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THE MAKING OF A NATION 202 - Election of 1948

时间:2005-09-29 16:00来源:互联网 提供网友:wbnewbie   字体: [ ]
    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

THE MAKING OF A NATION - July 18, 2002: Election of 1948

By David Jarmul


VOICE 1:
THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English by the Voice of America.
(Theme)
Presidential elections are exciting events in American politics. Few elections for the White House have been as


exciting as the one in nineteen-forty-eight. And few have had such surprising results.
VOICE 2:
Four candidates were nominated for president in the nineteen -forty-eight election. One was the man already in


the White House, the candidate of the Democratic Party, President Harry1 Truman. Truman had been the party's
successful vice2 presidential candidate in nineteen-forty-four. When President Franklin Roosevelt died a year
later, Truman became president.

Truman did not do well during his first few months in office. He made several serious mistakes. He had trouble
with the economy and organized labor3. His party lost control of the Senate and the house of representatives in the
congressional elections of nineteen-forty-six.

Most Americans had little faith in Truman's ability as a leader. They expected that he would lose the presidential
election in nineteen-forty-eight if he chose to be a candidate.

VOICE 1:
President Truman chose to run for another term in the White House. And he planned to win. In the months
following the democratic defeat in the congressional election, he took several strong steps to show his leadership.


Truman called on the Congress to pass a number of laws to help black people. He took firm actions in his foreign
policy toward the Soviet4 Union. And he began to speak out with much more strength to the American people.

VOICE 2:
Truman succeeded in winning the presidential nomination5 of the Democratic Party. "I will win this election,
"
Truman told the Democratic convention that nominated him. "and I will make the Republicans like it!
"


The Republicans nominated New York state governor Thomas Dewey.
Dewey was a wise and courageous6 man. He also was very serious. Truman campaigned by


telling the voters that Dewey did not understand the needs of the average American. He
called Dewey a candidate of rich people.
One day, Dewey got angry at a railroad engineer because his campaign train was late for a

speech. Truman charged that this proved that Dewey did not understand the problems of
railroad engineers and other working Americans. He tried to make the election a choice
between hard-working Democrats7 and rich Republicans.

VOICE 1:

Outside the
Convention Hall in
Philadelphia.
(All photos - Library of
Congress)
Two other men also were candidates for the presidency8. Both were from newly created
parties.

One was Strom Thurmond of the state of South Carolina. He was the candidate of the States Rights Democratic


Party, also known as the Dixiecrat Party. Most of his supporters were white Americans from the southeastern part
of the country. They opposed giving full rights to black people.

The other candidate was Henry Wallace of the Progressive Party. His supporters believed that Truman had turned
away from the progressive ideas of Franklin Roosevelt.

VOICE 2:

Both Thurmond and Wallace had broken away from the Democratic Party. Most political experts believed those
two candidates would take votes away from President Truman. They believed Republican candidate Dewey
surely would win the election. This seemed especially true because President Truman did not have strong public
support.

Harry Truman, however, was a fighter. He did not believe the election was lost. He took his campaign to the
American people.

VOICE 1:

"I had always campaigned," said Mister Truman, "by going around talking to people and meeting them. Running
for president was no different.

"I just got on a train," Truman said, "and started across the country to tell people what was going on. I wanted to
talk to them face to face. When you are standing9 there in front of them and talking to them, the people can tell
whether you are telling them the facts or not."

VOICE 2:

Truman campaigned with great energy. He made hundreds of speeches as his train moved across the country. He
spoke10 to farmers in Iowa. He visited a children's home in Texas. And he discussed issues with small groups of
people who came to visit his train when it stopped in rural areas of Montana and Idaho.


Dewey and the Republicans laughed at Truman's campaign. They said it showed that
Truman needed votes so badly that he had to spend his time looking for them in small
villages. Truman said the criticism proved that Republicans did not care for the average
American.

