Would Harold Stassen have beaten Harry S. Truman in 1948?

Inspired by someone's post in my other thread. Had Harold Stassen been the Republican nominee in 1948, would he have possibly beaten President Harry S. Truman in the general election? So I've come up with the following questions:

1) Do you think the stunning upset in OTL was more a result of the brilliant campaign of President Truman, or the poorly-run campaign of Dewey?

2) Is it more likely or less likely that Stassen could have beaten Truman?

3) How would his presidency turn out, and would he have possibly won a second term in 1952?
Or alternatively, answer these questions:
So we probably have PotUS Stassen in 1948. How will he handle the outbreak of the Korean War? Would Stassen consider nukes in Korea? And what about the idea of banning the communist party, as Stassen proposed to do?

4) If not, would he have tried to run for the GOP nomination endlessly until become a perennial candidate in OTL?:D
 
1) Truman's campaigning was a better factor. Truman was glad that Dewey got the nomination, because he knew that Taft would've been a better campaigner, even if he was more outside public opinion at the time. But Truman still thought he could beat Taft in '48.
2) Much more likely, because he would actually campaign as well. But I think Taft is more likely to get it if Dewey's out.
3) Unless he uses nukes in Korea, he's going to be out on his ass come 1952.
 
1) Truman's campaigning was a better factor. Truman was glad that Dewey got the nomination, because he knew that Taft would've been a better campaigner, even if he was more outside public opinion at the time. But Truman still thought he could beat Taft in '48.
Generally I think of it as a mix of both; Dewey had an experience similar to Romney I think in'44, where he tried to position himself as a moderate who supported much of the New Deal, but immediately had to turn back to the Right when he came under attack by Republicans. If he stayed to his Moderate course then, I think he would have done far better against Roosevelt.

Dewey could have beaten Truman had he returned to his original campaigning style, and not been forced to align himself with the Taft camp; a middle-ground campaign.

2) Much more likely, because he would actually campaign as well. But I think Taft is more likely to get it if Dewey's out.
Everyone that was backing Dewey I imagine would be backing Stassen (I can't imagine Dewey running again, especially when polls so his standing), and that would put him into a far stronger position than Dewey was at the convention.
3) Unless he uses nukes in Korea, he's going to be out on his ass come 1952.
He'd be trying to reverse the cuts that Truman undertook to the Defense budget severely, but I am not sure what his policy with Korea was in '52. Have to give that a check.
 
Stassen could very well have won. I don't see him suffering from the overconfidence that Dewey did. aAs has been said before with the quagmire in Korea he is a one term president.
 
Stassen could very well have won. I don't see him suffering from the overconfidence that Dewey did. aAs has been said before with the quagmire in Korea he is a one term president.

But would there even be a Korea with Stassen as POTUS? As soon as he gets in he's going to have to reverse the cuts that Truman made to the military to satisfy the base. This means that some stuff is going to trickle down to Korea and change things considerably there immediately. Furthermore if Stassen's secretary of state doesn't pull a Dean Acheson and state that Korea's outside of the US's defensive priorities, the DPRK might not attack in the first place!
 
But would there even be a Korea with Stassen as POTUS? As soon as he gets in he's going to have to reverse the cuts that Truman made to the military to satisfy the base. This means that some stuff is going to trickle down to Korea and change things considerably there immediately. Furthermore if Stassen's secretary of state doesn't pull a Dean Acheson and state that Korea's outside of the US's defensive priorities, the DPRK might not attack in the first place!
I'm not sure if Stassen would reverse the cuts Truman made to balance the budget (NOT to satisfy the base, cutting pork is one of the worst ways to satisfy anybody). The Acheson myth is just that, a myth. It's been peddled around with increasing frequency lately on this site, time to stomp down on that.
 
On a quick note, I believe the fact that Harold Stassen was the perennial candidate of the 20th century, and the biggest joke as such and wore a ridiculous toupee to try to look younger so he could get elected, shows something of his character that is a negative. He would bring that character to the White House. That character seems to be one of oafishness and neediness and desperation and lack of cognisance about just reality. I do not believe that would make for a good president.
 
On a quick note, I believe the fact that Harold Stassen was the perennial candidate of the 20th century, and the biggest joke as such and wore a ridiculous toupee to try to look younger so he could get elected, shows something of his character that is a negative. He would bring that character to the White House. That character seems to be one of oafishness and neediness and desperation and lack of cognisance about just reality. I do not believe that would make for a good president.

I never thought about that....
 
But would there even be a Korea with Stassen as POTUS? As soon as he gets in he's going to have to reverse the cuts that Truman made to the military to satisfy the base. This means that some stuff is going to trickle down to Korea and change things considerably there immediately. Furthermore if Stassen's secretary of state doesn't pull a Dean Acheson and state that Korea's outside of the US's defensive priorities, the DPRK might not attack in the first place!

I'm not sure if Stassen would reverse the cuts Truman made to balance the budget (NOT to satisfy the base, cutting pork is one of the worst ways to satisfy anybody). The Acheson myth is just that, a myth. It's been peddled around with increasing frequency lately on this site, time to stomp down on that.

The Korean War was coming even if the USA didn't de-mobilize post-WWII. Well. OK, that's a little extreme. But Korea was at the ass end of nowhere in the US' list of foreign affairs concerns. Kim il-Sung was going to invade the ROK against anything short of half the US Army, simply on the assumption that they couldn't hold against a combined assault from without (the North) and within (internal uprisings in support of Kim).

On a quick note, I believe the fact that Harold Stassen was the perennial candidate of the 20th century, and the biggest joke as such and wore a ridiculous toupee to try to look younger so he could get elected, shows something of his character that is a negative. He would bring that character to the White House. That character seems to be one of oafishness and neediness and desperation and lack of cognisance about just reality. I do not believe that would make for a good president.

Spoilsport
 
I never thought about that....

Spoilsport

To be fair, there's also the possibility that it was just "Ooo, I'm whimsical." but I've known people of Stassen's generation and they aren't like that and are very straight forward (the earlier the generation, the less humor about life they have). The fact that he wore a horrible wig to get people to think he was young looking enough also makes it seem like he was indeed just a desperate, needy person who didn't get it, with "it" being anything. All those characteristics would follow him into the White House.
 
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