Truman Ended up Winning 1948 Election Comfortably

"DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN"

This was the headline of the Chicago Daily Tribune on November 3rd, 1948 - one day after the 1948 US Presidential election.

The Republican-leaning newspaper, which had called President Truman a "nincompoop" in the past, had to start printing their newspapers before the results of the 1948 election were known.

The newspaper famously decided to run with the "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN" headline, which proved to be completely wrong.

The headline was immortalized after a picture of President Truman was taken holding up the newspaper, just hours after learning that he had won the election.

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President Truman had the unenviable task of taking over from President Roosevelt, who was undoubtedly was one of the most popular Presidents in the history of the country.

After President Roosevelt passed away shortly after the start of his fourth term in office in 1945, Harry Truman took over.

The task of replacing such a popular President was a difficult one, and the country was experiencing some unique challenges in the aftermath of World War II.

In the summer of 1948, polls showed that the Republican challenger, Thomas Dewey, was well ahead of Truman in the polls.

In fact, a poll from Elmo Roper showed that Dewey was up by roughly 13 points - a practically unsurmountable lead when it comes to US politics.

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President Truman had some things working for him that he took full advantage of in the months leading up to the election.

To start - Thomas Dewey was extremely "stiff" and lacked charisma.

Second - The GOP-controlled Congress was extremely unpopular, and Truman definitely keyed in on this fact in the lead-up to the election.

Lastly, Truman puts his boots to the ground and travelled all around the country with his wife and daughter. Truman, who was much more charismatic than Dewey, struck a chord with Americans across the country, as he came across as the "everyman", while Dewey was seen as the uptight lawyer who was incapable of having fun or connecting with people.

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In the lead-up to the 1948 election, Newsweek surveyed 50 political journalists, who were unanimous in their belief that Dewey was going to be the next President of the United States.

In the end, the election wasn't even particularly close.

Truman would receive 49.6% of the popular vote, easily outpacing Dewey's 45.1% mark.

Truman would end up carrying 28 states in the electoral vote, while Dewey won just 16.

Dewey became much too comfortable with the idea that he was set to sweep to victory, while Truman campaigned like he had nothing to lose.

In the end, President Truman ended up pulling off one of the most shocking comebacks in the history of the Presidential election.

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