© 2021 A&E Television Networks, LLC. The future lies ahead.”. The Democratic nominee, Truman, had ascended to the presidency following Franklin Roosevelt’s sudden death on April 12, 1945, just three months after he’d been sworn in for an unprecedented fourth term. As Rovere noted in his first article, Truman had to verbally attack Dewey because all major polls predicted that he (Truman) would lose the Presidential election. In the last poll published before the election, Gallup had Dewey beating Truman by five percentage points. The labor vote was energized as … Truman’s wife, Bess, did not think Harry would win re-election. 2. For one thing, a Truman had risen to the presidency after President Franklin D. Roosevelt's death in April 1945. b Truman had once been a Republican: c .Roosevelt had not been a popular President. Truman chose not to run, so the Democratic Party nominated Adlai Stevenson. You can’t really show leadership if everybody’s already moving in the direction you want people to go. [16] Truman did something similar in 1949, though in line with Republican economics, Dewey’s tax breaks are a bit more favorable to the middle class and businesses and a bit less so toward blue-collar workers. While Capote was working on Beat the Devil, he on the film set when star Humphrey Bogart challenged the diminutive Capote to an arm-wrestling match. He was always the underdog who came out on … Certain of Dewey's victory, the Republican Congress had made an unusually generous allowance for inauguration ceremonies, so Truman was treated to one of the most elaborate public celebrations in inaugural history. President Harry Truman, with wife Bess and daughter Margaret, waving from train during whistle-stop at Pocatello, Idaho in 1948. With victory looking like a foregone conclusion for Dewey, the New York governor ran an uninspiring, risk-averse campaign. This had spurred the formation of the States’ Rights Democratic Party (or Dixiecrats) and the selection of Governor Strom Thurmond of South Carolina as their presidential nominee. 'Dewey Defeats Truman': The Election Upset Behind the Photo. He received a ...read more, The Hughes Flying Boat—at one time the largest aircraft ever built—is piloted by designer Howard Hughes on its first and only flight. Arguably the most famous headline in the newspaper’s 150-year history, DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN is every publisher’s nightmare on every election night. © 2021 A&E Television Networks, LLC. The surprise victory of the plain-spoken Democratic nominee, Harry S Truman, would become one of the biggest upsets in U.S. presidential history—and it would forever be memorialized, thanks to an embarrassing newspaper gaffe. Iowa was chosen to host the 1948 National Plowing Match, giving the little town of Dexter nine months to get ready for it. They increased Social Security benefits by over 75 percent and extended them to 10 million additional people. When Ivan corrects John, the latter states that "tomorrow, Anytown will beat … biggest upsets in U.S. presidential history. On Election Day, thanks to a coalition of voters that included organized labor, farmers, African Americans and Jews, Truman and his running mate, Senator Alben Barkley of Kentucky, pulled off their shocking victory. Re: Why did Dewey lose in 1948? The publisher had been sued for obscenity in publishing an unexpurgated version of Lawrence’s novel, which ...read more, Gwendolyn Graham is sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole for killing five elderly female residents of the Alpine Manor Nursing Home near Grand Rapids, Michigan. Truman died the following year at age 88. She finished the 26-mile, 385-yard course in 2:28.6, more than a mile ahead of the second- and third-place women in the race. So sure was he of Dewey’s victory, the firm … For at least a year before the 1948 presidential election, New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey was almost universally expected to beat the incumbent, former Vice President Harry Truman. The plain-spoken Truman, a U.S. senator from Missouri before his brief vice-presidency, went on to lead the United States through the end of World War II and the transition to a peacetime economy. Strom Thurmond won 1,176,125 votes and 39 electoral votes (Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Louisiana). Astonished at his defeat, Bogart demanded a rematch, to which Capote only agreed if the winner won $50. The letter would eventually become ...read more, On November 2, 1986, Norwegian distance runner Grete Waitz wins her eighth New York City marathon. All Rights Reserved. The Republicans nominated New York State Governor Thomas Dewey. He was also very serious. READ MORE: 'Dewey Defeats Truman': The Election Upset Behind the Photo In the last weeks before the election, Truman embarked on a “whistle-stop” campaign across the … Why did Truman not run in 1952? DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN is arguably the most famous headline in the history of the Chicago Tribune newspaper and is every publisher’s nightmare on every election night. Next morning we found that Harry Truman had defeated Thomas Dewey for the presidency of the United States, contrary to all the media wisdom. He traveled to America’s cities and towns, fighting to win over undecided voters by portraying himself as an outsider contending with a “do-nothing” Congress. They decided to invite Gov. Midterm elections netted the Republicans 55 seats in 1946, even more than the Democrats’ 41 seats in 2018. Despite his effective leadership at the end of World War II and sound vision in the confused postwar world, many voters still viewed Truman as an ineffectual shadow of his four-term predecessor. Dewey was a wise and courageous man. Both Graham and her criminal and romantic partner, Catherine Wood, had been employed as nurses’ ...read more, Following the overthrow of his government by South Vietnamese military forces the day before, President Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother are captured and killed by a group of soldiers.  