President Thomas E. Dewey (Dewey Elected)

Thomas E. Dewey From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Thomas Edmund Dewey

34th President of the United States In Office January 20, 1949- January 20, 1953 Vice President Earl Warren 1949-1952 None 1952-1953 Preceded by Harry Truman Succeeded by Dwight D. Eisenhower

47th Governor of New York In office January 1, 1943 – December 31, 1954 Lieutenant 	Thomas W. Wallace (January-July 1943) Joe R. Hanley (1943-1950) Frank C. Moore (1950-1953) Arthur H. Wicks (1953) Walter J. Mahoney (1954) Preceded by 	Charles Poletti Succeeded by 	W. Averell Harriman Born 	March 24, 1902(1902-03-24) Owosso, Michigan Died 	March 16, 1971 (aged 68) Miami, Florida Political party 	Republican Spouse(s) 	Frances Hutt (1928-1970) Alma mater 	University of Michigan, Columbia Law School Profession 	Politician Religion 	Episcopalian Signature

Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was the 34th President of The United States (1949-1953). and the governor of New York (1943 – 1954). In 1944 and 1948, he was the Republican candidate for President, losing the first election, and winning the latter.He led the liberal faction of the Republican Party, in which he fought conservative Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft. Dewey advocated for the professional and business community of the Northeastern United States, which would later be called the "Eastern Establishment." This organization accepted the majority of New Deal social-welfare reforms enacted after 1944. It consisted of internationalists who were in favor of the United Nations and the "Cold War" fought against communism and the Soviet Union. In addition, he played a large part in the election of Dwight D. Eisenhower as President in 1952. Dewey's successor as leader of the liberal Republicans was Nelson Rockefeller, who became governor of New York in 1959. The New York State Thruway is named in Dewey's honor. Contents [hide]

* 1 Early life and family  * 2 Prosecutor         o 2.1 Federal prosecutor         o 2.2 Special Prosecutor         o 2.3 Manhattan District Attorney   * 3 Governor of New York   * 4 Presidential candidacies         o 4.1 1940         o 4.2 1944         o 4.3 1948         o 4.4 1952   * 5 Presidentcy 1949-1953   * 6 Election of 1952   * 7 1938 New York State Republican Ticket   * 8 1942 New York State Republican Ticket   * 9 1946 New York State Republican Ticket   * 10 1950 New York State Republican Ticket   * 11 Publication   * 12 Bibliography   * 13 Further reading   * 14 References   * 15 Notes   * 16 External links

[edit] Early life and family

Dewey was born and raised in Owosso, Michigan, where his father owned, edited, and published the local newspaper, the Owosso Times. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1923, and from Columbia Law School in 1925. While at the University of Michigan, he joined Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national fraternity for men of music, and was a member of the Men's Glee Club. He was an excellent singer with a deep, baritone voice, and in 1923 he finished in third place in the National Singing Contest.[1] He briefly considered a career as a professional singer, but decided against it after a temporary throat ailment convinced him that such a career would be risky. He then decided to pursue a career as a lawyer.[2] He also wrote for The Michigan Daily, the university's student newspaper.

In 1928 Dewey married Frances Hutt. A native of Sherman, Texas, she had briefly been a stage actress; after their marriage she dropped her acting career.[3] They had two sons, Thomas E. Dewey, Jr. and John Dewey. Although Dewey served as a prosecutor and District Attorney in New York City for many years, his home from 1938 until his death was a large farm, called "Dapplemere", located near the town of Pawling some 65 miles (105 km) north of New York City. According to biographer Richard Norton Smith, Dewey "loved Dapplemere as [he did] no other place", and Dewey was once quoted as saying that "I work like a horse five days and five nights a week for the privilege of getting to the country on the weekend." Dapplemere was part of a tight-knit rural community called "Quaker Hill," which was known as a haven for the prominent and well-to-do. Among Dewey's neighbors on Quaker Hill were the famous reporter and radio broadcaster Lowell Thomas, the Reverend Norman Vincent Peale, and the legendary CBS News journalist Edward R. Murrow. Dewey was a lifelong member of The Episcopal Church.[4] [edit] Prosecutor [edit] Federal prosecutor

Dewey first served as a federal prosecutor, then started a lucrative private practice on Wall Street; however, he left his practice for an appointment as special prosecutor to look into corruption in New York City – with the official title of Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.[5] It was in this role that he first achieved headlines in the early 1930s, when he prosecuted bootlegger Waxey Gordon.

Dewey had used his excellent recall of details of crimes to trip up witnesses as a federal prosecutor; as a state prosecutor, he used telephone taps (which were perfectly legal at the time) to gather evidence, with the ultimate goal of bringing down entire criminal organizations.[5] On that account, Dewey successfully lobbied for an overhaul in New York's criminal procedure law, which at that time required separate trials for each count of an indictment.[5] [edit] Special Prosecutor

Dewey rocketed to fame in 1935, when he was appointed special prosecutor in New York County (Manhattan) by Governor Herbert H. Lehman. A "runaway grand jury" had publicly complained that William C. Dodge, the District Attorney, was not aggressively pursuing the mob and political corruption. Lehman, to avoid charges of partisanship, asked four prominent Republicans to serve as special prosecutor. All four refused and recommended Dewey.[6]

Dewey moved ahead vigorously. He recruited a staff of over 60 assistants, investigators, process servers, stenographers, and clerks. New York Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia assigned a picked squad of 63 police officers to Dewey's office.

