Clinton Curry, executive director of the Key West Harry S. Truman Foundation, and the foundation team are putting the finishing touches in place for the upcoming 75th anniversary of the infamous “Dewey Defeats Truman” mistaken newspaper headline.
We sat down with Clinton to learn more about the events surrounding the anniversary.
What is the significance of “Dewey Defeats Truman” and why are you celebrating its 75th anniversary? Seventy-five years ago, the 33rd president, Harry S. Truman was seeking a second term in office. Opinion polls and political experts predicted that his opponent, Gov. Thomas Dewey of New York, would prevail. Plenty of folks got it wrong, but most visibly, the Chicago Daily Tribune, whose Nov. 3, 1948 headline announced, “Dewey Defeats Truman.”
What burned this gaffe into our collective memory is that while all this was occurring, Harry Truman was on a cross-country “whistle-stop” campaign tour aboard the “Ferdinand Magellan” railcar, and on Nov. 4, at the St. Louis Union Train Station, surrounded by spectators, Truman held that paper and its erroneous headline up for all to see, and at that moment, photographers captured what has been described as possibly “the most famous political photograph of all time.”
How are you commemorating the date? With two events over two days: First, on Friday, Nov. 3, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. we’re staging a historic re-enactment of the iconic St. Louis scene, but at the Gold Coast Railroad Museum in Miami, where the original “Ferdinand Magellan” railcar is now on display. The following day we’ll host a celebration from noon until 2 p.m. on the grounds of the Harry S. Truman Little White House in Key West.
How will the part with Harry Truman holding the newspaper on board the “Ferdinand Magellan” work? Didn’t he die in 1972? He did – but standing in his place will be his own grandson, Clifton Truman Daniel, an actor who regularly portrays his grandfather in the stage production “Give ‘Em Hell, Harry!”
Would you describe the Miami event as more of a spectator or participatory event? Definitely a participatory event. The plan is to have all the guests surround the railcar, holding up their cameras – meaning phones — and be part of the recreated scene. Shutters will click; flashes will fire – and history will be re-enacted.
Was there anyone with a local connection in the crowd that day in 1948? Yes, there was one that we know of. Edwin O. Swift Jr., father of Historic Tours of America President and Director Ed Swift, was chief photographer for the St. Louis Star Times. He can be seen in the 1948 photograph, top of the lower right hand side, in a light colored jacket holding his camera above the crowd. I am looking forward to having Mr. Swift in the crowd, standing in the same position his father did 75 years earlier.
How long has the Ferdinand Magellan railcar been in the collection of the Gold Coast Railroad Museum? The railcar was acquired by the museum in 1959 and is one of more than 40 historic rail cars now housed there. One of those railcars has a very historic tie to the Florida Keys, having been used for the Miami to Key West rail service and for pulling the “rescue train” out of Marathon before the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935; FEC No. 153.
Are these ticketed events? Friday’s “Dewey Defeats Truman” news photo reenactment is a ticketed event that runs from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tickets include hors d’oeuvres and 2 drink tickets, and are $25 for Key West Harry S. Truman Foundation and Gold Coast Railroad Museum members, $30 for non-members, and $15 for children under 12. Saturday’s event at the Harry S. Truman Little White House is free and open to the public.
Recommended attire? Since we are celebrating in Florida, we decided to go with what was labeled Truman’s presidential wardrobe during his stays in Key West, tropical and guayabera style shirts. That being said, there is no formal dress code.
For tickets visit trumanlittlewhitehouse.org/foundation/events. For more information contact Michael Ables at michael.ables@kwtrumanfoundation.org.
