Thomas E. Quotes
What is particularly interesting in this quotation is her use of the term “untried methods”. To most conservatives of any party “untried methods” connotes something bad and to be avoided. Yet to Mrs. Roosevelt and her husband, along with the New Dealers and many other Democrats, viewed “untried methods” as a virtue and a President willing to use untried methods and experiment was to them dangerous and inadequate for the modern world. “Tried and true” approaches are fine as long as they work and the nation is not facing a new situation. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, assuming the Presidency in the midst of the Great Depression realized that President Herbert Hoover had tried all the “tried and true” methods and was an excellent administrator. Yet the nation was in mortal crisis. So the Roosevelts and the New Dealers tried a number of solutions that had never before been attempted—Social Security, Closing aA(the)ll banks and stopping foreclosures, the CCC, WPA are just a few. Some did not work; some were declared unconstitutional and we will never know whether or not they would have been effective, and some were so effective that they are now considered “tried and true” like Social Security.
When the 37-year-old Thomas E. Dewey announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination:
This was Dewey’s New York State Gubernatorial Campaign. It appears to be the first TV talkathon where a candidate took call in questions from the voters.
Utley made the statement on election night of 1948 when HG Kaltenborn and must other pundits observed that Truman’s early lead was not big enough to overcome the results of the rural precincts which were slower to report and most assumed went heavily for Dewey. Utley, however, had conducted his own exit poll in the Chicago region and found that people who supported Dewey, when they got into the voting booth just could not support him. He appears to be the first journalist to call the election for Truman.
Dewey was the overwhelming favorite to defeat President Harry Truman who was very unpopular at the time. Everyone assumed that Dewey was packed and ready to leave for Washington.
Dewey had been the Republican Presidential Candidate in 1948. Although he and the Republicans were the overwhelming favorites, Dewey lost to Harry S Truman. In 1952, Dewey was a major supporter of Robert Taft for the Presidency. But other Republicans including Dirksen wanted Dwight D. Eisenhower as the candidate. Dewey had given a rousing speech telling the Party to nominate Taft. Dirksen then responded. Such a public rebuke of a former standard bearer was considered very insulting. However, Dirksen was saying what most Republicans believed. Despite an intense effort by Taft and the very conservative wing of the Party, Eisenhower was selected as the nominee and he won the Presidency.
Dulles was slated to become Secretary of State when Dewey won the presidency. Dewey was the overwhelming favorite, yet Truman upset Dewey. Four years later, Dulles became Eisenhower's Secretary of State.
the presidency against Harry Truman. Then a Republican campaign aide to Dewey
Based on incomplete returns from the previous night, the newspaper staff concluded that Truman lost, and printed the "news." A famous picture shows Truman gleefully holding up the newspaper with its headline for all to see. Truman said on that occasion: "That ain't the way I heard it."
