The Truman presidential campaign of 1948: Money, race, and the role of labor unions (Harry S. Truman)

This dissertation examines often overlooked aspects of the presidential contest of 1948. First, I look at the campaign strategy of the Democrats in 1948 and how media was utilized to maximum advantage. President Truman frequently has been depicted as a poor speaker, whose oratorical skills put him at a decided disadvantage against most opponents for public office. Neglected is the fact that Truman, his staff, and advisors worked not only to markedly improve his radio addresses but also his impromptu speeches as well.; Conventional wisdom as reflected in the historiography often depicts Truman's financial committee as being in dire need of capital during the campaign. But the sources that are most often cited by historians lack the level of scholarly proof expected in such work. It is the contention of this dissertation that Truman and the Democrats had an adequate amount of capital to run a nationwide campaign.; Next, I inspect the role of labor unions during the campaign. It is my contention that most of the large unions provided the Democrats with money and manpower to fuel their campaign drive. Labor was a critical factor in explaining how the Democrats were able pull away with a victory in hand. We will also describe the part that African Americans played in securing Truman's victory and how Truman was able to implement meaningful civil rights policy through executive action that paved the way for greater advisements in civil rights during future administrations.; Last, this dissertation includes statistical sources of how important all of these variables were in securing Truman's slim margin of victory. It is obviously impossible to prove a negative, but the evidence presented concludes that the role of African Americans, labor unions, media presentation, and finance were pivotal—without them Truman probably could not have won.