All morning the teletype machines kept chattering on and the phones kept ringing. The question on everyone’s lips: When would Dewey concede? Truman welcomed members of Battery D, buddies whom he had commanded in World War I, who had come to congratulate him. Also present was his former partner Eddie Jacobson, whose Westport Menswear, located nearby, would not be opening that day. Truman surprised everyone with his composure. Remembered his friend Jerome Walsh:
“He displayed neither tension nor elation. For instance someone remarked bitterly that if it hadn’t been for Wallace, New York and New Jersey would have gone Democratic by good majorities. But the President dismissed this with a wave of his hand. As far as Henry was concerned, he said, Henry wasn’t a bad guy; he was doing what he thought was right and he had every right in the world to pursue his course.”
In states across the nation, people were reading their morning newspapers, which were noncommittal for the most part, because press time for reporters had come before a lot of the results were in. “At 6 a.m. today,” noted the New York Times, “after a night in which his political fortunes waxed and waned with every passing hour, President Harry S. Truman took an impressive lead over his Republican opponent, Gov. Thomas E. Dewey of New York, in both the popular and electoral vote of the nation.” The New York Times offices were deluged with twenty-five thousand phone calls between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. on this day, from people wanting to know who had won. “Election Still in Doubt,” read the Los Angeles Times headline on November 3. “Truman Ahead with Dewey Holding Key States.”
Some other publications were even less on top of things. Columnist Fred Othman’s piece the morning of November 3 in Atlanta’s biggest paper, the Constitution, began: “The ballots haven’t been counted at this writing, but there seems to be no further need for holding up an affectionate farewell to Harry Truman, who will go down in history as the President nobody hated.” The Alsop brothers’ column in the Washington Post on November 3 began: “The first postelection question is how the Government can get through the next 10 weeks . . . Events will not wait patiently until Thomas E. Dewey officially replaces Harry S. Truman.”
Other newspapers, from Chicago to as far off as Munich, incorrectly reported that Dewey had won. The Munich Merkur ran a banner headline on November 3: “Thomas E. Dewey Amerikas neuer Präsident.” Women’s Wear Daily’s front page featured the banner headline: “Dewey, Warren Win; Business Gain Seen.” The Washington Post featured a gossip column with the headline: “ ‘Persistence’ Is the Dominating Trait that Carried Dewey to the Presidency.”
Most famously, the early edition of the Chicago Daily Tribune—a newspaper that had attacked Truman as vigorously as any other—appeared that morning with the headline: “Dewey Defeats Truman; G.O.P. Sweep Indicated in State.” Below the headline, an article declared that the GOP would be “back in the White House,” that “Dewey won the Presidency by an overwhelming majority.” (In 2007 the Chicago Tribune would call this “arguably the most famous headline in the newspaper’s 150-year history” and “every publisher’s nightmare.” Roughly 150,000 copies of the paper’s first edition streamed off the press, the ink barely dry, before panicked editors could change the front-page banner headline for the second edition, to “Democrats Make Sweep of State Offices.”)
At Democratic National Committee headquarters in New York, where corks were popping, the phone rang, and Chairman McGrath took the call. He heard Truman’s voice over the line, thanking him for all his work.
“Thank you, Mr. President,” McGrath said. “Nobody deserved to win more than you did, Mr. President.” McGrath held up his glass. One present remembered: “The wine shimmered effervescently in a shaft of sunlight.” McGrath said into the phone, “Your staff is drinking to you, Mr. President. From the bottoms of our hearts we drink to you.”
Standing next to McGrath was India Edwards, one of the only Truman campaigners who had insisted throughout that the Missourian would win. McGrath told Truman, “Now I want you to talk to the person who really had faith all the time, and who knew you were going to win.” He passed the phone to Edwards.
“I burst out crying,” she later recalled. “The best man won,” she said into the phone, almost incoherently. “The best man won.”
Minutes after McGrath hung up the phone he was handed a telegram. He called for silence. “Gentlemen,” McGrath announced, speaking specifically to the press corps, “I have here a message that will make your stories conclusive. This is a message addressed to Harry S. Truman, President. I will read it slowly, for you may wish to copy it down word for word.” McGrath looked down at the telegram in his hand. It was Thomas Dewey’s concession statement. “ ‘My heartiest congratulations to you on your election and every good wish for a successful administration. I urge all Americans to unite behind you in support of your efforts to keep our Nation strong and free and establish peace in the world.’”
“Signed,” McGrath said, “by Thomas E. Dewey.”
At the Muehlebach, Truman’s arm was growing tired of handshaking. More news came through: Truman had unexpectedly won in California, against every prediction. This was the home state of the Republican vice presidential candidate Earl Warren. At 10:16 a.m. Kansas City time, a voice shouted for attention and the hum of conversation trailed off.
“Dewey has conceded!” someone shouted.
Truman was holding his hat in his left hand, and he pumped his other hand upward. In that moment, remembered one man present, “everyone was talking, yelling at once. The photographers’ bulbs blazed away. The reporters crowded around for the president’s first words now that his victory was confirmed . . . Radio reporters shoved microphones in the president’s face. Friends grasped his hand; some of them wept.”
“All
