"Whistle-Stop" Campaign

Below is a list of different links to a number of different whistle-stop speeches President Truman made during his 1948 campaign. He took a train around the country, stopping, many times, at relatively small towns to make short addresses. It was during these speeches that the President's personality really shone through, as he was granted more say in the speechwriting process. These speeches, in contrast to formal addresses, were energizing, partisan, and sometimes followed outlines rather than a strict script. This allowed Truman to pencil in"off-the-cuff" remarks in the margins just before speeches. These speeches also built upon the President's remarks from previous whistle-stops, and followed a formula for Truman to easily adapt to each location. They contained four parts which were: (1) Friendly local reference, (2)That a vote for Wallace or Thurmond was a vote for the Republican ticket in a race against Republicans and Democrats, (3) that the Republicans serve only the rich and the Democrats serve all the people, and (4) that this campaign is whether you will have enought to eat and wear, and the effect the election will have on world peace.

Whistle-Stop Speeches: try to see if you can spot the four parts illustrated!

Here is a speech given at his first stop in Oklahoma.

Here is another he gave at a stop in Missouri.

Here is one last link to one of his final whistle-stop speeches in his home state of Missouri...there is a link within the document to hear the audio.

This link here is to a video montage of the Truman whistle-stop campaign. It helps to illustrate the environment in which Truman and his staff prepared speeches, and how he addressed them.

Here is a link to a short film by PBS that portrays Truman's whistle-stop campaign.