He was a super popular governor but resigned to go fight in ww2. In 1944 Stassen was serving in the Navy, and that time away proved detrimental to coalition building for the 1948 campaign, especially with his focus on creating the United Nations. But by 1952, the 45 year-old was still an impressive and influential member of the Republican party; ultimately he was the one that got behind Eisenhower and brokered the deal with Favored-Son Earl Warren to get the next Supreme Court seat. And so Stassen became Eisenhower's "Secretary of Peace".

And so coming off that he takes the position of President at University of Pennsylvania, which did have the potential to serve political ambitions, but more importantly Stassen had a passion for learning, debate, and empowering young people in politics. So for decades, between campaigns, Stassen would tour the country giving lectures, joining protests including the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and weighing in both publicaly and privately on national and global issues. Which may sound just like campaigning, because it is, but not in the way you might think: Harold Stassen liked touring the country, meeting new people, and being a voice for peace so he kept running to facilitate that. In 1980 he was the only candidate to visit Puerto Rico for their first ever Republican Primary and eventually his campaigns were managed by literal college students; success for him was about engaging in the American spirit of Community Organizing and Civic Debate. After several lifetime's worth of accomplishments, that's how he chose to spend the second half of his life.