On Election Day, the newspaper had been required to go to press earlier than usual due to a printers strike. In 1944, he won the Republican nomination for the White House but lost the general election to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A vice president, the little-known Truman replaced Franklin Roosevelt after FDR passed away in April 1945 just after the start of his fourth presidential term. 151 West Street, Suite 200, Annapolis, MD 21401, (410) 269-2840 / (800) 222-8683 / info.sbe@maryland.gov. The economy was steering towards stagnation, and inflation was in the double digits. The Dixiecrats, led by Strom Thurmond, took 39 electoral votes in the 1948 election to weaken the former Solid South controlled by Roosevelts Democratic Party. With the help of God and the wholehearted push which you can put behind this campaign, we can save this country from a continuation of the 80th Congress, and from misrule from now on.. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Credit: Harris & Ewing, Harry S. Truman Library & Museum. On January 20, 1949, in Americas first nationally televised inauguration, Truman was sworn in to his first full term as Americas 33rd president. He spoke plainly and called out the Republican congress as the worst in history." Trumans stops in Oregon were evidently not compelling. In 1948, the Republicans again chose Dewey as their presidential nominee, with Governor Earl Warren of California as his running mate. I'm going to give 'em hell" So he did. Explore our complete time lines of major events in American history as well as World History. The following table shows the number of votes per candidate for all Presidential General Elections from 1948 to 2012 in the State of Maryland. In Bremerton, the day before he visited Portland, he gave a speech that caused one audience member to purportedly boom out Give em Hell, Harry. That phrase became forever associated with Truman and his speaking style. Earlier in 1948, Truman was running for his first elected term in the White House. Deweys victory was so expected that the Roper poll had stopped doing surveys in September about the race. 2022 A&E Television Networks, LLC. The future lies ahead.. Harry S. Truman speaks to a crowd of people from the balcony of the Elks building in Bremerton, WA. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina ran as a candidate of the Dixiecraft party (a breakaway party made up of disgruntled Southern Democrats). 1996-2020 Historycentral. His onetime secretary of commerce (as well as Roosevelts vice president from 1941-45), Henry Wallace, who had a following among liberals, decided to run against his former boss as the Progressive Partys candidate for the Oval Office.

Elections records, 1948 voter pamphlet, Multnomah County Archives, Portland, Oregon. Thomas D. Mcavoy/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images. And then there was the polling data. Truman was also running against a Democrat faction called the Dixiecrats, who opposed Trumans efforts to integrate the military. President-elect Harry S. Truman holds an early edition of the November 4, 1948 Chicago Tribune mistakenly announcing Dewey's victory. Mayor Herbert Humphrey, of Minneapolis, pushed for a strong civil rights platform for the Democratic party. Whatever aspect of history you wish learn about, you will find it at Historycentral.com. The papers noted that, Statement in behalf of presidential candidate Harry S. Truman. Stops in places like Gary, Cheyenne, Missoula, Pocatello, and Eugene caused Sen. Robert Taft to whine that Truman was blackguarding Congress at whistle stops all over the country. This comment caused many people in the Midwest and West to question Republican commitment to working class Americans. So they reported that he had done just that. His civil rights initiatives had alienated the conservative, Southern wing of the organization. The surprise victory of the plain-spoken Democratic nominee, Harry S Truman, would become one of the biggest upsets in U.S. presidential historyand it would forever be memorialized, thanks to an embarrassing newspaper gaffe. Write-in candidates are not listed. Credit: U.S. Navy, Harry S. Truman Library & Museum. When the Democrats met in Philadelphia, they reluctantly nominated Truman on the first ballot of the convention, despite his apparent lack of popularity. 1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272, Get Presidential Election Information for My State, What Congress Does in the Electoral College, Historical Electoral College Facts and Results, National Association of State Election Officials, National Association of Secretaries of State, National Conference of State Legislatures, National Archives and Records Administration, Earl Warren (189), Fielding L. Wright (39). Elections records, 1948 voter pamphlet, Multnomah County Archives, Portland, Oregon, Truman was an effective speaker. Examining the arguments for and against a theory that could remake US election law, Sign up to receiveConstitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly, Interactive Constitution: Classroom Edition, What is the Independent State Legislature Doctrine? Credit: Bremerton BPOE #1181, Truman was not just a plain talker. What the newspapers and pollsters didnt understand was Trumans background as a fighter, and the tendency for voters to wait until closer to Election Day to pick a candidate. In his acceptance speech, Truman stated: "I'm going to fight hard. In April 1944, one poll showed Truman with only 36% of the population approving of his performance as President. Truman also won by a 50-45 percent popular vote. Truman inspects Vanport flood damage. But, as a now-famous photograph would show, everyoneincluding the editors of the Chicago Tribunegot it wrong. The Democratic nominee, Truman, had ascended to the presidency following Franklin Roosevelts sudden death on April 12, 1945, just three months after hed been sworn in for an unprecedented fourth term. USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration This was reflected in the election results five months later. Kaltenborn, informed his listeners that even though Truman was ahead, Dewey ultimately would wind up on top.). Research our special sections on diverse subjects ranging from presidential elections to naval history. It covered eleven states. His own party questioned his ability to win over enough Americans to beat moderate Republican Thomas Dewey. Henry Wallace ran as a candidate of the Progressives, on a platform that opposed the Marshall Plan, and was more conciliatory to the Soviet Union. With victory looking like a foregone conclusion for Dewey, the New York governor ran an uninspiring, risk-averse campaign. This spring trip would be the first of three leading up to the general election, totaling 31,000 miles. This lay the groundwork for Lyndon Johnsons Great Society fifteen years later. His presidency was anything but ordinary, and the Democrats had been in the White House for almost 16 years as Truman approached Election Day on November 2, 1948 and a formidable Republican candidate, Thomas Dewey. So how did the 33rd president wind up holding a newspaper that showed him losing an election he had already won? All Rights Reserved.

