment act of 1938. in 1943, he sponsored legislation to exempt "substantially fulltime" farm workers from the draft during world war ii. bankhead was among twelve nominated at the 1944 democratic national convention to serve as franklin d. roosevelt's running mate in the presidential election that year. he was in third place, with 98 votes, when bankhead made a surprise withdrawal of his candidacy in favor of his senate colleague, harry s. truman, who was elected vice-president and succeeded to the presidency in 1945.