Chicago Daily Tribune's 'Dewey Defeats Truman' Headline: What Really Happened
The Chicago Daily Tribune printed 'Dewey Defeats Truman' on election night 1948, and they were dead wrong. Pollsters, pundits, and even some of Harry Truman's own aides had written him off before a single vote was counted. Truman kept campaigning anyway, and when the results came in, that front page became one of the most famous mistakes in American journalism.
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Transcript
It's American Rewind.
Speaker A: In: Speaker A:Pollsters favored New York Governor Thomas Dewey.
Speaker A:Newspapers did, too.
Speaker A:Even Truman's aides thought all was lost.
Speaker A:But Truman kept going, campaigning by rail, hammering Congress and drawing crowds as election night stretched on.
Speaker A:The Chicago Daily Tribune printed its early edition the next day.
Speaker A:As Truman traveled back toward Washington, someone handed him a copy of the paper during a stop in St. Louis.
Speaker A:He held it up and smiled for the cameras.
Speaker A:The headline said, dewey Defeats Truman.
Speaker A:They were very, very wrong.
Speaker A:Truman won.
Speaker A:And the blunder helped produce one of the most famous political photographs in American history.
Speaker A:On that note, I'm James A.
Speaker A:Brown, and as always, be well.
