When Harry Truman began his famous “Whistle-Stop Campaign” for president this week (Sept. 17) in 1948, his goal was to travel the country by train, speaking to any American voters who would listen about the “do nothing” Republican Congress, which — Truman believed — was blocking his attempts to better the lives of the American people.
A belief most voters didn’t share. Every poll showed his opponent, Republican candidate Thomas Dewey, with a commanding lead, and in a survey of the 50 most influential political pundits, all 50 predicted Dewey would win. Even professional gamblers were betting against Truman — the odds on him winning were as high as 30 – 1. Besides being seen as a president who was out of his depth, Truman faced two third-party candidates, Henry Wallace of the Progressive Party and Strom Thurmond of the State’s Rights (Dixiecrat) Party. Both were expected to siphon votes away from him.
Truman didn’t care. “I want to see the people,” he said, and off to see the people he went. And while reporters were writing stories of his inevitable defeat and political insiders were jockeying for positions in the Dewey administration, the people came out to see him. At almost every stop Truman made, record crowds showed up. In Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Hamtramck and Flint, Michigan, nearly half a million people turned out to watch his motorcade, wave flags and cheer. In Denver, 25,000 people heard Truman speak, while in San Diego he drew 10,000 despite bad weather and a 9 a.m. schedule.
In Texas, where the Democratic Party leadership had been angered at his support for Civil Rights, 25,000 Texans filled the streets in San Antonio, and the crowd exceeded 20,000 in El Paso. And in neighbor-state Oklahoma, some 140,000 turned out to hear him and cheer for him in Oklahoma City and Ardmore.
In St. Paul, Minnesota, 21,000 were on hand to see him, while two days later Dewey drew 7,000.
In Akron, Ohio — polls saying Ohio was a solid pro-Dewey state — 60,000 people cheered Truman’s every word, while in Chicago, Illinois, a packed crowd of 24,000 heard him speak in Chicago Stadium. What’s more, in nearly every city Truman visited, many thousands of folks lined up along parade routes to show their support. “Give ’em Hell, Harry!” they all shouted, as the press and pundits continued to pick Dewey.
“There are none so blind as those who will not see,” as the proverb goes. Three weeks before Election Day the pollsters stopped polling, so sure they were of the outcome. On Election Day, November 2, in 1948, Harry Truman won handily, carrying 28 states to Dewey’s 16, and winning 303 Electoral College votes to Dewey’s 189.
