The Last Campaign: How Harry Truman Won the 1948 Election

by Zachary Karabell

In The Last Campaign , Zachary Karabell rescues the 1948 presidential campaign from the annals of political folklore ("Dewey Defeats Truman," the Chicago Tribune memorably and erroneously heralded), to give us a fresh look at perhaps the last time the American people could truly distinguish what the candidates stood for.

In 1948, Harry Truman, the feisty working-class Democratic incumbent was one of the most unpopular presidents the country had ever known. His Republican rival, the aloof Thomas Dewey, was widely thought to be a shoe-in. These two major party candidates were flanked on the far left by the Progressive Henry Wallace, and on the far right by white supremacist Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond. The Last Campaign exposes the fascinating story behind Truman’s legendary victory and turns a probing eye toward a by-gone era of political earnestness, when, for “the last time in this century, an entire spectrum of ideologies was represented,” a time before television fundamentally altered the political landscape.

Genres: History, Politics, Presidents, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published April 4, 2000

About the author

Zachary Karabell is a New York-born author, columnist and investor who previously served as Head of Global Strategies at Envestnet, a publicly traded financial services firm. He currently hosts the podcast “What Could Go Right?” and analyzes economic and political trends as president of River Twice Research.

Reviews

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent account of an epochal election, 1948, the "last campaign" of the old machine era of American politics before the mass media took over.

[Kenneth Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling and informative, it's everything a student of political history wants from a book.

[Clint · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorough if a bit dry treatment of the 1948 campaign that was perhaps the biggest unexpected presidential win until 2016. Covers the two major and two major/minor candidates, their strategies and their travels. “Last campaign” refers to the last presidential campaign without major television use and last unpackaged candidate, Truman.

[Phillip · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.0 / 5.0

Excellent Treatment of Truman's Win as Last Campaign that was a Campaign about issues.

Discussion of upset is minimal and dynamics of 4 major campaigns fascinate.

[Steve B · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who loves political campaigns and especially presidential campaigns, this is a great chronicle of the exciting 1948 presidential race. This campaign had it all! Harry Truman - the embattled incumbent, Thomas Dewey - the presumptive champion according to the pundits and pollsters, Henry Wallace - the former VP, leftist and sometime mystic standard bearer of the Progressive Party, and of course the debonair Southerner and champion of states rights (read anti-civil rights) and leader of the break-away Dixiecrat Democrats. Truman should have been the big loser as he was being mauled from all sides and no one gave him a chance to win ....except Harry Truman and his inner circle. The book shows how Dewey took the air out of the ball and ran the most cautious campaign of perhaps any major party candidate in the 20th century. How the South was a much more complicated region than we give it credit for especially in the 40's and how Thurmond was able to commandeer some of the states in the south and how Wallace was the darling of the American left ....early on in the campaign and how his campaign imploded. All in all , a fast read and some amazing comparisons are made to today's campaigns and how this campaign was truly the last of its kind and the harbinger of campaigns to come.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would have benefited from being longer. The material was interesting, but aside from *one sentence* acknowledging the existance of the NAACP there was a gaping absence of anything on the actions/reactions of black Americans in the North or South to Strom Thurmond and the Dixiecrats, Truman's civil rights legislation, the election in general... Weird.

Also, some of the stories needed to be fleshed out, and the pacing needed help - he handled writing about someone's sandwich (lots about menus in this book) in the same brief manner as Dewey's marching with caveman impersonators, as Truman's fight with James Roosevelt, and so on. I would have appreciate more on that (the cavemen).

[Mark Desrosiers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was hoping someone would write a Theodore White style book about this weird election, and here it is. It will definitely make you wistful for the days when you had a choice between ideologically disparate candidates.

[Rhys · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book after hearing a C-SPAN interview with the author. The story is an intriguing inspection of modern politics and the influence media (TV) has had upon the public's views. A good read, especially before an election.

[Moira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating history of Truman's campaign and history of American immediately post WWII