Editing Thomas E. Dewey (section)

==Governor of New York==
[[File:Thomas Dewey.jpg|thumb|right|Dewey's portrait as Governor in 1948]]
In 1984, journalists [[Neal Peirce]] and Jerry Hagstrom summarized Dewey's governorship by saying, "for sheer administrative talent, it is difficult to think of a twentieth-century governor who has excelled Thomas E. Dewey&nbsp;... hundreds of thousands of New York youngsters owe Dewey thanks for his leadership in creating a state university&nbsp;... a vigorous health-department program virtually eradicated tuberculosis in New York, highway building was pushed forward, and the state's mental hygiene program was thoroughly reorganized."<ref>(Peirce and Hagstrom, p. 62)</ref> Dewey also created a powerful political organization that allowed him to dominate New York state politics and influence national politics.

=== Elections ===
In [[1938 New York state election|1938]] [[Edwin Jaeckle]], the New York Republican Party Chairman, selected Dewey to run for Governor of New York against the Democratic incumbent, Herbert H. Lehman. Dewey was only 36 years of age. He based his campaign on his record as a famous prosecutor of organized-crime figures in New York City. Although he was defeated, Dewey's surprisingly strong showing against the popular Lehman (he lost by only 1.4%) brought him national political attention and made him a front runner for the 1940 Republican presidential nomination.<ref>Smith, p. 273–274.</ref>

Jaeckle was one of Dewey's top advisors and mentors for the remainder of his political career.

In [[1942 New York state election|1942]], Dewey ran for governor again and won with a large plurality over Democrat John J. Bennett Jr., the outgoing state attorney general. Bennett was not endorsed by the [[American Labor Party]], whose candidate, [[Dean Alfange]], drew almost 10 percent of the ballots cast. The ALP endorsed for re-election incumbent lieutenant governor [[Charles Poletti]], who lost narrowly to Dewey's running mate [[Thomas W. Wallace]].

In [[1946 New York state election|1946]], Dewey was re-elected by the greatest margin in state history to that point, almost 700,000 votes.<ref>Smith, p. 466.</ref>

[[1950 New York state election|In 1950]], he was elected to a third term by 572,000 votes.<ref>(Smith, p. 573)</ref> He had originally declared his intent to forgo re-election in 1950, but had been persuaded by other Republicans to run for a third term in hopes of boosting the Republican Party in New York ahead of the 1952 presidential election.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dewey Says He Won't Seek Re-election |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/557979168 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |publisher=Intelligencer Journal |agency=The Associated Press |access-date=10 April 2025 |language=en |date=September 8, 1954}}</ref>

=== Policies ===
Remembered as "an odd mix, a pay-as-you-go liberal and a compassionate conservative"<ref name="csmonitor.com">[https://www.csmonitor.com/1982/1027/102703.html What Reagan could learn from Tom Dewey By Curtis J. Sitomer Special sections editor of ''The Christian Science Monitor'' October 27, 1982]</ref> and usually regarded as an honest and highly effective governor, Dewey doubled state aid to education, increased salaries for state employees and still reduced the state's debt by over $100&nbsp;million. He referred to his program as "pay-as-you-go liberalism &nbsp;... government can be progressive and solvent at the same time."<ref>(Smith, p. 31.)</ref> Additionally he put through the [[Ives-Quinn Act|Ives-Quinn Act of 1945]], the first [[Ives-Quinn Law|state law]]  in the country that prohibited [[racial discrimination]] in employment. As governor, Dewey signed legislation that created the [[State University of New York]]. Shortly after becoming governor in 1943, Dewey learned that some state workers and teachers were being paid only $900 a year, leading him to give "hefty raises, some as high as 150%" to state workers and teachers.<ref name="Smith, p. 39"/>

