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Thomas Dewey

Thomas Dewey
ThomasDewey.png
47th Governor of New York
In office
January 1, 1943 – December 31, 1954
Lieutenant Thomas W. Wallace
Joe R. Hanley
Frank C. Moore
Arthur H. Wicks (Acting)
Walter J. Mahoney (Acting)
Preceded by Charles Poletti
Succeeded by W. Averell Harriman
District Attorney of New York County
In office
January 1, 1938 – December 31, 1941
Governor Herbert H. Lehman
Preceded by William C. Dodge
Succeeded by Frank Hogan
Personal details
Born Thomas Edmund Dewey
(1902-03-24)March 24, 1902
Owosso, Michigan, U.S.
Died March 16, 1971(1971-03-16) (aged 68)
Miami, Florida, U.S.
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Frances Eileen Hutt (1928–1970)
Children Thomas E. Dewey Jr.
John Martin Dewey
Alma mater University of Michigan (B.A.)
Columbia Law School (J.D.)
Religion Episcopal
Signature

Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician. He served as the 47th Governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. In 1944, he was the Republican candidate for President, but lost to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the closest of Roosevelt's four presidential elections. He was again the Republican candidate in 1948, but lost to President Harry S. Truman in one of the greatest upsets in presidential election history.

As a New York City prosecutor early in his career, Dewey was relentless in his effort to curb the power of the American Mafia and of organized crime in general. Most famously, he successfully prosecuted Mafioso kingpin Charles "Lucky" Luciano on charges of compulsory prostitution in 1936. Luciano was given a thirty-year prison sentence. Dewey almost succeeded in apprehending Jewish mobster Dutch Schultz as well, but not before Schultz was murdered in 1935 in a hit ordered by The Commission itself.

Dewey led the moderate or progressive faction of the Republican Party, in which he fought conservative Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft. Dewey was an advocate for the professional and business community of the Northeastern United States, which would later be called the "Eastern Establishment". This group consisted of internationalists who were in favor of the United Nations and the Cold War fight against communism and the Soviet Union, and it supported most of the New Deal social-welfare reforms enacted during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. In addition he played a large part in the election of Dwight D. Eisenhower as President in 1952. Dewey's successor as leader of the progressive Republicans was Nelson Rockefeller, who became governor of New York in 1959. The New York State Thruway is named in Dewey's honor.


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