It became known as the "whistle. Photo of United States map of President Harry S. Truman's 1948 Whistlestop Tour, with ribbons and pins marking the route and stops on the tour. Trumans three whistlestop tours focused on the west, midwest, and northeast sections of the United States. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Presidential Candidate Results in MD from 1948 to Present. Fortunately for Americans, Trumans victory allowed legislation for Social Security, housing, and veterans support to proceed. Credit: UPI. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Earlier in his political career, Truman had been written off in the 1940 U.S. Senate election. Elections records, 1948 voter pamphlet, Multnomah County Archives, Portland, Oregon. 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. On election night 1948 most of America went to sleep believing that Dewey had won the election, but late results from California resulted in Truman's victory.s, American history and world history can be found at historycental- History's home on the web. He offered comfort to flood victims and endorsed the use of dams upriver as flood controls that had prevented even worse damage. When Trumans political ally, Tom Pendergrast, was convicted of tax evasion in 1939, few people thought Truman stood a chance of getting re-elected in Missouri. This, and the other two whistle-stop tours, were key components of Trumans surprise victory over Dewey in November. Democrats had lost both chambers of Congress in 1946. Accession 59-252. They sought to connect him personally to working class Americans who wanted to see Franklin Roosevelts progressive policies continue. Truman was even facing competition from within his own cabinet. He died in 1971 at age 68. As the 1948 elections approached, President Truman was not popular. It seemed to be a steep climb to re-election in 1948. He was also a fiery speaker. Give em hell, Harry became a popular slogan among his supporters. The campaign began with Truman as the underdog. Trumans win in the 1948 election is considered one of the biggest upsets in presidential election history. Rising inflation and labor unrest had contributed to the Democrats losing control of both chambers of Congress in 1946 for the first time in 14 years. Truman's underdog ticket racked up 303 electoral votes and 49.6 percent of the popular vote to Deweys 189 electoral votes and 45.1 percent of the popular vote. Truman arrived in Portland on June 11, 1948. On Wednesday, November 3, 1948, the Chicago Tribune published the most famous political headline in U.S. history, proclaiming Thomas Dewey as the next President after Tuesday's election. The Republicans had begun to nail the American consumer to the wall with spikes of greed, he said. The Republicans attacked him with slogans, such as "To Err is Truman" and "Had Enough.". He took time from his hectic campaign schedule to visit Vanport, the site of the Memorial Day Flood just a week earlier. Truman survived a walkout by the Dixiecrat faction of the Democrats at the convention and successfully used the do-nothing Congress as a weapon against the favored Republican candidate, Dewey. The president embarked on a whistle-stop tour, traveling across America by train and giving speeches in which he spoke out against the do-nothing Republican-controlled 80th Congress. But in the 1948 elections, Truman faced significant political head winds. Numerous polls and pundits predicted a win for the Michigan native, New York governor and prominent gang-busting attorney. The Republicans renominated Thomas Dewey, the governor of New York, as their nominee.

