Happy Birthday to Harry Truman, born on May 8 in 1884! This post-Presidential photograph shows Truman holding a copy of the famous Chicago Daily Tribune declaring “Dewey Defeats Truman.” The newspaper had relied on early Gallup polls to predict the winner, but the polls were wrong. Truman was reelected.The 33rd President grew up in Independence, Missouri, (now the site of Harry S. Truman Library & Museum) and after serving in World War I, he returned home and he married Bess Wallace, his childhood sweetheart. In 1934, he was elected to the Senate. He had only been Vice President for a few weeks when FDR died, and Truman was sworn in as 33 President of the United States.For more Presidential photos and history, visit the new Our Presidents boards over on Pinterest! http://pinterest.com/ourpresidents/ from the U.S. National Archives
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Happy Birthday to Harry Truman, born on May 8 in 1884! 

This post-Presidential photograph shows Truman holding a copy of the famous Chicago Daily Tribune declaring “Dewey Defeats Truman.” The newspaper had relied on early Gallup polls to predict the winner, but the polls were wrong. Truman was reelected.

The 33rd President grew up in Independence, Missouri, (now the site of Harry S. Truman Library & Museum) and after serving in World War I, he returned home and he married Bess Wallace, his childhood sweetheart. In 1934, he was elected to the Senate. He had only been Vice President for a few weeks when FDR died, and Truman was sworn in as 33 President of the United States.

For more Presidential photos and history, visit the new Our Presidents boards over on Pinterest! 

http://pinterest.com/ourpresidents/

from the U.S. National Archives

Truman’s election in 1948 was a minor miracle in U.S. politics. Conditions at home and abroad were unsettled, and the 1946 Republican victories in both houses of Congress seemed to signal a strong rejection of Truman’s policies.  No one, Republican or Democrat, gave incumbent President Truman any hope of defeating a Republican nominee, especially Thomas E. Dewey, governor of New York. To add to the opposition, Southern Democrats (Dixiecrats), led by Senator Strom Thurmond, and Progressives, led by Henry Wallace, had splintered from the Democratic Party.  The cause of the rift was a stronger civil right platform.  As a fractured party, the Democrats refused to spend the usual amounts of money on the election.  Thomas E. Dewey’s victory was forecast by almost every public opinion poll.  Despite this, Truman made what he called a “whistle stop” campaign, appearing before thousands of voters in every section except the South.  He declared that “any working man or farmer who votes against the Democratic party ought to have his head examined.” President Truman managed to carry 28 states and 303 electoral votes, defeating Dewey, who had only 189 electoral votes from 16 states. Truman suprised the pollsters and the nation by returning to the White House. Pictured here, James T. Finnegan and Frank Myers celebrate Truman’s 1948 presidential election victory. The photo is autographed “Nov. 2, 1948 - ‘Truman Wins’ What a night. With Respect & Affection, Jim Finnegan.” James T. Finnegan was the Chairman of the Philadelphia Democratic Committee. Frank Myers was a former senator from Pennsylvania. Image donated by Frank Myers. -from the Truman Library
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Truman’s election in 1948 was a minor miracle in U.S. politics. Conditions at home and abroad were unsettled, and the 1946 Republican victories in both houses of Congress seemed to signal a strong rejection of Truman’s policies.  No one, Republican or Democrat, gave incumbent President Truman any hope of defeating a Republican nominee, especially Thomas E. Dewey, governor of New York.

To add to the opposition, Southern Democrats (Dixiecrats), led by Senator Strom Thurmond, and Progressives, led by Henry Wallace, had splintered from the Democratic Party.  The cause of the rift was a stronger civil right platform.  As a fractured party, the Democrats refused to spend the usual amounts of money on the election. 

Thomas E. Dewey’s victory was forecast by almost every public opinion poll.  Despite this, Truman made what he called a “whistle stop” campaign, appearing before thousands of voters in every section except the South.  He declared that “any working man or farmer who votes against the Democratic party ought to have his head examined.”

President Truman managed to carry 28 states and 303 electoral votes, defeating Dewey, who had only 189 electoral votes from 16 states. Truman suprised the pollsters and the nation by returning to the White House.

Pictured here, James T. Finnegan and Frank Myers celebrate Truman’s 1948 presidential election victory. The photo is autographed “Nov. 2, 1948 - ‘Truman Wins’ What a night. With Respect & Affection, Jim Finnegan.” James T. Finnegan was the Chairman of the Philadelphia Democratic Committee. Frank Myers was a former senator from Pennsylvania. Image donated by Frank Myers.

-from the Truman Library

Source: trumanlibrary.org