dewey, leader and the publisher of the local newspaper. local residents like to point to the school where young tom got his education before going on to get degree at the university of michigan. in a nearby church which the dewey family attended quickly, tom was a member of the choir. in the same neighborhood where he grew up, his mother lives today, and like all mothers is proud of her son and his achievements. >> you must be proud of tom. >> i think everyone is happy that his success. he was always a worker. when he worked, he worked hard. when he played come he played hard. i do know he has the best interests of our country at heart. ♪ >> today he is governor of the most populous state in the union, tom dewey cherishes the moment he can relax on his farm in new york and live the simple family life so many americans know and love. at home in the out-of-doors from his own early boyhood tom dewey likes to take whatever time he can from his busy public life to spend with his two boys. ♪ announcer: while not posing as a working farm himself, he has a wide knowledge of agriculture, understands farm problems, and enjoys discussing them with hi

during the past six years, tom dewey has been in frequent consultation with national leaders in many of endeavor. from his close friendships with governor warren of california, he keeps in touch with events throughout the united states. dewey has paid particular attention to foreign affairs. at the conference of republican leaders as far back as 19 33, he -- as far back as 1943, he was first to advocate the united states should move in concert with other nations to prevent and other world war. by his foresight in banking aid to europe and china and urging the use to create a duration of -- a federation western europe, he has won the admiration of statesmen such as arthur h vanderburg. >> governor dewey was one of the first important political figures to advocate and embrace the sound doctrine of strong, bipartisan action in foreign affairs. governor dewey greatly assisted in setting this republican pattern at mackinac island five years ago. since then, he has consistently demonstrated his thoroughly competent grasp of all of our major foreign problems. >> on his trips throughout the

and he didn't do very well in 1944 and then came 1948 and they had the gall to nominate tom dewey again, which we the grass-roots were very much opposed to. but they forced him on us and there was a lot of opposition to the grassroots. i remember alice roosevelt longworth said you can't make a souffle rise twice, but at any rate, tom dewey was the candidate. and there were all kinds of wonderful issues that he could have talked about. the truman scandals, the korean war, the communist infiltration of our government, the alger hiss case, but tom dewey waged a me too campaign and he lost. and roosevelt was elected for his fourth term. then came 1946, the off year election and by this time, the grassroots were really getting angry about the whole thing. and they went out and carried on a campaign under the slogan "had enough," and they elected what was the biggest republican majority in congress in the 20th century. so as we approach the republican convention of 1952, everybody expected a republican year. and the contestants were bob taft, senator bob taft who had the support of the grassr

. ♪ announcer: tom dewey's public career was launched in 1931 when crime was a national scandal.years later, he was appointed special prosecutor to war on organized crime in new york.

angry denunciation by republican senator ev dirksen of the party's last nominee, n york governor tom dewey. >> and we followed you before, and you took us down the road to defeat! >> or the 1968 democratic convention in chicago, where iolent clashes in the streets led to a frontal blast at chicago mayor richard daley. >> and with george mcgovern as president of the united states, we wouldn't have to have gestapo-style tactics in thest eets of chicago! ( cheers and applause ) >> and where a press crroential was noction. >> but don't push me. take your hands off of me unless you plan to arrest me! >> and even without ch high drama, conventions were often filled with political suspense. would george mcgovern get to keep all his delegates from california i1972, the key to his nomination? would ronald reagan four years ter succeed in unseating president gerald ford? his nomination hopes alive with a parliamentary maneuver? but that 1980 convtion washe last gasp of anything approaching suspense. the primaries had already become the way the great majority of delegerates welected. no more brokers

tom dewey, and, of course, robert taft, who is hoping the party returned to him. >> we get in a little trouble when we draw analogies. dewey was the prosecutor from new york who overrated himself. we often have new yorkers come out and say they are going to win, especially when they have a legal background. taft was mr. republican. people had heard about him before. taft was a name. that was not particularly new. herbert hoover was a wonderful man. he was getting in the way of the progress of the party because he kept wanting to run again. this time was probably past. what was excited about -- what was exciting about willkie was he went to hear herbert hoover and they could not believe that harbor hoover would hog the nomination. in that way, willie was a grass roots. he, himself, was not of the grass. he was chosen by people who were voting against the party. the other names were "the parti." willkie came in as somebody different, not what we expected. >> he retired and an exciting man. i think for many people, it was none of the above. it was the perfect atmosphere for an outsider wh