1948 - by David Pietrusza (Paperback)

About the Book

"The 1948 election was a war for the soul of the Democratic Party, with accidental president Harry Truman pitted against Henry Wallace, his embittered left-wing predecessor as vice president, and young South Carolina segregationist Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond. On the GOP side, it's a four-way battle between cold-as-ice New Yorker Tom Dewey, Minnesota upstart Harold Stassen, stodgy but brilliant Ohio conservative Robert Taft, and imperious but aged Douglas MacArthur. Author David Pietrusza goes beyond the headlines to place in context a down-to-the-wire fight against the background of an erupting Cold War, the birth of Israel, storms over civil rights, and domestic communism. Featuring a stellar supporting cast: Alger Hiss, Whitaker Chambers, Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, Earl Warren, Paul Robeson, Lillian Hellman, Pete Seeger, Eleanor Roosevelt, Joe McCarthy, Clark Clifford, William O. Douglas, George C. Marshall, John Foster Dulles, Adlai Stevenson, Lyndon Johnson, H. L. Mencken, Harold Ickes, Clare and Henry Luce, and Ronald Reagan"--

Book Synopsis

Award-winning historian David Pietrusza unpacks the most ingloriously iconic headline in the history of presidential elections-DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN-to reveal the 1948 campaign's backstage events and recount the down-to-the-wire brawl fought against the background of an erupting Cold War, the Berlin Airlift, the birth of Israel, and a post-war America facing exploding storms over civil rights and domestic communism.

Review Quotes

Praise for 1948: Harry Truman's Improbable Victory and the Year that Transformed America

"Outstanding. . . . by far the best yet about the fateful [1948] election." -Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"Reads like a movie thriller waiting to be filmed." -Washington Times

"Coherent, compelling. . . . A skillful, authoritative investigation." -Kirkus Reviews

"Pietrusza is the undisputed champion of chronicling American Presidential campaigns." -Dead Presidents blog

"Sweeping . . . compelling." -Library Journal

"A masterpiece!" -Roger Stone

"In 1948 David Pietrusza brings to light some of the forgotten but important figures in American political history. There's Glen Taylor, the singing senator from Idaho and running mate of Henry Wallace on perhaps the most left-wing national ticket of the past century. Mississippi Fielding Wright also makes a memorable appearance as understudy for segregationist South Carolina Gov. Strom Thurmond, a reminder of just how solid the South was for Democrats at one time. Pietrusza brilliantly portrays President Harry Truman's successful efforts to stave off the challenge of New York Gov. Tom Dewey, who was making a repeat bid as the Republican nominee. Though Dewey lost, readers will come to see him as a surprisingly civil libertarian-minded candidate, opposing the banning of the Communist Party, despite its promotion of a noxious ideology." -David Mark, Senior Editor, POLITICO

"A terrific book. . . . a must-read." -Ron Faucheux, editor-in-chief, Campaigns & Elections magazine

"If you think [2012] is wild, this is really wild-Harry Truman and Henry Wallace and Strom Thurmond and Tom Dewey." -Tom Brokaw

Praise for Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series

Finalist for the Edgar Award in Best Fact Crime

"Pietrusza does a terrific job of capturing Rothstein's colorful career and sheds new light on [his] role in fixing the World Series, disputing the standard history." -New York Times Book Review

"An engaging biography. . . . Puts real flesh on the story of how the new machinery of mass entertainment-the yellow press, movies, radio, the recording industry-created and brought together the culture of celebrity, politics, big-time sports, stock market fortunes and organized crime in the 1920s." -Washington Post Book World

Praise for 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents

"Broad, fluid brush strokes. . . . a brisk narrative." -The Wall Street Journal (rated one of the Top Five Books on Presidential Campaigns)

"David Pietrusza has a gift for making the past both real and dramatically gripping, and in 1920 he has an extraordinary cast of characters with which to work his magic. ... one helluva historical dinner party. An unforgettable group portrait of America on the brink of modernity." -Richard Norton Smith

"More than just a story of six men who either already had been president or would be, this is the story of America as it moved into the modern age." -Denver Post

"A rousing chronicle. . . . Pietrusza . . . adds color and dimension with smart discussions of Prohibition, women's suffrage, immigration, civil rights, the League of Nations and labor strife, and he offers animated portraits.... A hugely fascinating episode in American history, told with insight and great humor, by an author in command of his subject." -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Absorbing. . . . a broad, satisfying political and social history, in the style of Doris Kearns Goodwin." -Publishers Weekly

"Fascinating and compelling. . . . Highly recommended.

About the Author

David Pietrusza's books include Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series; 1920: The Year of Six Presidents; 1948: Harry Truman's Improbable Victory and the Year that Transformed America's Role in the World; 1960: LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon: The Epic Campaign that Forged Three Presidencies; and Roosevelt Sweeps Nation: FDR's 1936 Landslide and the Triumph of the Liberal Ideal. Rothstein was a finalist for an Edgar Award in the Best Fact Crime category, and 1920 was honored by Kirkus Reviews as among their Books of the Year.

Pietrusza has appeared on Good Morning America, Morning Joe, The Voice of America, The History Channel, ESPN, NPR, AMC, and C-SPAN. He has spoken at The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, The National Baseball Hall of Fame, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, and various universities and festivals.

He lives in Scotia, New York.

Visit davidpietrusza.com