The chattering classes, circa 1948. Cartoon by S.J. Ray of The Star.
For Republicans, everything looked rosy
A decade and a half removed from their last occupant in the White House, Republicans looked forward to the 1948 campaign against a beleaguered Harry S. Truman. The GOP was bubbling with enthusiasm as its members gathered for their convention in Philadelphia. The only matter that needed firming up was the nominee. Thomas E. Dewey, governor of New York and the party's candidate against Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, was the leading candidate for the nomination again this time. Nevertheless, Midwestern Republican conservatives preferred Robert Taft of Ohio. The decision would come down to the balloting, and then the nominee was off to what looked like certain victory in November.
Read more...
The Democrats give a tepid endorsement to Truman
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE STAR'S ARCHIVES
To Big G.O.P. Decision
Published June 21, 1948
The invasion of Philadelphia by the Republicans was near complete tonight for the opening of their national convention tomorrow.Swarm to Dewey
Published June 21, 1948
Tom Dewey met the ordinary folks of this convention and this city tonight at a turbulent function which was billed as “reception” but was far too uproarious for so prissy a word.Dewey Wins on Third Ballot
Published June 25, 1948
Thomas E. Dewey, New York’s 46-year-old governor, tonight was nominated for President by the Republican national convention.Maneuver to the End
Published June 25, 1948
BY ROY A. ROBERTSIt just so happened I was sitting with Gov. Thomas E. Dewey when the nomination was made.
WORTH NOTING
-
* Unlike current practice -- in which the nominee is decided months in advance and
national conventions typically serve as coronations and party commercials-- the 1948
Republican convention opened with no guarantee of who the nominee would be. Three rounds
of delegate balloting were required.
* The 1948 conventions were the first to be televised. The only viewers, however, were on the East Coast. To watch, you had to own a TV set and live in range of broadcast signals from stations connected to the TV networks. Network connections existed only in the Eastern United States. Kansas City did not have television until autumn 1949.
* The Republican convention in June was the first of three that would be held in Philadelphia that year. The Democrats and Progressives met in Philadelphia in July. Television played a role in the site. Philadelphia lay in the middle of the region reached by network connections, and having the conventions in the same city meant not having to move bulky cameras and transmission equipment. The city would not host another national political convention until 2000.
