Nov 1948 President Truman Defeats Dewey Photo Newspaper

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No Reserve. Original. Complete. Cleanly cut at spine. Very Good or better Condition. Offered is an Iowa City Press-Citizen Newspaper dated November 3, 1948 with a huge Front Page Headline and photo on Democrat incumbent President Harry Truman defeating Republican Thomas Dewey in one of the greatest upsets in US Presidential election history. Wikipedia describes the campaign and election best: "The 1948 presidential election is best remembered for Truman's stunning come-from-behind victory. [64] In the spring of 1948, Truman's public approval rating stood at 36 percent, [65] and the president was nearly universally regarded as incapable of winning the general election. The "New Deal" operatives within the party -- including FDR's son James -- tried to swing the Democratic nomination to General Dwight D. Eisenhower , a wildly popular figure whose political views -- and party affiliation -- were totally unknown. Eisenhower emphatically refused to accept, and Truman outflanked opponents to his nomination. At the 1948 Democratic National Convention , Truman attempted to calm turbulent domestic political waters by placing a tepid civil rights plank in the party platform; the aim was to assuage the internal conflicts between the northern and southern wings of his party. Events overtook the president's efforts at compromise, however. A sharp address given by Mayor Hubert Humphrey of Minneapolis -- as well as the local political interests of a number of urban bosses -- convinced the Convention to adopt a stronger civil rights plank, which Truman approved wholeheartedly. All of Alabama 's delegates, and a portion of Mississippi 's, walked out of the convention in protest. [66] Unfazed, Truman delivered an aggressive acceptance speech attacking the 80th Congress and promising to win the election and "make these Republicans like it." [67] Within two weeks, Truman issued Executive Order 9981 , racially integrating the U.S. Armed Services following World War II. [68] [69] [70] Truman took considerable political risk in backing civil rights, and many seasoned Democrats were concerned that the loss of Dixiecrat support might destroy the Democratic Party. The fear seemed well justified-- Strom Thurmond declared his candidacy for the presidency and led a full-scale revolt of Southern "states' rights" proponents. This revolt on the right was matched by a revolt on the left, led by former Vice President Henry Wallace on the Progressive Party ticket. Immediately after its first post-FDR convention, the Democratic Party found itself disintegrating. Victory in November seemed a remote possibility indeed, with the party not simply split but divided three ways. T followed a remarkable 21,928-mile presidential odyssey, [71] an unprecedented personal appeal to the nation. Truman and his staff crisscrossed the United States in the presidential train; his " whistlestop " tactic of giving brief speeches from the rear platform of the observation car Ferdinand Magellan came to represent the entire campaign. His combative appearances, such as those at the town square of Harrisburg , Illinois , captured the popular imagination and drew huge crowds. Six stops in Michigan drew a combined total of half a million people; [72] a full million turned out for a New York City ticker-tape parade. [73] The massive, mostly spontaneous gatherings at Truman's depot events were an important sign of a critical change in momentum in the campaign -- but this shift went virtually unnoticed by the national press corps, which simply continued reporting Republican Thomas Dewey 's apparent impending victory as a certainty. One reason for the press's inaccurate projection was polls conducted primarily by telephone in a time when many people, including much of Truman's populist base, did not own a telephone. [74] This skewed the data to indicate a stronger support base for Dewey than existed, resulting in an unintended and undetected projection error that may well have contributed to the perception of Truman's bleak chances. The th... read more

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