1948 President Henry Wallace Vs Governor Thomas Dewey

[Lincoln Republican]

In 1944, President Franklin Roosevelt insists on keeping Vice President Henry Wallace on the ticket.  Roosevelt and Wallace go on to defeat Thomas Dewey and John Bricker in the 1944 election.

Roosevelt dies in 1945 and Vice President Wallace becomes President.  As the incumbent, President Wallace wins the Democratic nomination comfortably in 1948.  He picks experienced and respected Senator Millard Tydings of Maryland for Vice President.

The Republican ticket is Governor Thomas Dewey of New York and Governor Earl Warren of California.

1948 Tickets

Democrat
President Henry Wallace, Iowa
Senator Millard Tydings, Maryland

Republican
Governor Thomas Dewey, New York
Governor Earl Warren, California

State's Rights (Dixiecrat)
Governor Strom Thurmond, South Carolina
Governor Fielding Wright, Mississippi

In real life, Wallace was the Progressive candidate in 1948, therefore, in this scenario, there is no Progressive ticket, as the Progressives support Wallace.

Is Wallace able to do what Truman did in 1948, and win the election against seemingly insurmountable odds?

How does this election turn out?

Maps?

   

[HappyWarrior]

Sadly, though he is one of my favorite politicians of all time, Wallace would be demolished.  He was too Liberal for most of the country.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Dewey wins 367-82-82.

[gorkay]

There sure is a lot of interest in 1948 on the boards. We've got a Truman-Stassen timeline, my own Taft-Wallace one, and now this Wallace-Dewey one.

A lot would have depended on how Wallace did in office from '45 to '48. It's true that he wound up pretty far to the left by '48 (at least by American political standards) IRL, but that might not have happened if he had been President. The need to try to govern effectively usually drives Presidents toward the center politically, and as I speculated in my own timeline, this might have happened to Wallace too. That he might have had such proclivities is verified by the fact that IRL, he had moved back toward the middle by '52 and in fact was by then very much anti-Soviet. So if he had been able to establish a record as a mainstream, new Deal-type liberal (as Truman did), he might have had a shot at winning in '48.

In your scenario the conservatives wouldn't have had much of a choice, unless they wanted to go for Thurmond.

[politicaltipster]

Wallace was an idiot who, during the 1930s, briefly fell in with a cult. Although he was a good Secretary of Agriculture, having him as president would have been a disaster. Indeed, he would probably have been impeached before the election as the USSR conquered Western Europe.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

Wallace was an idiot who, during the 1930s, briefly fell in with a cult. Although he was a good Secretary of Agriculture, having him as president would have been a disaster. Indeed, he would probably have been impeached before the election as the USSR conquered Western Europe.

Quoted for truth.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

It would be a massive landslide for the Republican ticket of Dewey/Warren. They would take most of the country, whilst the Dixiecrats take the Deep South leaving the Democrats to take states such as Massachussets, Rhode Island, Texas (Thurmond did only get 9% in RL) and others.

[HappyWarrior]

My idea interprets it as a near republican landslide.  Wallace wins the states that he has due to his farming background, and the importance of farming in those states, that despite his political views, he still has the agricultural credit to carry the states.