1948 Election

Group discussion of Norman Rockwell’s painting from the October 30, 1948 cover of the Saturday Evening Post.

Students will complete a set of analytical questions (on paper or electronically) while using primary and secondary map resources individually, pair-share, and then discuss as a class/group as a formative assessment or review tool over the Electoral College and demographics.

This assignment will provide the students with a “hands on” experience by making a poster and a campaign button in support of his/her favorite candidate

The Truman administration was no stranger to the sneers and jeers of political cartoonists. Facing such controversial issues as the desegregation of the armed forces, dropping of the atomic bomb, the cold war, the fair deal, the Republican takeover of Congress, and the 1948 presidential campaign, political and editorial cartoons were commonplace. President Truman, no matter how scathing, always professed a fondness for the cartoons and became an avid collector of them in his post-presidential years.

Students will look at a campaign button from losing candidate Dewey in the 1948 election. They will then weigh the merits of using the slogan in a short writing assignment.

Students will read campaign speeches given by Truman and Dewey in September, 1948, in Salt Lake City, and then compare the two by filling out a checklist of typical campaign speech characteristics.

This lesson will allow students to evaluate the use of propaganda during presidential election years.

Students will work individually or in pairs to analyze Norman Rockwell's Family Squabble.

Students will predict why Truman decided to desegregate the military. Students will then work in groups to analyze relevant primary documents to seek clarification for Truman's decision. Finally, each student will use evidence from the documents to write an essay arguing why Truman decided to desegregate the military.

Students will research and analyze primary and secondary sources on the 1948 U.S. Presidential Campaign and produce a digital scrapbook.