In 1948, Thomas Dewey was elected the 34th US President by a comfortable margin, carrying 307 electoral votes to Truman's 185. Dewey had been the heavy favorite to win from the outset, and his aggressive, energized campaign against the unpopular Truman administration was eaten up like candy by American voters. He went onto to serve two successful terms, and is widely regarded as one of America's greatest post-WWII Presidents. As for Truman, he would be known for making important yet controversial decisions despite his 1948 loss. While he waged an admirable fight under the circumstances, many observers agree that Truman had no realistic chance of winning given the three way Democratic split, post-war strikes and recession, and Dewey's own hard-hitting campaign. Was there anyway that Truman could have beaten Dewey? If so, how would his second term have played out? Would he have run for a third term in 1952, which Dewey could not under the 22nd Amendment?
 
Truman probably would have bungled the negotiations with Malenkov-Beria junta that gave us an Austrianized (though I've heard both "Finlandized" and "Germanized" used for this type of deal) Germany after Stalin died. Could have led to a more tense early cold war and less of a focus in Africa and Asia that happened under later Sec State Nixon

Whatever happens, we still have Truman as the most successful nuclear warlord ever.
 
Whatever happens, we still have Truman as the most successful nuclear warlord ever.

You mean for nuking over a dozen German cities in 1945-'46? This action against Germany greatly tarnished his reputation as there were German conspirators willing to take the Nazis out on the condition that they wouldn't see occupying Soviet forces on German soil and would get to keep the 1937 borders, which was perfectly reasonable. But no, Truman just had to insist on unconditional surrender and nuke Germany as long as everybody, both Nazis and resistance figures, awaited a better deal as Hitler nerve gassed British cities in response. The subsequent collapse of Germany allowed the Soviets to waltz into Eastern Europe, which they proceeded to suck the life out of for years to come. Yeah, great...
 
You mean for nuking over a dozen German cities in 1945-'46? This action against Germany greatly tarnished his reputation as there were German conspirators willing to take the Nazis out on the condition that they wouldn't see occupying Soviet forces on German soil and would get to keep the 1937 borders, which was perfectly reasonable. But no, Truman just had to insist on unconditional surrender and nuke Germany as long as everybody, both Nazis and resistance figures, awaited a better deal as Hitler nerve gassed British cities in response. The subsequent collapse of Germany allowed the Soviets to waltz into Eastern Europe, which they proceeded to suck the life out of for years to come. Yeah, great...

OOC: Huh? The POD here is in 1948. How does Dewey running the effective campaign that he should've somehow speed up nuclear weapons development so that they can be deployed by May 1945?
 
OOC: Huh? The POD here is in 1948. How does Dewey running the effective campaign that he should've somehow speed up nuclear weapons development so that they can be deployed by May 1945?

OOC: the post I responded to mentioned Truman as "the most successful nuclear warlord ever". Given that Truman is voted out of office before the Korean War ever took place in this DBWI, I assumed he nuked a more successful Nazi Germany instead. The other option would be nuking the Soviet Union, but I didn't go with that as it would contradict the rest of BeardedHoplite's post as well:

Truman probably would have bungled the negotiations with Malenkov-Beria junta that gave us an Austrianized (though I've heard both "Finlandized" and "Germanized" used for this type of deal) Germany after Stalin died. Could have led to a more tense early cold war and less of a focus in Africa and Asia that happened under later Sec State Nixon

Whatever happens, we still have Truman as the most successful nuclear warlord ever.
 
OOC: the post I responded to mentioned Truman as "the most successful nuclear warlord ever". Given that Truman is voted out of office before the Korean War ever took place in this DBWI, I assumed he nuked a more successful Nazi Germany instead

OOC: I think he was referring to Fat Man and Little Boy...
 
Personally, I wonder if Truman would have been able to stand up to Joe McCarthy and Robert Taft as Dewey did. After the Fall of China and Russia got to A-Bomb, McCarthy lead a faction of far right Republicans who slammed Dewey as soft on Communism, and lead the charge in investigating Dulles' State Department. McCarthy was backed up by Dewey's nemesis Robert Taft, who was hell bent on blocking Dewey's moderate domestic programs. Dewey wisely outmaneuvered the right by working to sabotage McCarthy from behind the scenes rather than confronting him out in the open, leading to McCarthy's embarrassment in the Senate and his reelection loss in 1952. As for Taft, Dewey sidestepped his obstruction by forging a governing coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats who passed increases in defense spending, foreign aid to South Korea, the 1949 Fair Housing Act, and Social Security expansion in 1950. An enraged Taft tried to stop Dewey by holding up his court appointments in the Senate, and the President responded by threatening to withhold organized GOP support in Taft's 1950 re-election bid. "Mr. Republican" buckled, and Dewey's court appointments were confirmed by large - but not unanimous - Senate majorities.
 
