Truman’s Winning Whistle-stop Tour 

[1] In 1948, United States President Harry S. Truman faced reelection for a second term, but the polls predicted he would lose. [2] Since the end of World War II three years earlier, the US economy had been unsteady. [3] Citizens had trouble finding and purchasing goods due to shortages.  [4] Many people felt a fresh face on the political scene in this uncertain time would be welcome. [5] As the campaign moved into high gear in May of 1948, Truman lagged 11 percent behind Dewey in the polls. [6] Instead, the polls favored New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, Truman's charismatic opponent. [7] However, Truman would engage in a hard-fought, unorthodox campaign style that became known as the first successful “whistle-stop” tour. 1  

Using train travel in a political campaign was a fairly common practice that had begun in the nineteenth 2 century. The specific term “whistle stop” wasn't coined until Truman used it to describe his whirlwind campaign tour. 3 Truman, delivered hundreds of speeches in towns across the United States from an open platform on the back of his train car. His arduous travels 4 were covering 30,000 miles and over 200 train stops, starting in the summer of 1948 and ending that fall before the November 2nd election. He began the tour in Michigan, then moved on to Iowa, Ohio, Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado as the summer progressed. In September, he headed west to Nevada, Utah, California, and Arizona. At one of his stops in 5 Arizona. An estimated 20,000 people waited to greet him at the train station. In October, he headed back east again to Oklahoma, Illinois, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

6 Truman would make as many as eight stops in a single day. He spoke to thousands of voters 7 of a time, but the nature of the whistle stop campaign allowed voters to glimpse a more intimate view of the candidate. By coming to voters’ hometowns and speaking directly to them, Truman presented himself as a “man of the people.”  8 Truman marketed himself as 9 attainable—making himself available to discuss local political issues with the residents of the small towns he visited.

By November, newspapers and the Gallup poll were still predicting Dewey as the winner. However, the success of Truman’s whistle-stop tours had helped to close the gap. 10 When voters went to the polls, Truman won the  11 election which is considered the greatest upset in a US presidential race, due to his exhaustive campaign.

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