Whistle Stop: How 31,000 Miles of Train Travel, 352 Speeches, and a Little Midwest Gumption Saved the Presidency of Harry Truman, by Philip White
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Whistle Stop: How 31,000 Miles of Train Travel, 352 Speeches, and a Little Midwest Gumption Saved the Presidency of Harry Truman, by Philip White
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President Harry Truman was a disappointment to the Democrats, and a godsend to the Republicans. Every attempt to paint Truman with the grace, charm, and grandeur of Franklin Delano Roosevelt had been a dismal failure: Truman’s virtues were simpler, plainer, more direct. The challenges he faced—stirrings of civil rights and southern resentment at home, and communist aggression and brinkmanship abroad—could not have been more critical. By the summer of 1948 the prospects of a second term for Truman looked bleak. Newspapers and popular opinion nationwide had all but anointed as president Thomas Dewey, the Republican New York Governor. Truman could not even be certain of his own party’s nomination: the Democrats, still in mourning for FDR, were deeply riven, with Henry Wallace and Strom Thurmond leading breakaway Progressive and Dixiecrat factions.Finally, with ingenuity born of desperation, Truman’s aides hit upon a plan: get the president in front of as many regular voters as possible, preferably in intimate settings, all across the country. To the surprise of everyone but Harry Truman, it worked. Whistle Stop is the first book of its kind: a micro-history of the summer and fall of 1948 when Truman took to the rails, crisscrossing the country from June right up to Election Day in November. The tour and the campaign culminated with the iconic image of a grinning, victorious Truman holding aloft the famous Chicago Tribune headline: “Dewey Defeats Truman.”
Whistle Stop: How 31,000 Miles of Train Travel, 352 Speeches, and a Little Midwest Gumption Saved the Presidency of Harry Truman, by Philip White- Amazon Sales Rank: #3774616 in Books
- Published on: 2015-10-06
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.00" h x .90" w x 6.00" l, 1.05 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 332 pages
Review “A far more compelling account of just how Harry gave ’em hell—the campaign’s war cry—than the gauzy version that has hardened into legend.”—Wall Street Journal“An intimate and richly detailed view of one of the most colorful presidential campaign tours in American history.”—Candice Millard, author of The River of Doubt and Destiny of the Republic“Whistle Stop tells in masterful fashion the story of the election that the smart money said Harry S. Truman would lose.”—Paul Reid, author of The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Defender of the Realm“[T]his reportage and analysis has much to commend Whistle Stop: How 31,000 Miles of Travel, 352 Speeches and a Little Midwest Gumption Saved the Presidency of Harry Truman. [It] is a dramatic page-turner. It is a worthy addition to the many books written about Harry S. Truman as well as an excellent addition to the growing body of work about presidential campaigns.”—The Missourian
Review “A fascinating page-turner.” (Matthew Algeo, author of Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure)
About the Author PHILIP WHITE is a guest lecturer at MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, Kansas. He is the author of Our Supreme Task: How Winston Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech Defined the Cold War Alliance and is a frequent contributor to the Huffington Post.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Whistle Stop...great read...great and compelling history! By Richard K. Munro The election of 1948 is one of the most significant presidential elections in all American history. The Republican Party could almost taste an easy victory over plain little Harry Truman. After all, the Republicans had won control of Congress in 1946. They had a dream ticket -it appeared to many observers- in moderate liberal Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York and progressive Republican Earl Warren of California. Shortages and strikes, though no longer as troublesome as earlier, remained a worry for many Americans. In addition as the Cold War heated up with the Stalin’s Berlin Blockade the world seemed, once again, to be on the brink of nuclear war. Could Harry Truman, a man who had never won a national election and who became president by accident be trusted to lead America in this critical time? Could Truman even win the Democratic nomination? The Democrats were divided on the Civil Rights issue and Southern “Dixiecrats” might bolt the party, weakening the Democratic coalition.This is the fascinating story of Whistlestop by Phillip White, author of Our Supreme Task. To those who have read the biographies of American presidents and US history the outline of the story is well-known. But Phillip White shows that Truman and his advisors, facing defeat, rose to the challenge with a vigorous and skilled response that, in retrospect is nothing more than heroic. This response was to have the president meet as many voters in person as possible all over the country armed with localized and personalized information about every city, every county and every state that Truman visited. Information, we have long known, is power but this inner story of the Democratic National Committee’s Research Division is crucial to understanding Truman’s victory. Truman travelled over 30,000 miles and gave, on average, 16 speeches a day. meeting millions of Americans. Truman was not a great public speaker, as White points out, compared to his contemporizes FDR, Churchill or even the firebrand Strom Thurmond but he demonstrated deep knowledge of the issues that concerned the American people, passion and his persona as a “down-home” man of the people was believable because it was evident to all who met him that Truman was a good and true man. But, as Phillip White points out if Truman had not be able to connect to so many middle-of-the-road voters he would not have won the election.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Truman Defeats Dewey By HBM Whistle Stop is a compelling and detailed recounting of Harry Truman's tour on the Last Chance Special. The story is familiar: Thomas Dewey was guaranteed victory by the pollsters and media during the fall of 1948, but Truman battled back - touring over 31,000 miles during the campaign. Dewey's own train was the Victory Special. White's book stands out because it focuses on Truman's tour and the work of the DNC's Research Division. In 1948 the now-familiar campaign `war room' was a novelty.The technology may have changed over the past 6 decades, but some issues sound familiar: Truman comparing Dewey to Hitler (it may have been a campaign first) and Truman dealing with a `do-nothing' Congress. Truman showed his convictions by issuing an Executive Order desegregating the military. The Order led to a split in Truman's own party and the creation of the States' Rights Democratic Party (Dixiecrats).Overall, Whistle Stop is an excellent book for anyone interested in a great story.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Great David vs. Goliath story well-told. By WDeaver As an eighth-grader at Mojave Elementary in Mojave CA in 1948, I watched with my brother Mike Deaver as Harry Truman spoke from the rear of the Ferdinand Magellan. Years later, Mike rode the same car with Ronald Reagan as a member of his staff!The story has uncanny parallels to what our current president faces...Only problem is the author referring to the Magellan as a "train" rather than as a car, and other unfamiliarity with 1940s technology.Great David vs. Goliath story well-told.
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