Most recently the NY Post had that following headline:
"Dem picks Gephardt as VP candidate"
Of course, that was a mistake (for you Brits, he picked John Edwards)....reminiscent of the 1948 incorrect headline in the Chicago Tribune that said, "Dewey Defeats Truman!"
You know, I always thought that headline was "Dewey Wins". Evidently so do quite a few other people: Google's full of references to that famous Dewey Wins headline, that famous picture of Truman holding it up, etc. We've even got Trent Lott quoted as remembering that "Dewey Wins" headline.
Another one says (For those 3 people in the world that don't remember [perish the thort - aput], that was the same famous Dewey as the "Dewey wins in Landslide" headline being shown off by the actual winner, Harry Truman.)
Various papers have been suggested: New York Post, Chicago Daily Post, but none of these people have actually shown a picture of a DEWEY WINS, much less a Truman holding it up. So this mistaken memory seems to be an interesting urban legend.
This site also says there was a picture of Truman holding up "Dewey Wins".
Was there such a headline? If there was, if multiple papers predicted Dewey's win, it might well be that Truman got himself photographed holding up both of them. But image search finds nothing but the "Dewey Defeats Truman" one.
According to FAQfarm, the Chicago Daily Tribune was the only newspaper in 1948 that made the error, writing, "Dewey Defeats Truman." There were no headlines saying "Dewey Wins."
The dangers of false memories! I'd only seen the Truman picture a few times, and my memory had even edited it so I could see the words DEWEY WINS rather than that long headline. But the Americans making that mistake must have been much more exposed to the picture, and to the true wording, yet the simpler meme survives despite it.
Here's a bit of an oldie which shows how important every single letter in a sentence or paragraph can be. The headline read:
Construction of New School Building Now Complete
which, naturally, looks fine. Problem is that a typo consisting of one single letter caused the headline to be 100% in disagreement with the story beneath it.
aput says, "Google's full of references to that famous Dewey Wins headline, that famous picture of Truman holding it up, etc. We've even got Trent Lott quoted as remembering that "Dewey Wins" headline."
Interestingly, though the Lott interview does involve a misquote, it's not what you think. Lott didn't misquote the old headline; instead the article writer misquoted what lot had said. The details (highlighted with red):
The actual interview (per transcript) KING: But you don't think he'd of been a better president, say, than Harry Truman who defeated him that year? LOTT: You know, I'd have to go back and look at the election of that year. Harry Truman obviously did a lot of great things for our country, and, you know, I was trying to remember who the Republican nominee was... KING: Dewey. Tom Dewey. LOTT: Yes, it was Dewey. I don't -- you know, I couldn't tell you one thing about what Dewey's policies were at the time. I remember the headline, you know, that Dewey wins. KING: Yes, Dewey defeats... LOTT: Yes, Harry Truman won.
The interview as quoted by William Saletan a little over a day later: First two speakers same as above. Then: KING: Dewey. Tom Dewey. LOTT: Yes, it was Dewey. I don't—you know, I couldn't tell you one thing about what Dewey's policies were at the time. I remember the headline, you know, that "Dewey Wins."
So this is a fine example of Chris's point that even a tiny change (in this case, merely inserting quote marks) can drastically alter the meaning.
Now that's very interesting. I thought Lott's wording was slightly strange. Of course the two words 'that' are pronounced differently, so you should be able to tell for sure which he said; but assuming he said the conjunction, Saletan has possibly imposed his own false memory over what he heard.
