Home About Chat Users Issues Party Candidates Polling Firms Media News Polls Calendar Key Races United States President Senate House Governors International

New User Account
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource." 
Email: Password:

  Dewey, Thomas E.
CANDIDATE DETAILS
AffiliationRepublican  
  1944-01-01  
 
NameThomas E. Dewey
Address45 East 45th Street
Manhattan, New York , United States
EmailNone
WebsiteNone
Born March 24, 1902
DiedMarch 16, 1971 (68 years)
ContributorRalphie
Last ModifedRBH
Jul 24, 2019 04:26pm
Tags Married - Freemason - Episcopalian -
InfoDEWEY, Thomas Edmund - Republican politician who served as Governor of New York (1943-1955) and was the Republican nominee for President in 1944 and 1948.

Born 3/24/1902 in Owosso, Michigan, son of George M. & Annie (Thomas) Dewey. His grandfather was a third cousin of Admiral George Dewey, and his ancestor Thomas Dewey settled in Massachusetts in 1634. His father was the local postmaster and publisher of a weekly newspaper the Owosso Times.

A.B., Univ. of Michigan 1923. During his years there, Dewey won a Michigan state singing contest and placed third nationally. He took voice training in New York City, where he met his future wife, Frances E. Hutt (grandneice of Confederate President Jefferson Davis). They were married on 6/26/1928 and had two sons.

Between the time of his first degree and his marriage, Dewey was busy. He earned a law degree from Columbia in 1925, and the following summer he toured Europe with college friends in an old car. Dewey started to wear a moustache during this trip.

Special Prosecutor in New York City. Appointed by Gov. Herbert H. Lehman in 1935, Dewey gained fame for winning the conviction of Lucky Luciano in 1936 as a result of the Rackets Investigation.

District Attorney (R, ALP, City Fusion) of New York County 1938-1942. Dewey was the first Republican to hold the post since Charles S. Whitman, who also had gone on to become New York Governor. Among his major convictions during his term were Tammany political boss James J. Hines, magistrate Hulon Capshaw, Nazi leader Fritz Kuhn, and mobster Lepke Buchalter. Dewey began the prosecution of Martin T. Manton, judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, who had been selling verdicts. Dewey declined a second term in 1941.

Candidate for Governor (R-NY) 1938. Dewey was nominated to challenge NY Gov. Lehman, who gave Dewey his start in politics. Dewey ran a campaign the NY Times called "spectacular" and came within a whisker of winning the race. His close call propelled him immediately into the national Republican spotlight.

Candidate for President (R) 1940. Running in the Republican primaries, Dewey ended up with more pledged delegates than any other contender, but he was passed over at the brokered convention.

Governor (R-NY) 1943-1955. Having nearly knocked off Gov. Lehman in 1938, Dewey was the clear favorite in 1942. He won the election by a margin of nearly 650,000 over John J. Bennett. In his first term, Dewey increased state aid for education, established a commission to eliminate religious and racial discrimination in employment, liberalized the unemployment insurance regulations, and worked to eliminate tuberculosis. Dewey was re-elected in 1946 with a majority of nearly 700,000 votes. During his second term, increased state surpluses were used to improve the state's highway system. Although he planned to retire after two terms, when his Lt. Governor, who had been nominated in 1950, dropped out of the race, Dewey ran a third time and defeated Walter Lynch in the race.

Republican candidate for President 1944. Dewey won the nomination easily, though he did not actively seek it during the spring. Recognizing the difficulty in running against a popular FDR and not wanting to encourage the Axis powers, Dewey tempered his criticism of the Allied approach to the war. Although Dewey lost the 1944 election, it was the closest of FDR's four national victories.

Republican nominee for President in 1948. Dewey campaigned aggressively in the primaries and was nominated on the third ballot (the last Republican National Convention to take more than one ballot to choose a presidential nominee). Dewey changed strategy for the general election. Running well ahead of Pres. Truman in the polls, he chose a more careful approach in order to minimize losses from moderate voters. As it turned out, Dewey gained heavily in the industrial states but lost support in agricultural areas - which was enough to elect Truman.

Dewey died at 3:30 p.m. on 3/16/1971. He had played a round of golf and returned to his hotel room in the Seaview Hotel north of Miami Beach FL when he had a heart attack.

New York Times 3/17/1971

JOB APPROVAL POLLS

BOOKS
Title Purchase Contributor
Twenty against the underworld  Purchase Magical Horse 
Thomas E Dewey on the Two Party System  Purchase Magical Horse 
The Case Against the New Deal  Purchase Magical Horse 
Journey to the Far Pacific  Purchase Magical Horse 

EVENTS
Start Date End Date Type Title Contributor

NEWS
Date Category Headline Article Contributor

DISCUSSION
Importance? 9.66670 Average

FAMILY
Wife Frances Eileen Hutt Dewey Jun 16, 1928-Jul 17, 1970
Son Thomas E. Dewey, Jr. 1932-
Grandson Thomas Dewey III 1964-
Son John Martin Dewey 1935-

INFORMATION LINKS
Dewey Defeats Truman (photo)  Discuss
Dewey Defeats Truman (Wikipedia)  Discuss
The Story Behind "Dewey Defeats Truman"  Discuss
Thomas E. Dewey Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech 1944  Discuss
Thomas E. Dewey Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech 1948  Discuss
RACES
  07/01/1956 US President - R Primaries Lost 0.00% (-85.93%)
  11/07/1950 NY Governor Won 53.11% (+10.79%)
  12/13/1948 US President Lost 35.59% (-21.47%)
  11/02/1948 US President National Vote Lost 45.07% (-4.48%)
  07/01/1948 US President - R Primaries Lost 11.58% (-15.42%)
  06/21/1948 US President - R Convention Won 60.74% (+45.53%)
  11/05/1946 NY Governor Won 56.92% (+13.84%)
  12/18/1944 US President Lost 18.64% (-62.71%)
  11/07/1944 US President National Vote Lost 45.89% (-7.49%)
  07/01/1944 US President - R Primaries Lost 12.18% (-16.76%)
  07/01/1944 US President - D Primaries Lost 0.00% (-79.23%)
  06/28/1944 US President - R Convention Won 99.91% (+99.81%)
  11/03/1942 NY Governor Won 52.10% (+15.70%)
  07/28/1940 US President - R Convention Lost 17.17% (-30.42%)
  07/01/1940 US President - R Primaries Won 49.76% (+33.09%)
  11/08/1938 NY Governor Lost 49.02% (-1.35%)
  11/02/1937 New York County District Attorney Won 59.60% (+19.91%)
SPECULATIVE, DID NOT RUN
  07/01/1952 US President - R Primaries Lost 0.00% (-35.84%)
ENDORSEMENTS
US President - R Primaries - Jul 01, 1952 R Dwight D. Eisenhower