I once saw an interview with a guy named Clark Clifford (worked for Truman) who said Truman wanted to go out on a whistle stop campaign where he spoke directly to the people but decided against it based on advice from the experts.

What if Truman had gone out ? Might he have connected with voters and pulled an upset ?
 
What if Truman had gone out ? Might he have connected with voters and pulled an upset ?

I feel this only could have happened if Dewey had followed the advice of his 1944 campaign manager to basically sit out the 1948 campaign and neither say or do anything partisan. Dewey's campaign would look weak and empty in contrast to the energetic Truman. Fortunately for Dewey, after the disappointment of 1944 and his initial losses to Stassen in the 1948 primaries he replaced his campaign manager and waged the same aggressive fight against Truman that won him the 1948 nomination against Stassen.
 
American Actor Ronald Wilson Reagan becomes President? He was always a great communicator.

And a very popular Senator too. From 1959-1977 Reagan served as a Democratic Senator from California. Known for his smooth charisma and bipartisanship, his Congressional efforts helped to create the EPA and bailout NYC in 1975. He ran for President in 1972 and shocked the political world by staging a major upset of former VP Hubert Humphrey in the Democratic primaries, but he still lost to President Nelson Rockefeller by a comfortable margin. It would be the only election in US history where both the major party candidates had been divorced.
 
You have to admire Dewey had the guts to fire his Secretary of State and his brother the head of the CIA and send them to prison on corruption charges.
One did less time because he flipped on the people who he was being bribed by.
 
And a very popular Senator too. From 1959-1977 Reagan served as a Democratic Senator from California. Known for his smooth charisma and bipartisanship, his Congressional efforts helped to create the EPA and bailout NYC in 1975. He ran for President in 1972 and shocked the political world by staging a major upset of former VP Hubert Humphrey in the Democratic primaries, but he still lost to President Nelson Rockefeller by a comfortable margin. It would be the only election in US history where both the major party candidates had been divorced.

If only old age did not matter he could have defeated President Buchanan in 1984 (The Democratic led government under President Carter could not be saved). Thankfully, by 1988, Senator Sanders won the presidency after four years of the Buchanan regime.
 
OOC: Pat Buchanan? How does he achieve higher office?


Joined the John Birch Society, rebelling against the "Rockefeller yoke". With the successful implementation of the Southern strategy in the 70's, Pat Buchanan was able to win the Southern votes in the primaries and overall get a majority. His outsider image helped him greatly in '84.
 
Joined the John Birch Society, rebelling against the "Rockefeller yoke". With the successful implementation of the Southern strategy in the 70's, Pat Buchanan was able to win the Southern votes in the primaries and overall get a majority. His outsider image helped him greatly in '84.

I think you have it wrong sir, however I don't blame you since Buchanan being elected in 1984 is a fairly common misconception. For a time it seemed that Mr. Buchanan had a shot at deadlocking the electoral college by forming the "Values Party" in 1984, but he was not elected to the Presidency. Instead, he split Southern votes with the unpopular President Carter (who'd taken office after RFK was assassinated in 1981, having served just over one term), and even gained the electoral votes of Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Carolina. He was even popular enough to win Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah - making him the most successful third party candidate since TR in 1912. However, all this did was pave the way for George Bush to narrowly win the White House in 1984. Buchanan ran in 1988 but he lost yet again - this time to President Bush and Colorado Senator Gary Hart. He declined to run in 1992, paving the way for real estate mogul Donald Trump to win almost 18% of the vote on the "Values" ticket.
 
I think you have it wrong sir, however I don't blame you since Buchanan being elected in 1984 is a fairly common misconception. For a time it seemed that Mr. Buchanan had a shot at deadlocking the electoral college by forming the "Values Party" in 1984, but he was not elected to the Presidency. Instead, he split Southern votes with the unpopular President Carter (who'd taken office after RFK was assassinated in 1981, having served just over one term), and even gained the electoral votes of Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Carolina. He was even popular enough to win Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah - making him the most successful third party candidate since TR in 1912. However, all this did was pave the way for George Bush to narrowly win the White House in 1984. Buchanan ran in 1988 but he lost yet again - this time to President Bush and Colorado Senator Gary Hart. He declined to run in 1992, paving the way for real estate mogul Donald Trump to win almost 18% of the vote on the "Values" ticket.


Forgive me, my fellow academic. I had lazily written "gotten a majority" without adding "of te electoral college in the general", emphasizing his strength in the Conservative movement in the GOP as well as his uncanny success as the Values party candidate. Arlen Specter was a noble candidate for the grand old party, however sadly anti-Semitism (with the loudest dog whistle from the Buchanan front of course) stopped him from being Carter's successor. Reagan lost due to his Alzheimer's getting worse quicker than anticipated. HE could still campaign, but the leaked doctor's report was a huge blow to his campaign. Still, with two weeks to go, Specter could have still won had it not been for the "Specter effect", discovered only after his defeat. I voted for Reagan that election.
 
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