Editor’s note: This story was originally published on Nov. 3, 2024.

A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives .

On Nov. 2, 1948, in one of the most unexpected results in U.S. election history, Democratic incumbent Harry S. Truman won the presidential election against the heavily favored Republican governor of New York, Thomas E. Dewey.

But the results weren’t announced in much of the country until Nov. 3.

When Truman decided to run for reelection, few people gave him any chance of reaching his goal. The economic difficulties of reconversion and popular perceptions of him as unrefined and blunt had hurt his popularity. His inconsistencies on the Palestine issue contributed to a sense that he wasn’t up to his job. The Republican Congress had rejected

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