Dewey's targets were organized racketeering: the large-scale criminal enterprises, especially extortion, the "numbers" game, and prostitution. He pursued Tammany Hall leaders known for their ties to gangsters, such as James Joseph Hines.

One of his biggest prizes was gangster Dutch Schultz, who he had battled as both a federal and state prosecutor. Schultz's first trial ended in a deadlock; prior to his second trial, Schultz had the venue moved to Malone, New York, then moved there and garnered the sympathy of the townspeople through charitable acts so that when it came time for his trial, the jury found him innocent, liking him too much to convict him.[5]

Dewey and La Guardia threatened Schultz with instant arrest and further charges. Schultz now proposed to murder Dewey. Dewey would be killed while he made his daily morning call to his office from a pay phone near his home.[5] However, New York crime boss Lucky Luciano and the "Mafia Commission" decided that Dewey's murder would provoke an all-out crackdown. Instead they had Schultz killed.[5]

Dewey next turned his attention to Luciano. Dewey raided 80 houses of prostitution in the New York City area and arrested hundreds of prostitutes and "madams". Many of the prostitutes - some of whom told of being beaten and abused by Mafia thugs - were willing to testify to avoid prison time. Three implicated Luciano as controller of organized prostitution in the New York/New Jersey area - one of the largest prostitution rings in American history.[5] In the greatest victory of his legal career, Dewey won the conviction of Luciano for the prostitution racket, with a sentence of 30 to 50 years.[7]

However, Dewey did more than simply prosecute gangsters. In 1936 Dewey helped indict and convict Richard Whitney, the former president of the New York Stock Exchange, for embezzlement. Dewey also led efforts to protect dockworkers and poultry farmers and workers from racketeering in New York.[8] In 1936 Dewey received The Hundred Year Association of New York's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York." In 1939 Dewey prosecuted American Nazi leader Fritz Kuhn for embezzlement, crippling Kuhn's organization and limiting its ability to support Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

In 1937, Dewey was elected District Attorney himself, defeating Dodge. [edit] Manhattan District Attorney

Dewey was elected District Attorney of New York County (Manhattan) in 1937. By the late 1930s Dewey's successful efforts against organized crime – and especially his conviction of Lucky Luciano – had turned him into a national celebrity. His nickname, the "Gangbuster", became the name of a popular radio serial based on his fight against the mob. Hollywood film studios even made several movies inspired by his exploits; Marked Woman starred Humphrey Bogart as a Dewey-like DA and Bette Davis as a "party girl" whose testimony helps convict the gang boss.[9] [edit] Governor of New York

In 1938, Edwin Jaeckle, the New York Republican Party Chairman, selected Dewey to run, unsuccessfully, for Governor of New York against the popular Democratic incumbent, Herbert H. Lehman. Dewey was only 36 years old at the time. He based his campaign on his record as a famous prosecutor of organized-crime figures in New York City. Although he was defeated, Dewey's surprisingly strong showing against Lehman (he lost by only 1.4%) brought him national political attention and made him a frontrunner for the 1940 Republican presidential nomination.[10] Jaeckle was one of Dewey's top advisors and mentors for the remainder of his political career.

In 1942, Dewey ran for governor again, and won with a large plurality over Democrat John J. Bennett, Jr.. Bennett was not endorsed by the American Labor Party, whose candidate drew almost 10%. The ALP did endorse incumbent Lieutenant Governor Charles Poletti who lost narrowly to Dewey's running mate Thomas W. Wallace. In 1946, Dewey was re-elected by the greatest margin in state history to that point, almost 700,000 votes.[11] Four years later, he was elected to a third term.

Usually regarded as an honest and highly effective governor, Dewey cut taxes; doubled state aid to education; increased salaries for state employees; and still reduced the state's debt by over $100 million. Additionally, he put through the first state law in the country which prohibited racial discrimination in employment. As governor, Dewey also signed legislation that created the State University of New York. He played a major role in the creation of the New York State Thruway, which was eventually named in his honor. Dewey also streamlined and consolidated many state agencies to make them more efficient.[12] With Jaeckle's help, Dewey also created a powerful political organization that allowed him to dominate New York state politics and influence national politics.

He also strongly supported the death penalty. During his 12 years as Governor, over 90 people (including two women) were electrocuted under New York authority. [edit] Presidential candidacies [edit] 1940

Dewey sought the 1940 Republican presidential nomination. He was considered the early favorite for the nomination, but his support ebbed in the late spring of 1940, as World War II suddenly became much more dangerous for America.

Some Republican leaders considered Dewey to be too young (he was only 38) and too inexperienced to lead the nation in wartime. Furthermore, Dewey's isolationist stance became problematic when Germany quickly conquered France, and seemed poised to conquer Britain. As a result, many Republicans switched to Wendell Willkie, who was a decade older and supported aid to the Allies fighting Germany. Willkie lost to Franklin D. Roosevelt in the general election.[13]

Dewey's foreign-policy position evolved during the 1940s; by 1944 he was considered an internationalist and a supporter of projects such as the United Nations. It was in 1940 that Dewey first clashed with Taft. Taft - who maintained his isolationist views and economic conservatism to his death - became Dewey's great rival for control of the Republican Party in the 1940s and early 1950s. Dewey became the leader of moderate-to-liberal Republicans, who were based in the northeastern and Pacific Coast states, while Taft became the leader of conservative Republicans who dominated most of the Midwest and parts of the South.[14] [edit] 1944

With Jaeckle leading his campaign, Dewey pursued the Republican nomination in 1944. At the 1944 Republican Convention, his chief rivals, Ohio governor John Bricker and former Minnesota governor Harold Stassen both withdrew and Dewey was nominated almost unanimously. Dewey then made Bricker (who was supported by Taft) his running mate.

In the general election campaign, Dewey crusaded against the alleged inefficiencies, corruption and Communist influences in incumbent President Roosevelt's New Deal programs, but avoided military and foreign policy debates. Dewey suffered an unexpected blow when socialite Alice Roosevelt Longworth (daughter of Theodore Roosevelt) mocked Dewey as "the little man on the wedding cake" (alluding to his neat mustache and dapper dress). It was ridicule he could never shake.

Dewey lost the election to Roosevelt. However, Dewey polled 46% of the popular vote, a stronger showing against Roosevelt than any previous Republican opponent. Dewey was the first presidential candidate to be born in the twentieth century. As of 2009, he was also the youngest Republican presidential nominee.[15]

Dewey nearly committed a serious blunder when he prepared to include, in his campaign, charges that Roosevelt knew ahead of time about the attack on Pearl Harbor; Dewey added, "and instead of being reelected he should be impeached." The U. S. military was aghast at this notion, since it would tip the Japanese off that the United States had broken the Purple code. Army General George C. Marshall made a persistent effort to persuade Dewey not to touch this topic; Dewey yielded.[16] [edit] 1948

He was the Republican candidate in the 1948 presidential election in which, in almost unanimous predictions by pollsters and the press, he was projected as the winner.

Indeed, given Truman's sinking popularity and the Democratic Party's three-way split (between Truman, Henry A. Wallace, and Strom Thurmond), Dewey was unstoppable. Republicans figured that all they had to do to win was to avoid making any major mistakes, and as such Dewey did not take any risks. He spoke in platitudes, trying to transcend politics. Speech after speech was filled with empty statements of the obvious, such as the famous quote: "You know that your future is still ahead of you." An editorial in the Louisville Courier-Journal summed it up:

No presidential candidate in the future will be so inept that four of his major speeches can be boiled down to these historic four sentences: Agriculture is important. Our rivers are full of fish. You cannot have freedom without liberty. Our future lies ahead.[17]

Part of the reason Dewey ran such a cautious, vague campaign was because of his experiences as a presidential candidate in 1944. In that election Dewey felt that he had allowed Roosevelt to draw him into a partisan, verbal "mudslinging" match, and he believed that this had cost him votes. As such, Dewey was convinced in 1948 to appear as non-partisan as possible, and to emphasize the positive aspects of his campaign while ignoring his opponent. This strategy proved to be a major mistake, as it allowed Truman to repeatedly criticize and ridicule Dewey, while Dewey never answered any of Truman's criticisms.[18] Perhaps alone among all of Dewey's advisers, his 1944 campaign chairman, Edwin Jaeckle, admonished him to be aggressive on the campaign trail, advice Dewey rejected.

Dewey was not as conservative as the Republican-controlled 80th Congress, which also proved problematic for him. Truman tied Dewey to the "do-nothing" Congress. Indeed, Dewey had successfully battled Taft and his conservatives for the nomination at the Republican Convention. Taft had remained an isolationist even through the Second World War. Dewey, however, supported the Marshall Plan, the Truman Doctrine, recognition of Israel, and the Berlin airlift.[19]

Dewey was repeatedly urged by the right wing of his party to engage in red-baiting, but he refused. In a debate before the Oregon primary with Harold Stassen, Dewey argued against outlawing the Communist Party of the United States of America, saying "you can't shoot an idea with a gun." He later told Styles Bridges, the Republican national campaign manager, that he was not "going around looking under beds."[20] Dewey was the only Republican to be nominated for President twice to win and lose both times. He is also the last major-party presidential candidate to wear permanent facial hair, in his case a mustache.

Presidency, 1949–1953

President Dewey was inagurated on January 20th, 1949. In his inaguration speech, he promised to hold a closed fist to Commuinsm, and to ensure economic prosperty at home.

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