Upset! Harry Truman and the 1948 Election

Harry S. Truman Presidential Library
Independence, MO

With the world watching the pivotal 2024 election, a new Truman Library exhibition recalls the biggest political upset in U.S. history. Promising Americans a “Fair Deal” while campaigning against a “do-nothing Congress,” Truman changed the nation’s tune—from MILD to WILD about Harry.

A new temporary exhibition, UPSET! Harry Truman and the 1948 Election, allows visitors to travel back in time to see how the most stunning surprise in U.S. presidential election history came about. The exhibit, which includes over 100 artifacts, original political cartoons, interactive displays, diary entries, photographs, and videos, opens May 30, 2024, and runs through February 1, 2025, at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum in Independence, Missouri.

There will be an opening reception at 10 am on May 30, 2024, before the exhibit's ribbon cutting and opening. Mark Adams, museum curator, will deliver brief remarks about the exhibit before opening.