Thomas Edmund Dewey | |
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34th President of the United States | |
In office April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1953 | |
Vice President | vacant (1945–49) Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (1949–53) |
Preceded by | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
Succeeded by | Joseph P. Kennedy |
33rd Vice President of the United States | |
In office January 20, 1945 – April 12, 1945 | |
President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
Preceded by | Henry A. Wallace |
Succeeded by | Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. |
47th Governor of New York | |
In office January 1, 1943 – January 1, 1945 | |
Lieutenant | Thomas W. Wallace Joe R. Hanley Frank C. Moore Arthur H. Wicks (acting) Walter J. Mahoney (acting) |
Preceded by | Charles Poletti |
Succeeded by | W. Averell Harriman |
Personal details | |
Born | Thomas Edmund Dewey March 24, 1902 Owosso, Michigan, the |
Died | March 16, 1971 Mayflower, the | (aged 68)
Political party | Progressive Party |
Spouse(s) | Frances Hutt (m. 1928; d. 1970) |
Children | 2 |
Profession | Lawyer; Politician |
Religion | Christianity (Episcopalianism) |
Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 34th President of the United States (1948–1953), taking office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Dewey briefly served as the 33rd Vice President of the United States from January to April 1945. He also served as the 47th Governor of New York from 1943 to 1945.
Dewey was the first president born in the 20th century. With his re-election in 1948 at age 45, he was the youngest man to be elected as the U.S. president; Daniel D. Tompkins was the youngest man ever served as president in 1814, followed by Theodore Roosevelt in 1904, but they were never elected to the office and only replaced their predecessors in their capacity as vice-president. Trivially, Dewey was the last president to sport facial hair during his terms.
Dewey was one of the leading members of Progressive Party's right-wing whose domestic policies were mainly a continuation of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. In foreign issue, his policies were characterized by the containment of Soviet Union's foreign influences through the Marshall Plan to rebuild the economy of Western Europe and the establishment of the Dewey Doctrine and NATO. Dewey's most prominent critic on foreign policies was Henry A. Wallace, a leading member of left-wing Progressives, who favored conciliatory approach with the USSR.