Dewey played a leading role in securing support and funding for the [[New York State Thruway]], which was eventually named in his honor.<ref>Plotch, Philip Mark. ''Politics Across the Hudson: The Tappan Zee Megaproject''. Rutgers University Press, New Jersey (2015).  pp. 6–10. {{ISBN|978-0-8135-7249-9}}.</ref> Dewey also streamlined and consolidated many state agencies to make them more efficient.<ref>Smith, pp. 37–40.</ref> During the Second World War construction in New York was limited, which allowed Dewey to create a $623&nbsp;million budget surplus, which he placed into his "Postwar Reconstruction Fund." The fund would eventually create 14,000 new beds in the state's mental health system, provide public housing for 30,000 families, allow for the reforestation of 34&nbsp;million trees, create a water pollution program, provide [[Slum clearance in the United States|slum clearance]], and pay for a "model veterans' program."<ref name="Smith, p. 39">(Smith, p. 39)</ref> His governorship was also "friendlier by far than his [Democratic] predecessors to the private sector", as Dewey created a state Department of Commerce to "lure new businesses and tourists to the Empire State, ease the shift from wartime boom, and steer small businessmen, in particular, through the maze of federal regulation and restriction."<ref name="Smith, p. 40"/> Between 1945 and 1948, 135,000 new businesses were started in New York.<ref name="Smith, p. 40"/>

Dewey supported the decision of the New York legislature to end state funding for child care centers, which were established during the war.<ref name="af_daycare_NY">{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/better_life_lab/2017/06/14/anti_communism_and_its_role_in_america_s_lack_of_affordable_daycare.html|title=Your Child Care Conundrum Is an Anti-Communist Plot|first=Rebecca|last=Onion|date=June 14, 2017 |access-date=June 14, 2017|work=salon.com}}</ref> The child care centers allowed mothers to participate in wartime industries. The state was forced to provide funding for local communities that could not obtain money under the [[New Deal#Wartime welfare projects|Lanham Act]].<ref name="wchafe">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/paradoxofchangea00chaf|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/paradoxofchangea00chaf/page/165 165]|quote=thomas dewey child care communist.|title=The Paradox of Change: American Women in the 20th Century|publisher=Oxford University Press|first=William|last=Chafe |year=1992|isbn=978-0-19-504419-5|access-date=June 15, 2017}}</ref> Although working mothers, helped by various civic and social groups, fought to retain funding, federal support for child care facilities was considered temporary and ended on March 1, 1946.<ref name="daycare-rosie-riveter">{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/11/daycare-world-war-rosie-riveter/415650/|title=Who Took Care of Rosie the Riveter's Kids?|first=Rhaina|last=Cohen |date=November 15, 2015|access-date=June 15, 2017|publisher=theatlantic.com}}</ref> New York state aid to child care ended on January 1, 1948.<ref name="wchafe"/> When protesters asked Dewey to keep the child care centers open, he called them "Communists".<ref name="af_daycare_NY"/>

He strongly supported the [[death penalty]]. During his twelve years as governor, more than ninety people were [[electric chair|electrocuted]] under New York authority. Among these were several of the mob-affiliated hitmen belonging to the murder-for-hire group [[Murder, Inc.]], which was headed up by major mob leaders [[Louis Buchalter|Louis "Lepke" Buchalter]] and [[Albert Anastasia]]. Buchalter himself went to the chair in 1944.

Dewey was a believer in conservatism reaching out to all classes in society, expressing his belief to [[Winston Churchill]] in 1946 that “Somehow the conservative forces must relearn how to establish close relationships . . . among all the classes of people” and arguing that more would have to be done "if we are going to keep trade union leaders from pushing us steadily into socialism and its inevitable . . . loss of personal liberty.”<ref>Thomas E. Dewey and his times by Richard Norton Smith, First Touchstone Edition 1984, P.459</ref>

According to one study

<blockquote>Dewey was a fiscal conservative but believed that Republicans should not attempt to repeal the New Deal; rather, they should advance competing social welfare programs that emphasized individual freedom and economic incentives instead of the Democrats' tendency towards centralization and collectivism.<ref>''Summer in the City John Lindsay: New York and the American Dream'', edited by John P. Viteritti</ref></blockquote>

A Dewey biographer said of Dewey that "No doubt he was a conservative", but "he was also realistic."<ref name="csmonitor.com"/>

Dewey was a [[Zionism|Zionist]]. In October 1945, he spoke at a rally in [[Madison Square Garden]], calling for the lifting of British restrictions on Jewish immigration to Palestine and stating that Jews were entitled to a homeland. However, he refrained from outright calling for a [[Jewish state]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=67,000 People Participated in Madison Square Garden Demonstration for Jewish Palestine |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/67000-people-participated-in-madison-square-garden-demonstration-for-jewish-palestine |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref>