Whistle-Stops: The 1948 Presidential Campaign Lester Graham and Matthew Algeo The biggest political upset in American presidential politics comes alive in this half-hour documentary. The whistle-stop campaigns of Harry Truman and Thomas Dewey have become political folklore. Who hasn?t seen that photo of Harry Truman holding up the banner headline ?Dewey Defeats Truman?? Here are the stories leading up to Truman?s surprise victory from people who were there and from the historians who?ve written about them. Listeners will hear historic recordings from the 1948 campaign trail. Interviews for this documentary include Pulitzer-Prize-winning Truman biographer David McCullough, aide to President Truman George Elsey, Dewey biographer Richard Norton Smith, Margaret Truman, Walter Cronkite and other reporters who covered key moments in the campaign, and the only living 1948 presidential candidate at the time this documentary was produced, Dixiecrat J. Strom Thurmond. The documentary covers one of the United States? most interesting political lessons. It reminds the pollsters, pundits, and journalists who really decides who?ll be president.
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Piece Description
Whistle-Stops: The 1948 Presidential Campaign Lester Graham and Matthew Algeo The biggest political upset in American presidential politics comes alive in this half-hour documentary. The whistle-stop campaigns of Harry Truman and Thomas Dewey have become political folklore. Who hasn?t seen that photo of Harry Truman holding up the banner headline ?Dewey Defeats Truman?? Here are the stories leading up to Truman?s surprise victory from people who were there and from the historians who?ve written about them. Listeners will hear historic recordings from the 1948 campaign trail. Interviews for this documentary include Pulitzer-Prize-winning Truman biographer David McCullough, aide to President Truman George Elsey, Dewey biographer Richard Norton Smith, Margaret Truman, Walter Cronkite and other reporters who covered key moments in the campaign, and the only living 1948 presidential candidate at the time this documentary was produced, Dixiecrat J. Strom Thurmond. The documentary covers one of the United States? most interesting political lessons. It reminds the pollsters, pundits, and journalists who really decides who?ll be president.
Broadcast History
This documentary originally aired on 67 public radio stations in 1998, marking the 50th anniversary of the Whistle-Stops campaigns.
Musical Works
Manana (Is Soon Enough For Me) Peggy Lee, Capitol Records, 1948
I'm Just Wild About Harry, Judy Garland, 1939





Leonard Knight
Posted on November 01, 2008 at 03:07 AM | Permalink
Review of Whistle-Stops: The 1948 Presidential Campaigns
An inspiring account of the triumph of one of America's greatest presidents (and men) who through his own force of character and belief in "the people" turned around his party's fortunes and won the 1948 election against all odds and predictions. An informative study laced together with first hand comments from those who participated in one of the most momentous American elections of the 20th century.