Photo courtesy of Jim Spawn
A long struggle ahead for the man from Missouri
His prospects bleak and his own party in the doldrums, Harry S. Truman embarked on a campaign 60 years ago this summer that would make his name legend in American political history.
The plainspoken Missourian – who was swept into the vice presidency in 1944 as running mate of the magnetic Franklin D. Roosevelt – became president when Roosevelt died in the first year of his fourth term. Three years afterward, in 1948, any residual Roosevelt glow had faded and Truman’s honeymoon was over. With the country stuck in a Cold War, inflation rampant and housing in short supply, Republicans had taken over Congress. They were eager to regain the White House a dozen long years after their last president, Herbert Hoover, left in the depths of the Great Depression.
Liberals in Truman’s own party found the Missourian a pale imitation of their hero, Roosevelt. Southern Democrats reeled at Truman’s civil rights policies. His own party was fractured on the left and on the right. If he lost the election, Truman would pack up and return home to Independence, Missouri. If he won, it would represent an astonishing upset.
Read more...
Listen to Truman's acceptance speech at the Truman Library website.
NEXT WEEK: The Republicans meet
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE STAR'S ARCHIVES
Uneasy in Unity
Published July 11, 1948
The Democratic national convention, which many persons had expected to develop into a
free-for-all fight to stop President Truman’s bid for the nomination, tonight appeared
likely to be run off with the efficiency of an assembly line.
Philadelphia, City of Caucuses, Finds Dixie Puts on Best Show
Published July 12, 1948
For a man who likes caucuses, admittedly an acquired taste, this was quite a day.
Ring Party Gong: Democrats Bound From Lethargy to Cheer Convention Speeches
Published July 13, 1948
Mrs. India Edwards tonight let a balloon out of a box on the platform to symbolize
inflation, but it also might serve as a symbol of the enthusiasm which burst from the
hitherto apathetic delegates to the Democratic national convention.
A Donnelly Balk: Attempt by National Democratic Committee to Revise His Speech is
Resented.
Published July 13, 1948
Gov. Phil Donnelly of Missouri, who is to place President Truman’s name in nomination
Wednesday, tonight served notice that he would not deliver a nominating speech prepared
for him by someone else.
Yippee’ for Dixie: Ghost of Confederacy Revived by Southerners Amid Reverence for F.D.R.
Published July 14, 1948
Two spirits, one unifying and the other disruptive, hung over tonight’s session of the Democratic national convention.
Convention on Review
Published July 14, 1948
It’s beginning to look like Harry S. Truman has lost his horseshoe, and that his political luck finally is coming to an end.
Batter Dixie on Rights: Southern Democrats’ Thrust for a Platform Plank Promising State
Powers Is Hurled Back by a Vote of 925 to 309.
Published July 15, 1948
The South had its revolt against the Democratic platform’s civil rights plank shoved down
its throat here today as the northern states, backing President Truman’s program, marched
through Georgia and the remainder of Dixie.
Truman and Barkley Named: Democratic Convention Selects President on First Ballot to Head
Ticket and Kentucky Senator for Running Mate by Acclamation
Published July 16, 1948
President Harry S. Truman was nominated on his own right early this morning for a full term as President. Senator Alben W. Barkley, 70-year-old orator from Kentucky, was selected soon thereafter as the vice presidential nominee.
Editorial: A divided
party
The Democrats adjourned their convention in Philadelphia early today a badly weakened and demoralized party. Their admittedly slim
prospects in the November election were even further reduced.