The tour visited large cities like Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. He used direct language to persuade working-class Americans to accept his progressive policies. Four years later, he left the White House (he had been eligible to seek another term but announced in 1952 he would not do so) and retired to his hometown of Independence, Missouri. In Iowa, he declared Republicans had put a pitchfork in the farmers back. He called on voters to deliver a new Congress, one that cared more about the common people than the interests of the men who have all the money., Property Records (including tax statements), Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Commissioner Vega Pederson (District Three), Multnomah County Archives | Online Exhibits, few candidates for the Presidency have ever used such ferocious language from the stump, establishing publicly owned utilities, and. And another former Roosevelt vice president, Henry Wallace, ran on the Progressive Party ticket. Harry S. Trumans unexpected election victory over Thomas Dewey was forever imprinted in history, thanks in part to a famous photo. A now-famous photograph taken two days after the presidents come-from-behind triumph. Part 2, The EPA, Federal Power, and the Future of Climate Regulations Part 2, Oligarchies, Monopolies, and the Constitution, Abortion Law in the U.S. and Abroad After Roe. Oregon and Nebraska were the only two Midwest and Western states to vote for Dewey. Trumans Oregon welcome was chillier than his Washington and California receptions. View a gallery of images from this exhibit section and more related to Truman's 1948 presidential campaign. He began a coast-to-coast train campaign, in which he covered 22,000 miles and gave ten speeches a day. One newspaper contended his four major speeches could be reduced to four sentences: Agriculture is important. Congress has still done nothing, Truman pleaded at the deeply divided convention. 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. Life photographer W. Eugene Smith caught Truman in the moment after a staffer handed the President a copy of the Tribune early edition that had been found on a train earlier. Truman hit the campaign trail hard, spoke about his war record and experience as a common man, and pulled off an upset. At a raucous 1948 Democratic convention in Philadelphia, Truman made it clear that he would add a campaign against Congress to his set of tactics. All Rights Reserved. This table may scroll left to right depending on the screen size of your device. Truman had developed this campaign plan in response to a 36% approval rating. As a result, many of the Southern delegates chose to leave the convention. Statement in behalf of presidential candidate Harry S. Truman. Dewey made his name throughout the 1930s by prosecuting dozens of big-name mobsters, including Lucky Luciano andWaxey Gordon. These included. The president was on his way back to Washington from Missouri when his train stopped in St. Louis. Truman also hit the campaign trail hard after Labor Day, using a presidential train to cross the country making more than 200 campaign speeches. Heading into Election Day on November 2, 1948, it seemed like Thomas Dewey had the U.S. presidency in the bag. But, it focused on getting the president in direct conversation with individuals in small-town America. Further diminishing Trumans prospects were divisions within his own political party. Meanwhile, Truman launched an aggressive, populist-style campaign. You cannot have freedom without liberty. But when the dust settled, Truman easily defeated Dewey in the Electoral College, by a 303 to 189 margin. Truman died the following year at age 88. It was in the station where Truman picked up a two-day-old copy of the Tribune. Meanwhile, Dewey served as governor of New York through 1954 then he returned to practicing law. Even though not all the votes had been tallied at the time of the Tribunes deadline, editors were confident in the multiple polls widely favoring Dewey to win. Smart conversation from the National Constitution Center. While Oregon is a reliably blue state today, it voted for Dewey by almost 18,000 votes in 1948.

Accession 2006-175. President Harry Truman, with wife Bess and daughter Margaret, waving from train during whistle-stop at Pocatello, Idaho in 1948. Dewey conceded the next day, but the famous Tribune photograph was taken two days later, as the Truman family was in Saint Louis and returning to Washington. The Gallup poll had the race at 45 percent for Dewey and 41 percent for Truman in October. He noted that the typical Republican was a shrewd man with a calculating machine where his heart should be. He spoke of the gluttons of privilege on Wall Street. Humphrey's civil rights platform was adopted. biggest upsets in U.S. presidential history. (Only an estimated 15 percent of newspapers nationally supported Truman in the election.). Four hours later, he received a call from the Secret Service Truman was leading in the election and expected to win.

In the legacy of presidential history, Harry Truman may be best remembered by one photograph. 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., The Tribune also apparently based its decision on a recent Life magazine cover that called the election for Dewey and a general low regard for Truman, whom it had called a nincompoop on its editorial pages. Holding the paper, which blared the erroneous banner headline, "Dewey Defeats Truman," Truman flashes atriumphant smile. Thurmond, the Dixiecrat, earned 39 electoral votes and 2.4 percent of the popular vote. 2022 | Multnomah County General Information Line: 503-823-4000, Candidate photographs of Harry Truman and Alben Barkley. In fact, Truman was the winner, not Dewey. Our rivers are full of fish. (The Tribune wasnt the only one to mistakenly call the election for the New York governor; in covering the returns, a leading radio announcer, H.V. The pollsters also stopped polling before the effect of Trumans whistle-stop campaigning took hold. Late on November 2, Truman went to sleep in Independence, Missouri, knowing he led by one million votes in early results but was expected to lose. A check mark () in the MD column marks the candidate who won in Maryland while the same check mark in the US column marks the candidates who won the national race. His record helped in his election to governor of New York in 1942. The rest was history, and perhaps the most famous photograph in American politics. It came to be seen as a slur against small town values and culture. 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. Dewey was known as a dull speaker and campaigned far less. creating a national health insurance plan. Republican opponents coined the term whistlestop to describe Trumans train-based campaigning.