alternatehistory.com

Dewey Defeats Truman
‘Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York (a Republican) has defeated President Harry S. Truman from Missouri (a Democrat) in an Electoral College landslide of 336 votes to 133, with States Rights Party candidate Governor Strom Thurmond of South Carolina winning 62 votes. Truman’s loss, after 16 years of Democratic dominance, will come as no surprise to most. Dewey had been ahead in the polls by over five points since California Governor Earl Warren was selected as his running mate in July. President Truman struggled to fend off repeated attacks about the chaotic situation in China with General MacArthur, who is an opponent to Truman, .claiming “a vote for Harry Truman is a vote for Mao Zedong” in October, referring to the leader of the Chinese Communist Party.’
The Chicago Daily Tribune, November 1948

View attachment 373346

‘I remember the 1948 Election like it was yesterday. We were so certain of a Dewey victory that we printed his victory on the front page the day before the election. Our gamble did pay off, and I’m sure the photo of Governor Dewey with the staff is still in the Tribunals newsroom today’
Alan Kurtz: A Life in Print (1987)

‘The 1948 Election was not as close as you may believe. Due to the extreme unpopularity of the Republican controlled Congress, Dewey controversially said that the 80th Congress has “done an awful job for America”. This brought stiff rebuke from key figures such as Senator Robert A. Taft and former President Herbert Hoover. It also resulted in a Democratic Majority controlled congress, with the House being split 251-184, and the Senate being split 55-41, with the Democrats surprisingly picking up a seat in New Jersey. The closest election was that of CA-12, where the congressman was elected by just 847 votes after a recount. He was known to be a very effective campaigner; his name was Richard Milhous Nixon, and America had not heard the last of him.’
The Sixth Party System: American Politics from 1932 to 1956

Dewey calls for more Republican Congressmen
‘President-elect Dewey has recanted his previous call for the defeat of the Republican-controlled congress. Senator Taft of Ohio, an opponent of the former Governor of New York in the Republican primaries, was fiercely critical of this move claiming “Governor Dewey has condemned this Congress so fiercely that he hardly deserves to be called Republican”. Mr Dewey said “I understand that was the wrong call to make and I hope to work with Senator Taft and others to reclaim Congress for the Republican Party in 1950.” Another critic of Dewey, Herbert Hoover (President 1929-1933) has declined to comment.’
The Washington Post, December 1948

Thurmond booted by the Democrats
‘Governor Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, has been expelled from the Democratic Party. It was announced yesterday by party bosses, citing Governor Thurmond’s performance in November’s election as costing President Truman victory. He has announced that he will remain as Governor of South Carolina as a member of the State’s Rights Party. Two fellow Southern Democratic Governors, Fielding Wright of Mississippi and Benjamin Laney of Arkansas have resigned as members of the Democratic Party, and are now Governing as ‘Dixiecrats’ as the SRP is commonly known as.’
The Chicago Daily Tribune, January 1949