There have been a couple of recent threads on RyPN about quotes. By some famous people and by ordinary folk. Some were inspirational, others funny, quite a few stupid and all probably interesting to some extent. I want to mention though, one RAILROAD related quote that just might have cost a man the Presidency of the United States!

In 1948, incumbent President Harry S Truman was widely considered to be unelectable. He had succeeded to the office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945. The Republicans had taken back control of Congress in the elections of 1946 and the pollsters all agreed that Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York would beat Truman easily. President Truman that year ran a whistle-stop campaign covering many more miles than Mr. Dewey, who had a campaign train of his own. Truman blasted the GOP majority as the "Do-Nothing" Congress. And the people responded with "Give `em Hell, Harry!" Still, Truman looked to everyone to be a sure loser.

Then came October 12, 1948. Governor Dewey's train made a stop at a small Illinois town named Beaucoup. After stopping, the train lurched back a couple of feet, scaring the crowd. Gov. Dewey commented, "That's the first lunatic I've had for an engineer." He went on to say, "He probably should be shot at sunrise, but we'll let him off this time since nobody was hurt." The newspapers highlighted the "lunatic" remark in their stories. Soon boxcars were spotted at Truman campaign stops with the words "Lunatics for Truman!" scrawled upon them. The next month, even though the head of his Secret Service detail left his post on election night to be with Dewey, Harry S Truman recorded what was probably the biggest upset in Presidential campaigns, roundly defeating the Governor from New York. How much did the "lunatic" comment cost Dewey? Well, we probably will never exactly know. But one thing is certain. His comment about 30 year veteran Louisville & Nashville Railroad engineer Lee Tindle certainly did not HELP him. And who knows, it may even have cost him the Presidency!

Les