The death of Diem caused celebration among many people in South Vietnam, but also lead to ...read more, On November 2, 1777, the USS Ranger, with a crew of 140 men under the command of John Paul Jones, leaves Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for the naval port at Brest, France, where it will stop before heading toward the Irish Sea to begin raids on British warships. So the night of November 2, the editors of the Chicago Tribune, based on the advice of their Washington editor and a need for an early first edition, approved a gigantic headline that read, “Dewey Beats Truman.” When he did his Whistle-stop Campaign in ’48 to beat Dewey, people came out in droves to see him. 5. Harry Truman was thrust into the presidency by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death in 1945. Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. The Democrats had been in power for almost 16 years and the public seemed to be tiring of The New Deal and its abundant inefficiencies. Waitz had won her first marathon in New York in 1978 ...read more. Dewey was the strongest campaigner Roosevelt had faced. Truman isn’t just gleeful in that famous photo because he won the election, but because it was egg on the face of a paper he hated, the Chicago Tribune. When he did his Whistle-stop Campaign in ’48 to beat Dewey, people came out in droves to see him. On election night, this earlier press deadline required the first post-election issue of the Tribune to go to press before states had reported most of the results from the polling places. But that’s what makes it such a courageous decision. Approaching the 1948 presidential election, he seemed to stand a slim chance of retaining the White House. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! But alas, he found himself competing with two strong candidates. Heading into Election Day on November 2, 1948, it seemed like Thomas Dewey had the U.S. presidency in the bag. He deserves … BY Kathy Benjamin. But the great story of that election 52 years ago was how Truman defied the pollsters and the pundits and beat Dewey, as he always said he would, with 24,105,812 votes to Dewey… Truman isn’t just gleeful in that famous photo because he … Our rivers are full of fish. Iowa was chosen to host the 1948 National Plowing Match, giving the little town of Dexter nine months to get ready for it. Well, this is a clear cut one. Going into the 1948 election cycle, the president’s approval rating hovered in the low- … Dewey … He declined. U.S. Full elected term (1949–1953) Truman's second inauguration was the first ever televised nationally. Thomas Dewey was the Republican candidate for president in 1948. New York Governor Thomas Dewey was expected to soundly beat President Harry Truman. In Dewey Defeats Truman, A. J. Baime sheds light on one of the most action-packed six months in American history, ... Not only did Truman win the election, he succeeded in guiding his country forward at a critical time with high stakes and haunting parallels to the modern day. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. Most were sure that Dewey would take the White House. Dewey, at 46 years old (the same age as Sen. Obama, who turns 47 on Monday), represented a new generation of leaders ready to move to the fore after World War II. « Reply #2 on: August 16, 2011, 09:16:52 AM ». Victorious presidential candidate Harry Truman displays the erroneous Chicago Daily Tribune headline, "Dewey defeats Truman," in 1948. The shock extended from true believers who were there … The polls predicted a Dewey victory of between 5 to 15 percentage points, but Truman won by 4.4 percentage points. You cannot have freedom without liberty. Everyone expected that his desegregation order would doom his candidacy. The Gallup poll had the race at 45 percent for Dewey and 41 percent for Truman in October. His record helped in his election to governor of New York in 1942. What Made People Think Dewey Defeated Truman? On November 2, 2000, the first residential crew arrives aboard the International Space Station. In Dewey Defeats Truman, A. J. Baime sheds light on one of the most action-packed six months in American history, as Truman both triumphs and oversees watershed events—the passing of the Marshall plan, the acknowledgement of Israel as a new state, the careful attention to the origins of the Cold War, and the first desegregation of the military. A now-famous photograph taken two days after the president’s come-from-behind triumph. “Give that man a Dewey button!” A common saying in the 1950s, you never hear it anymore. The Gallup poll had the race at 45 percent for Dewey and 41 percent for Truman in October. Heading into Election Day on November 2, 1948, it seemed like Thomas Dewey had the U.S. presidency in the bag. In one of the greatest upsets in presidential election history, Democratic incumbent Harry S. Truman defeats his Republican challenger, Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York, by just over two million popular votes. Why did Dewey lose to Truman? He spoke specifically about the issues facing that stop and could talk to people on a human level. [17] Historically, Truman passed the order to desegregate the military, but it went mostly unenforced until Eisenhower. In six weeks, Truman traveled approximately 32,000 miles and gave 355 speeches. In 1944, he won the Republican nomination for the White House but lost the general election to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. General election campaign. