Dewey Defeats Truman: The 1948 Election and the Battle for America's Soul

DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN                              A.J. BAIME

On the eve of the 1948 election, America was a fractured country. Racism was rampant, foreign relations were fraught, and political parties were more divided than ever. Americans were certain that President Harry S. Truman’s political career was over. “The ballots haven’t been counted,” noted political columnist Fred Othman, “but there seems to be no further need for holding up an affectional farewell to Harry Truman.” Truman’s own staff did not believe he could win. Nor did his wife, Bess. The only man in the world confident that Truman would win was Mr. Truman himself. And win he did. 

1948 was a fight for the soul of a nation. In Dewey Defeats Truman, A. J. Baime sheds light on one of the most action-packed six months in American history, as Truman not only triumphs, but oversees watershed events—the passing of the Marshall plan, the acknowledgment of Israel as a new state, the careful attention to the origins of the Cold War, and the first desegregation of the military. 

Not only did Truman win the election, he succeeded in guiding his country forward at a critical time with high stakes and haunting parallels to the modern-day.

PAT'S REVIEW

The photo on the outside of this book is probably one of the most famous. I hope this new generation will come to appreciate the history behind it. Written by the same author who wrote “The Accidental President” which also was an excellent book and were at the beginning of this book he mentions some information will be repeated if you had read the other book. Dealing with the press and the Eighth Congress President Truman had his own ideas about the country. A man who says Germany surrender 21 days after he came into office it would then be four months later when Japan Surrendered. Dealing with the ramifications from Yalta which he was never given any idea into what was spoken of during those meetings between the big three, one can assume it was really Stalin telling Roosevelt and Churchill the way it was going to be, for he went straight into countries right after the war and imposed his will. Just a few days after Germany surrenders Poland was Russian along with many other countries bit everyone was focused on Berlin. Congress and the press wanted nothing to do with Berlin but Truman seeing into the future knew something different. Still, you begin the book with the press making the president out to be a country bumkin. You find out how everyone is so wrong. You see how Thomas Dewey; Strom Thurman and their ideas opinions were different than his. Everything really changed for Truman during his train stop campaign especially with the framers and when he told them that the Eighth congress got rid of the grain storage containers. Congress thinking that farmers did not need those and this was just one of the issues that Truman would begin to raise and how he would go about his fight against the congress was really good. I found this to be a very fascinating book about how the country was changing after World War Two and also the World. You also see the fear of the country and communism but not World wide but just in the country. You also get a look at the beginning of Korea as well. This was a great book about the history of our country and the author did a huge job in research to make this book work. Very much worth the read. I received this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com