In the 1920s, a young man from Michigan named Thomas E. Dewey wanted to become a professional singer. With a deep baritone voice, he showed great promise. But after contracting a throat infection, Dewey decided against becoming a singer and instead he went to law school. This lead him down the road to becoming a racket busting prosecutor, three term Governor of New York, and of course one of the most famous losers in the history of US presidential elections.

But what if Dewey hadn't gotten that throat infection, and he became a singer instead of a lawyer? How does this impact the history of organized crime in America as well as US politics? Might a different Republican nominee have defeated Harry Truman in 1948?
 
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His time has come.

I’m only slightly joking given Harold Stassen was from a similar wing of the party as Dewey and did surprisingly well in 1948.
 
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His time has come.

I’m only slightly joking given Harold Stassen was from a similar wing of the party as Dewey and did surprisingly well in 1948.

This is definitely a possibility.

If elected, Stassen would be the youngest President in American history and the first one from Minnesota.

What happens to the New York mafia without Dewey as a prosecutor?
 
Just imagining all those Dewey eyed girls in their bobbby socks sitting around the soda shop listening to Tommy on the Radio.
 

Well, Dewey wasn't extremely liberal either. (He was a fiscally conservative but forward thinking Governor who oversaw the expansion of housing, education, and infrastructure. He was a liberal on civil rights, though he didn't emphasize this in 1948. And to my knowledge his stance on Taft Hartley wasn't too different from Stassen's. Both supported the bill but called for minor changes).

That said, like Dewey Stassen would run as a moderate. But I imagine he'd run a tough campaign that engages the issues and counterattacks Truman. Given that Dewey only just barely lost to Truman, I think Stassen would have a shot.
 
Well, Dewey wasn't extremely liberal either. (He was a fiscally conservative but forward thinking Governor who oversaw the expansion of housing, education, and infrastructure. He was a liberal on civil rights, though he didn't emphasize this in 1948. And to my knowledge his stance on Taft Hartley wasn't too different from Stassen's. Both supported the bill but called for minor changes).

That said, like Dewey Stassen would run as a moderate. But I imagine he'd run a tough campaign that engages the issues and counterattacks Truman. Given that Dewey only just barely lost to Truman, I think Stassen would have a shot.

Sorry for the late reply but Stassen considered the UK's nationalizations socialism, which is, definitely, a conservative view.
Also, in https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/could-taft-beat-truman-in-1948.441149/#post-16840071, David T made a pretty good case that the reason that Dewey lost wasn't his campaign.
 
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Sorry for the late reply but Stassen considered the UK's nationalizations socialism, which is, definitely, a conservative view.
Also, in https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/could-taft-beat-truman-in-1948.441149/#post-16840071, David T made a pretty good case that the reason that Dewey lost wasn't his campaign.

I think that post really explains why the fundamentals of the election favored Truman and not Dewey as was widely assumed at the time. Which is correct. But Dewey didn't lose simply because the fundamentals favored Truman. (Specifically, Truman was an incumbent President running on peace and prosperity and against an unpopular Republican Congress). Dewey also lost because he ran a toothless campaign almost completely lacking in substance that failed to demonstrate leadership on the key issues or stimulate his base*. He and the Republicans, for whatever reason, also failed to exploit the Democratic split by kicking Wallace off the ballot in key states like Illinois.

As @David T points out, incumbents have lost during times of peace and prosperity in 1912 and 1976. So while it is rare (which is his broader argument on that front), it's also possible and Dewey could've pulled it off. Especially since only 29,000 votes going the other way would've made him President.

*@David T also points out that if voter turnout had been higher in 1948, Dewey might've actually lost by a bigger margin. This is perhaps true if overall turnout had been higher, but if Republican turnout had been higher while enough Democrats stayed home Dewey might've won.
 
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