Dewey Warren

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The 1948 presidential election is often considered to be the greatest election upset in American history. Thomas Dewey, Governor of New York, and Earl Warren, Governor of California, made up the Republican Party ticket. Dewey and Warren ran against incumbent President Harry S. Truman, who had succeeded to the presidency after President Franklin D. Roosevelt's death in 1945. 

Nearly all predictions and polls predicted that Dewey would defeat Truman. Many newspapers and magazines prepared articles naming Dewey as the next President. Most notably, the Chicago Daily Tribune even printed the headline "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN". The Democratic party appeared to be split ideologically; two new parties had formed. The Progressive Party nominated Henry Wallace and Strom Thurmond was nominated by the States' Rights Democratic Party. Despite the three-way split and Truman's diminishing popularity, he narrowly defeated Dewey on Election Day.