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! From the New York Times best-selling author of The Accidental President comes the thrilling story of the 1948 presidential election, one of the greatest election stories of all time, as Truman mounted a history-making comeback and staked a claim for a new course for America. Numerous polls and pundits predicted a win for the Michigan native, New York governor and prominent gang-busting attorney. The president faced resistance from … It is a newspaper front page, dated Nov. 3, 1948, and it carries the immortal headline, “Dewey Defeats Truman.” Like Biden, Thomas E. Dewey was the clear Establishment pick from the start. In the Live Episode of Roundhouse, the dad (John) insists that the family eat out to celebrate the son's (Ivan) victory at the Anytown Little League tournament, which was to happen the next day. Truman chose not to run, so the Democratic Party nominated Adlai Stevenson. Thomas E. Dewey was smart, likable, experienced (Governor of New York) and ambitious. It’s why a headline says Thomas Dewey, the Republican, beats Truman in ’48, when in fact he doesn’t, because no one expected Truman to win. Dewey could not condescend to do as much, and I believe this difference is why Truman was the upset in that election. This was the first ...read more. Free Online Library: The Truman surprise: in the election of 1948, Harry Truman fooled pollsters (and almost everyone else) when he beat Thomas Dewey to win a full term in the White House. But, as a now-famous photograph would show, everyone—including the editors of the Chicago Tribune—got it wrong. But when the dust settled, Truman easily defeated Dewey in the Electoral College, by a 303 to 189 margin. Hydrogen bomb decision. The shock extended from true believers who were there when real … While Truman lost Dixiecrat votes, the civil right stance (combined with his previous actions, like desegregating armed forces) greatly increased his … Even though not all the votes had been tallied at the time of the Tribune’s deadline, editors were confident in the multiple polls widely favoring Dewey to win. It was an election year. Like many presidents before and after him, he ...read more, On November 2, 1960, a landmark obscenity case over Lady Chatterley’s Lover, by D.H. Lawrence, ends in the acquittal of Penguin Books. Built with laminated birch and spruce (hence the nickname the Spruce Goose) the massive wooden aircraft had a wingspan longer than a football ...read more, On November 2, 1917, Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour writes an important letter to Britain’s most illustrious Jewish citizen, Baron Lionel Walter Rothschild, expressing the British government’s support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Polk grew up on his father’s plantation in Tennessee and attended the University of North Carolina, from which he graduated with honors in 1818. In order to talk to the people, Truman got in his special Pullman car, the Ferdinand Magellan, and traveled the country. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Numerous polls and pundits predicted a win for the Michigan native, New York governor and prominent gang-busting attorney. First, they stopped polling two weeks prior to the election, during which there was a shift to Truman. Legislators did raise the legal minimum wage to 75¢ an hour. Ever since Thomas E. Dewey did not beat Harry Truman in the 1948 presidential vote, American newspapers have grappled with prickly issues of … Capote agreed, beating the famous movie star. Truman beat out Dewey and Thurman Voting dropped by 50%. One newspaper contended his four major speeches could be reduced to four sentences: “Agriculture is important. On the eve of the 1948 election, America was a fractured country. The title comes from a famous newspaper headline. (Times Past) by "New York Times Upfront"; News, opinion and commentary General interest Presidential elections Analysis History Presidents Elections He died in 1971 at age 68. All Rights Reserved. It’s why a headline says Thomas Dewey, the Republican, beats Truman in ’48, when in fact he doesn’t, because no one expected Truman to win. Senator Harry S. Truman from Missouri was nominated to be President Franklin D. Roosevelt's … Truman’s wife, Bess, did not think Harry would win re-election. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/truman-defeats-dewey. Meanwhile, Truman launched an aggressive, populist-style campaign. The voters said different… Keep this bit of history in mind until all the votes are […] Republican prospects for the 1948 presidential race appeared to be excellent. (Apparently, even Truman himself thought he would lose.) 1948 - Truman runs against Thomas E. Dewey, the Republican nominee in the 1948 presidential election. Defying these predictions, Truman won the election with 303 electoral votes to Dewey’s 189. In 1948, the Gallup Poll was one of three major polls which incorrectly predicted Dewey would defeat Truman (The Oxford Math Center). So the night of November 2, the editors of the Chicago Tribune, based on the advice of their Washington editor and a need for an early first edition, approved a gigantic headline that read, “Dewey Beats Truman.”