Editing Wendell Willkie (section)

===Akron attorney and activist===
Discharged from the army, Willkie returned to Elwood. He considered a run for Congress as a Democrat, but was advised that the district was so Republican he would be unlikely to keep the seat even if he could win it, and his chances might be better in a more urban area. Herman Willkie wanted Wendell and Robert to rejoin the family law firm, but Henrietta was opposed, feeling that opportunities in Elwood were too limited for her sons. She got her way, and in May 1919 Wendell Willkie successfully applied for a job with the [[Firestone Tire and Rubber Company]] in [[Akron, Ohio]] as head of the legal office that advised workers on wills and other personal matters. He was soon bored there, and on the advice of his wife, left for a law firm despite an offer from [[Harvey Firestone]] to double his salary. Firestone told the departing lawyer that he would never amount to anything because he was a Democrat.{{sfn|Neal|pp=17–18}}

Willkie became active in the Akron Democratic Party, becoming prominent enough while still with Firestone to introduce the Democratic presidential nominee, Ohio Governor [[James M. Cox]], when he came to town during the 1920 campaign. He was a delegate to the [[1924 Democratic National Convention]], and supported New York Governor [[Al Smith]] through the record 103 ballots, when the nomination fell to former West Virginia congressman [[John W. Davis]]. More important to Willkie, though, was a fight against the [[Ku Klux Klan]], which had become powerful in much of the nation and in the Democratic Party, but he and other delegates were unsuccessful in their attempt to include a plank in the party platform condemning the Klan. He also backed a proposed plank in support of the [[League of Nations]] that ultimately failed. In 1925, Willkie led a successful effort to oust Klan members on the Akron school board.{{sfn|Peters|p=30}}

After leaving Firestone in 1920, Willkie joined leading Akron law firm Mather & Nesbitt, which represented several local [[public utility|public utilities]]. Although he quickly gained a reputation as a leading trial lawyer, he was especially noted for presenting utility cases before the [[Ohio Public Utilities Commission]]. In 1925, he became president of the [[Akron Bar Association]]. One of Willkie's clients, Ohio Power & Light,<!-- I could not establish a definite enough connection with today's Ohio Power to pipe --> was owned by New York-based [[Commonwealth & Southern Corporation]] (C&S), whose chairman, B.C. Cobb, noticed him. Cobb wrote to the senior partner of Willkie's firm, "I think he is a comer and we should keep an eye on him."{{sfn|Peters|pp=30–31}} In 1929, Cobb offered Willkie a salary of $36,000 (equal to ${{Inflation|US|36000|1929|fmt=c}} today) to be corporate counsel to C&S, a job which would involve a move to New York, and Willkie accepted.{{sfn|Peters|pp=30–31}}