VOICE 1:

Dewey also campaigned across the country by train. But he showed little of the fire and
emotion in his speeches that made Truman's campaign so exciting. A reporter wrote:
"Governor Dewey is acting11 like a man who has already been elected and is only passing

time, waiting to take office. "

Dewey had good reasons to feel so sure of being elected. Almost every political expert in the country said
Truman had no chance to win. The Wall Street Journal newspaper, for example, printed a story about what
Dewey would do in the White House after the election. And the New York Times said that Dewey would win the
election by a large vote.

VOICE 2:

Truman refused to accept these views. Instead, he spoke with more and more emotion against Dewey. Most
Americans still believed that Truman would lose. But they liked his courage in fighting until the end. At the end
of one speech, a citizen shouted, "Give them hell, Harry! We will win!" And soon, Truman supporters across the
country were shouting "Give 'em hell, Harry!"

Truman campaigned until Election Day. He made a special appeal to working people, Jews, blacks, Catholics,
and other traditional supporters of the Democratic Party. In his final radio speech, he promised to work for peace
and a government that would help all people. Then he went to his home in the state of Missouri to wait with the
rest of the country for the election results.


VOICE 1:

Republicans across the country greeted Election Day happily. They were sure that this was the day that the
people would choose to send a Republican back to the White House after sixteen years.

Some of the early voting results from the northeastern states showed Truman winning. But few Republicans
worried. They were sure Dewey would be the winner when all the votes were counted.

The editor of the Chicago Tribune newspaper also was sure Dewey would be the next president. He published a
newspaper with a giant story that said "Dewey Defeats Truman."

VOICE 2:

The Chicago Tribune was wrong. Everyone was wrong. Everyone, that is, except Harry
Truman and the Americans who gave him their votes. Truman went to bed on election night
before all the votes were counted. He told his assistant that he would win.

Truman woke early the next morning to learn that he was right. Not only did he defeat
Dewey, but he won by a good number of votes. And he helped many Democratic congressional candidates win as
well. The Democrats captured both houses of Congress.

Harry Truman would go on to serve four more years in the White House. He would make many difficult
decisions as America moved into the second half of the twentieth century.

VOICE 1:

Many of the decisions were necessary because of America's new responsibilities as leader of the Western world.

Mister Truman would send American troops to South Korea to help the United Nations defend South Korea
against aggression12 from North Korea. He would join other Western leaders in establishing a new alliance, NATO,
to provide for the joint13 defense14 of Europe and North America. Mister Truman and later presidents would make
decisions to send economic and military aid, in huge amounts, to countries all around the world.

VOICE 2:

These worldwide responsibilities produced many changes in the United States, especially in the policies and
actions of the United States government. But the system of the government did not change. It remained the same
as that created by the Constitution in seventeen-eighty-seven. Only a few details were changed to better protect
and represent the people of the United States.

(Theme)

VOICE 1:

You have been listening to THE MAKING OF A NATION, a program in Special English by the Voice of
America. Your narrators have been Harry Monroe and Rich Kleinfeldt. Our program was written by David
Jarmul. The Voice of America invites you to listen again next week to THE MAKING OF A NATION.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 harry heBxS     
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼
参考例句:
  • Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天,人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
  • Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。
2 vice NU0zQ     
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的
参考例句:
  • He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
  • They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
3 labor P9Tzs     
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
4 Soviet Sw9wR     
adj.苏联的,苏维埃的;n.苏维埃
参考例句:
  • Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
  • Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。
5 nomination BHMxw     
n.提名,任命,提名权
参考例句:
  • John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
  • Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。
6 courageous HzSx7     
adj.勇敢的,有胆量的
参考例句:
  • We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
  • He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。
7 democrats 655beefefdcaf76097d489a3ff245f76     
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
  • The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 presidency J1HzD     
n.总统(校长,总经理)的职位(任期)
参考例句:
  • Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
  • Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。
9 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
10 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
11 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
12 aggression WKjyF     
n.进攻,侵略,侵犯,侵害
参考例句:
  • So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结,就不必惧怕外来侵略。
  • Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。
13 joint m3lx4     
adj.联合的,共同的;n.关节,接合处;v.连接,贴合
参考例句:
  • I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤,肩膀脫臼了。
  • We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。
14 defense AxbxB     
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩
参考例句:
  • The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
  • The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。
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