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Truman’s Surprise Victory

During the presidential election campaign in 1948, almost everyone expected New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey to win and few had faith in a victory for incumbent Harry S. Truman. While Truman went on a ‘whistle stop’ tour across the United States, giving more than 350 speeches, Dewey’s confident campaign was more reserved. On November 2, 1948, Truman won the presidential election. The Chicago Daily Tribune had been so sure of Dewey’s victory that they had printed front-page ‘Dewey Defeats Truman’ articles before the final results were in. Truman is shown here holding up the paper, after defeating Dewey by 2.2 million popular votes and 114 electoral votes.