Well written and supremely researched, DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN identifies the key issues, the major personalities involved, and how they played out in the lead-up to the 1948 presidential election. While A. J. Baime starts off with a comparison to today’s issues, the book is strictly historical and laser-focused on the march to November 1948.

Spoiler alert: Dewey loses!

Baime sets the stage as World War II comes to an end. The new president traveled to Potsdam, defeated the Japanese and laid out his domestic agenda for the coming years --- and it was a shocker. With little knowledge of Truman’s own politics, the world waited to see if he would abandon FDR’s New Deal or loosely follow his predecessor’s path. His aggressive 21-Point Program left no doubt that he intended to continue the liberal policies of the past 14 years.

"Well written and supremely researched, DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN identifies the key issues, the major personalities involved, and how they played out in the lead-up to the 1948 presidential election."

The book has a lot to unpack. While focusing on a short time period, it endeavors to cover at least five major characters and an equal number of pressing issues. A bit loose initially, the narrative tightens up with each turn of the page. Truman is center stage, concluding that in order to influence events, he must trust his instincts and moral compass. It is often said of him, “He did not want ‘this job’ --- the presidency --- but he’s got it and he’s going to do it.”

One of the prominent players is FDR’s vice president, Henry Wallace, heavy on communist sympathy and even heavier on a crazy brand of mysticism. He would attack Truman from the left. Then we have Strom Thurmond from South Carolina. After Truman published his civil rights manifesto, Thurmond and several other southern Democrats bolted from the party, and Thurmond ran as a third-party candidate. The Democrat South was shattered. Dewey, of course, was the Republican candidate and governor of New York. Fairly close to Truman in many policy positions, he witnessed a Truman presidency spiraling out of control and made the fateful decision merely to watch it crash and burn. Finally, there was the Republican-dominated Congress, which Truman chose to personify, generalize and demonize. He drove a wedge between the conservative Republicans in Congress and Dewey, their progressive candidate.

For a race that was going to be about communism, Israel and the Middle East, race relations, the atomic bomb and America’s place in the world order, these men stood poised to attack the president every chance they got.

Ultimately, Truman makes history. He put in the hours, spending months on a train getting in front of the people, and they responded. They recognized in him the integrity and guile that most politicians lacked, and they respected his courage. He was not a popular president, far from it. When it was all over, he had been elected in his own right. He had ushered Israel into existence, birthed the Civil Rights movement and integrated the Armed Forces, and pushed the Marshal Plan and America’s continued role on the world stage --- all while doing a job he never wanted.

It is certainly more complicated than that, but if you want the details, you are going to have to pick up a copy of DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN. It is well worth the read!