Thomas Dewey

Thomas Dewey

Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 - March 16, 1971) was the Governor of New York (1943-1955) and the Republican candidate for the U.S. Presidency in two elections (1944 and 1948), losing both elections. He gained unwelcome notoriety in the 1948 election due to miscalculations by pollsters and the press, which projected his safe victory in that election. The Chicago Daily Tribune had gone so far as to print "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN" as its post-election headline, though the election would actually be won by Harry S. Truman.

Dewey was also a New York City prosecutor during the 1930s, and in 1936, he helped in the conviction of Lucky Luciano. In 1939 Dewey prosecuted American Nazi leader Fritz Kuhn for embezzlement, thereby crippling Kuhn's organization. Mobster Dutch Schultz was reportedly killed because he was planning to assassinate Dewey, which his compatriots felt would draw too much unwanted law enforcement attention to their operations.

Disney comic strip artist and creator of the Huey, Dewey and Louie ducklings, Al Taliaferro, named Dewey after Thomas Dewey.

References

Thomas E. Dewey Papers, University of Rochester