Truman defeats Dewey Book

One of the great political stories of the century--Harry Truman's big upset win against Thomas Dewey, the man all the polls predicted would win the election. Certainly, at the beginning of 1948, Truman looked weak, even incompetent, struggling against the serious postwar problems in America. Compared to his predecessor Franklin Roosevelt, Truman looked like he was overwhelmed by the burdens of his office... And the Republicans swept Congress in 1946, which seemed to point to the Republicans winning the White House in 1948. As the election year progressed, the Democrats split--and split again. The left of the Democratic Party formed the Progressive Party in support of Henry Wallace while the white Southern segregationist "Dixiecrats" walked out of the Democratic Convention in protest against the Democratic Party support for civil rights for African-Americans.
But the tough little man from Missouri, a veteran of WWI, Truman, would not give up against all the odds. He fought a hard-hitting campaign against Dewey, who campaigned as if he had already won. Was that the most important reason that Truman pulled off his great upset? Irwin Ross points out the New Deal coalition-labor, liberals, the cities, the farmers, the South-held together strongly enough to give the Democrats yet another Presidential election victory. A lot of Henry Wallace's support faded away by Election Day and the Dixiecrats carried only four Southern states, most of the South remaining loyal to the Democratic Party. While Truman lost New York and most of the Northeast, he actually did better with the farm vote than FDR had done in 1944. Truman gained Ohio, Wisconsin, and Iowa, states that FDR had lost in '44. And it was not only a personal victory for Harry Truman, but the Democrats swept Congress. All in all a most surprising year in American politics, always to be remembered by the photo of Truman's holding up the Chicago Tribune edition with the headline--DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN.