Why the Tribune Called the Race Early
On election night in 1948, the Chicago Daily Tribune had to make a decision before the country had finished counting votes. Newspapers closed their pages on deadlines: once the presses started, late results could not be added to copies already printed. Many observers expected Republican Thomas Dewey to defeat President Harry Truman, and early returns seemed to support that forecast.
The Tribune put that expectation into a front-page headline: “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN.” But early returns were only a partial picture. Votes from rural areas and smaller communities often arrived before totals from larger cities, where Truman had strong support. As those urban results came in, the apparent lead shifted. Truman won the election.
A Deadline Turned Into a Photograph
The mistaken headline appeared in an early edition, printed before the result was clear. The newspaper could correct later editions, but the first copies had already gone out. The error was not just a bad prediction; it was a permanent artifact of how print deadlines forced editors to act on incomplete information.
The next day, Truman held up a copy of the paper for photographers while traveling through St. Louis. His broad smile made the contradiction instantly visible: the man the headline said had lost was holding the newspaper that said he had won. A routine deadline mistake became an image of a surprise victory—and a reminder that a confident headline can get ahead of the count.
